Privacybeleid

1. Who We Are

Our website address is: https://stiwotforum.nl.

STIWOT Forum is an online community dedicated to sharing, discussing, and preserving historical information, with a focus on World War II.

2. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including:

a) Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam.

An anonymized hash of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check if you are using it. Their privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/.

After approval of your comment, your profile picture (if applicable) is visible to the public next to your comment.

b) Media

If you upload images to the Website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the site can download and extract any location data from images.

c) Cookies

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and remember your preferences.

  • If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for convenience. These cookies last one year.
  • If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is deleted when you close your browser.
  • When you log in, we set several cookies to store your login information and screen display preferences. Login cookies last two days; screen preference cookies last one year.
  • Selecting “Remember Me” extends your login for two weeks. Logging out removes login cookies.
  • If you edit or publish an article, a cookie is stored in your browser with the post ID — it expires after 1 day.

d) Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on our site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles). Embedded content behaves the same way as if you visited the source website directly.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content, including tracking your activity if you are logged in to that website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • To operate and maintain the Website.
  • To display your comments and contributions publicly.
  • To detect and prevent spam or other security risks.
  • To communicate with you, if you contact us.
  • To improve our Website and community experience.
  • To comply with legal obligations.

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties.

We may share your data only in the following circumstances:

  • With service providers who help us operate the Website (e.g., spam detection services).
  • If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
  • When required by law, legal processes, or to protect our rights.

5. How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Comments: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are stored indefinitely to recognize and approve future comments automatically.
  • User Accounts: For registered users, we store the personal data provided in their user profile. Users can view, edit, or delete their information at any time (except username). Website administrators can also view and edit this information.

6. Your Rights Over Your Data

If you have an account on our site or have left comments, you have the right to:

  • Request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you provided.
  • Request that we erase any personal data we hold about you.
  • Withdraw consent (where applicable).

This does not include data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at: [Insert contact email here].

7. Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service and other security tools.

8. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet is completely secure.

9. Third-Party Links

Our Website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The most current version will always be available on this page with the date of the last update.