Last updated: August 2025
Who We Are
GotAClue!? (“GotAClue,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a community platform for sharing tips, insights, and verified knowledge.
Website: https://gotaclue.info
Contact: admin@gotaclue.info
What We Collect
1) Information You Provide
- Account & Profile: name, display name/username, email address, password (hashed), profile photo, bio.
- Community Content: clues you submit, comments, votes/verification actions, shares, reports/flags, attachments (e.g., images).
- Messages & Forms: contact form submissions, support requests, survey responses.
- Leaderboards & Gamification: points, badges, ranks, streaks, and activity counts used for recognition.
2) Information Collected Automatically
- Log & Usage Data: IP address, browser type/version, device information, pages visited, referring/exit pages, timestamps.
- Cookies & Similar Tech: used for session management, preferences, analytics, and security (see “Cookies” below).
- Login Activity: we may track login counts and last login date to improve engagement features and security.
3) Information from Others / Public Sources
- Gravatar: If you use Gravatar, an anonymized hash of your email may be sent to Gravatar to display your avatar. See Gravatar’s privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
- Embedded Content: Content embedded from third-party sites (e.g., videos, maps, social posts) behaves as if you visited those sites and they may collect data about you.
How We Use Your Information
- Operate the Platform: create/manage accounts, provide community features (clues, voting, badges, leaderboards).
- Moderation & Safety: detect spam, abuse, and policy violations; investigate reported content; block malicious behavior.
- Improve & Personalize: analyze usage patterns, recommend relevant content, run A/B tests and feature improvements.
- Communications: send service notices (e.g., account/security), respond to support requests, optional newsletters (with your consent where required).
- Legal & Compliance: enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines; comply with lawful requests.
Legal bases (EEA/UK users): consent, contract performance, legitimate interests (e.g., platform security, feature analytics), and legal obligation.
Community Visibility & Public Content
- Public Profiles & Content: Depending on your settings and the site’s design, profile name, avatar, published clues, and public comments may be visible to others.
- Leaderboards: If enabled, leaderboards may display your display name/username, points, badges, and related metrics. (Admins can change visibility rules over time.)
- Attribution: We show display names/usernames on approved clues and comments to credit contributors.
Comments
When visitors leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comments form, plus the visitor’s IP address and browser user-agent to help spam detection. After approval, your profile picture (e.g., via Gravatar) may be publicly visible alongside your comment.
Media
If you upload images, avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors may download and extract location data from images hosted on the site.
Cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies for:
- Essential: log-in sessions, security, fraud prevention, load balancing.
- Preferences: remember your display and interface choices.
- Analytics: understand usage to improve features and performance.
- Content & Social: enable embedded content or sharing buttons (which may set their own cookies).
Examples (WordPress defaults may apply):
comment_author_*(1 year) – saves your name/email/website if you opt in when commenting.- Temporary login test cookie (session) – checks if your browser accepts cookies.
- Login cookies (2 days; “Remember Me” up to 2 weeks) and screen options (1 year).
- Post edit cookie (1 day) – indicates the post ID of the article you just edited.
You can control cookies via your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect site functionality.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles and pages may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, posts). Embedded content from other websites behaves as if you visited the other website directly. These sites may collect data, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with embedded content—including if you have an account and are logged in to that site.
Analytics & Anti-Spam
We may use analytics and anti-spam tools (e.g., WordPress, hosting-level tools, or third-party services) to:
- Measure traffic and feature usage.
- Detect and reduce spam and abuse.
These tools may process IP addresses and basic device/browser data. Specific vendor details are available upon request.
Who We Share Your Data With
- Service Providers/Processors: hosting, security, email delivery, analytics, customer support, and other vendors who process data on our behalf under appropriate contracts.
- Legal/Compliance: if required by law, legal process, or to protect rights, safety, or integrity of the platform and its users.
- Business Transfers: in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, data may be transferred as part of that transaction (subject to applicable law).
If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the reset email for security and fraud prevention.
How Long We Retain Your Data
- Comments & Clues: retained indefinitely (to preserve discussion context and historical records), unless deleted per user request and subject to moderation records/legal obligations.
- User Accounts: profile data is retained while your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove or anonymize personal data except where retention is required (e.g., legal, security, backup).
- Logs & Security Records: retained for a reasonable period for security, troubleshooting, and auditing.
Your Rights & Choices
Depending on your location, you may have the right to:
- Access/Portability: request a copy of your personal data.
- Rectification: correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure: request deletion of personal data (subject to legal/operational limits).
- Restriction/Objection: restrict or object to certain processing, including direct marketing.
- Withdraw Consent: where processing is based on consent.
Requests: contact us at admin@gotaclue.info. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling requests.
EEA/UK: You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
California (CPRA): You may have rights to know, delete, correct, and opt-out of “sale”/“sharing” of personal information (we do not sell personal information). To exercise, contact us at admin@gotaclue.info.
Children’s Privacy
GotAClue is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 where applicable). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without appropriate consent where required by law. If you believe a child has provided personal data, contact us to request deletion.
Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your data (e.g., HTTPS, access controls, backups). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; risks remain online.
International Transfers
If we transfer your data internationally (e.g., to service providers), we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms, as required by applicable laws.
Automated Decision-Making & Profiling
We may use automated scoring for community features (e.g., points, badges, trust/verification tallies, leaderboards) to rank or recognize contributions. These features are designed to reward participation and highlight trusted content, not to make legal or similarly significant decisions about you.
Email & Notifications
- Service Emails: account, security, and transactional messages (you cannot opt out of essential service emails).
- Newsletters/Marketing: sent with your consent where required; you can unsubscribe anytime via the link in the email or by contacting us.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date will reflect the latest version. Material changes will be highlighted within the site or by email when appropriate.
Contact Us
Questions or requests about this policy or your data?
Email: admin@gotaclue.info
