Privacy Policy

longislandcity.info, including LIC Community at longislandcity.info/community, is run by Jason Atwood ("we", "us"). This policy explains what information the site collects, why, and what we do with it. The QueensWest.com archive (queenswest.com) is covered by the same policy.

The short version

• You can read the site without an account. We do not use any analytics service right now.
• If you join LIC Community, we keep your account details and what you post, and we email you about your account and the discussions you follow.
• We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
• Old QueensWest.com member data is not used to contact anyone.
• Questions or requests: contact@longislandcity.info.

What we collect

When you visit

Like most websites, our web servers record basic request information: IP address, browser type, the page requested, the referring page and the time. We use these logs to keep the site running and secure (for example, to spot abuse) and keep them for about two weeks.

Analytics

We do not use any analytics service right now. If we add one, we will update this policy first.

LIC Community accounts

LIC Community runs on Discourse, open-source forum software that we host ourselves. When you create an account we keep your username, email address, password (stored only as a hash), any profile details you choose to add, and the IP addresses used to register and sign in (to prevent spam and abuse). Your posts, replies, likes and messages are stored so the forum can work. Your username, profile and posts are visible to other visitors; your email address is not. Discourse uses cookies that are needed to keep you signed in and secure.

Email

We send email only for the site: account confirmation, password resets, notifications and summaries of discussions you follow, and replies to messages you send us. You can change or turn off notification emails in your LIC Community preferences. Our email is sent through Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES), which processes the message and recipient address in order to deliver it. Email to us is received on our own mail server. If you write to us, we keep your message so we can answer it and keep a record of requests such as corrections and takedowns.

How we use it

• To run the site and LIC Community, and to send the emails described above.
• To keep the site secure and to prevent spam, abuse and illegal activity.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the site is used, so we can improve it.
• To respond to your questions, corrections and takedown requests.

We do not sell or rent personal information, we do not share it with advertisers, and we do not use it to profile you for advertising. The site shows no advertising at launch; if that changes, we will update this policy first.

Who else handles it

A few service providers handle data on our behalf, only to provide their service: DigitalOcean (our servers, located in the United States and Canada) and Amazon Web Services (email delivery through Amazon SES). We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or where we believe it is necessary to protect the safety of a person or the security of the site.

Old QueensWest.com member data

QueensWest.com ran from 1998 to 2013. Its old member lists, email addresses and mailing lists are not published, are not imported into LIC Community, and are not used to contact anyone. If we ever invite former members back, it will only be with a fresh opt-in. The read-only forum archive on queenswest.com shows posts and usernames as they were originally posted, with no email addresses, IP addresses or private messages, and it is kept out of search engines. To ask us to remove or anonymize your old posts or username, see the takedown process in our Terms of Use.

How long we keep it

• Server logs: about two weeks (Discourse’s own logs: about a week).
• Account information and posts: while your account is open. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete or anonymize it; posts that others have quoted or replied to may be kept in anonymized form.
• Backups: our backups are kept for seven days, so deleted information can remain in a backup for up to a week.
• Emails you send us: as long as needed to deal with your request, and longer for records of takedown and correction requests.

Your choices

You can view and edit your profile and email preferences in LIC Community at any time, and download your posts from your account. To ask for a copy of your information, a correction or deletion, email contact@longislandcity.info. If the law where you live gives you additional rights over your information, contact us and we will respond as that law requires.

Security

We use reasonable safeguards, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted server access and regular updates. No website can be perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee that information will never be accessed without permission.

Children

The site is meant for a general audience and is not directed at children. You must be at least 13 to create an LIC Community account. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date, and for significant changes we will also post a notice on LIC Community.

Contact

Email contact@longislandcity.info.