Privacy Policy#
Wusoup takes your privacy very seriously and complies with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The same level of privacy protection is offered to both EU and non-EU users.
I'd like this policy to be as clear and fair as possible - please let me know if anything is unclear, or if you have any concerns!
Cookies and tracking#
Wusoup does not track you across the internet, and it does not enable any third parties to track you. Wusoup uses only one cookie, and it is used exclusively for secure authentication.
The cookie is set during login or onboarding. The cookie does not contain any personal information.
Personal data stored#
| What data | When it's collected | Why it's collected | How it's stored, and for how long | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of your IP address (x.y.z.000) | Automatically when you visit Wusoup | Security: rate-limiting, and to help detect malicious requests | On my (EU) server, for <30 days | Doesn't directly identify you, but can identify your country and city |
| Your browser data (user agent) | Automatically when you visit Wusoup | Analytics: so I know which devices to optimise for | On my server, for < 30 days | Doesn't directly identify you |
| Your email address | When you choose to join Wusoup | Used for logging in (email links) and notifications (e.g. new messages) | On my server, until your account is deleted | Never shared with users or companies, and never used for marketing |
Personal data shared#
Wusoup does not share any personal data with any 3rd party companies or services.
Wusoup allows you to decide what profile information to share with other Wusoup or internet users:
- Your email address will never be shared.
- Your chosen username will be shared, but may be anonymous.
- Your age and location (country, city) may be shared or hidden (you decide).
- Your uploaded profile photos may be shared with all active Wusoup members, or only users you've pinned (you decide).
Your profile options should make it clear what will be visible, and to whom. Please let me know if anything is unclear!
Message privacy#
The messages you write on Wusoup are visible only to:
- The message recipient.
- Me (Peter Taoussanis, Wusoup's author).
I will review a user’s messages only when necessary to investigate potential violations of Wusoup’s Community Rules or Terms of Use. In such cases, I will make every effort to view only the minimum number of messages required to complete the investigation.
In cases involving serious illegal activity (such as fraud, abuse, or child endangerment), I may report such activities to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Analytics and community statistics#
Your behaviour on Wusoup (e.g. logging in, starting chats, sending messages, opening help links from the UI) may be recorded for analytics and aggregate statistical purposes to help me understand community trends like engagement over time and the usage of certain features.
Aggregate community statistics may be shared publicly for fun, but will never personally identify any individual users.
Account security#
It is solely your responsibility to ensure that you keep private any credentials used to log in to your Wusoup account:
If you have a Wusoup password: use a strong password (some minimums are enforced) and keep your password private.
If you have email login enabled: use a strong email password and follow any other security recommendations from your email provider.
Export or delete your data#
You can permanently delete all your data on Wusoup at any time via your account options here.
To get an export of your data, just let me know. (I can also make this self-serve in future if there's interest).
Note that for privacy and technical reasons, Wusoup may store only your most recent messages from each chat - and may regularly delete messages from old inactive chats!
Automatic data deletion#
As a privacy measure, all your data (including messages) may be automatically deleted if you don't log in for more than 24 months.
In this case, warning emails will be sent at 3 months, 1 month, and 48 hours before deletion. This behaviour is intended to cover cases like someone passing away, etc.
Also note that for privacy and technical reasons, Wusoup may store only your most recent messages from each chat - and may regularly delete messages from old inactive chats!
Technical security measures#
Wusoup is designed, built, and deployed following security best practices including:
- Forced strong HTTPS everywhere with HSTS (preload).
- Single-tenant hardened server deployment with 2FA SSH access, hosted in Germany under EU data protection laws.
- Updated, mature server software including: NGINX, JVM, etc.
- Modern browser protections incl. anti CSRF/XSS, CSP, strict transport security, etc.
- Scrypt key derivation to protect passwords and prevent brute-forcing.