Privacy

We keep what the site needs to work, and nothing else. We do not sell your information, run adverts, or use tracking or analytics scripts.

Your files are never public and are never offered as downloads. They are shown only to the people you allow.

• Your account: email address, username and display name. Your password is never stored in a readable form.
• Your profile: anything you add, such as a picture, banner, bio, links, disciplines and your theme choices.
• What you share: posts and their files, comments, reactions, bookmarks, follows and blocks.
• Conversations: messages in direct messages, groups and chatrooms, including replies, reactions and any pictures or files you attach. Chat files are private to the people who can see that chat, are not scanned by the site, and are removed when you delete the message.
• Activity: notifications, when you were last online (you can change how you appear), and which posts have been viewed.
• Reports and reviews: reports you make or that are made about you, and verification applications.
• Donations: the amount, and the name and message you choose to include, if you donate through the site.

To run your account, show your work to the people you choose, let members talk to each other, and keep the community safe. Staff handle reports and rule breaks, and may need to look at the content involved to do that.

The database and uploaded files are held with Supabase, in a data centre in Ireland. The website itself runs on a server in France with OVHcloud.

Other services only get what they need for one job: your email provider delivers sign-in and reset emails, and PayPal handles any payment you choose to make there.

When staff feature a post, its title, the author's display name and a link may be announced in the Morning Star Discord server. The work itself is never shared.

Before a post goes live, a scanner reads its text, tags and file names for things that may break the rules. It runs on Morning Star's own server and does not send your words to an outside service. It never looks at the picture, audio or video itself, and a person makes any final decision.

The GIF picker in chat searches GIPHY. When you search for a GIF, your browser contacts GIPHY directly, so GIPHY can see your search words and your IP address. Morning Star does not send your name or account to GIPHY. Voice messages are stored like any other chat file: private, not scanned, and removed when the message is deleted.

Only the ones the site needs: one keeps you signed in, and a few remember your display choices, such as theme, text size and motion. There are no advertising or analytics cookies.

• See and download your data: Settings, then Account, then Download my data.
• Change it: edit your profile and posts at any time. Change your email or password in Settings, then Account.
• Choose who sees your work: profile visibility and blocking are in Settings.
• Delete your account: ask a member of staff and the owner will remove it, along with your posts, files, comments and messages.

When an account is deleted, a small record of its username, display name and the date is kept so the team can see that it happened. Nothing else is kept.

If you are in the UK, you also have rights under data protection law, including asking us to correct or stop using your information. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Ask any member of staff, or see Help. This notice will change as the site grows, and the date at the top will change with it.