Effective: 2026-07-22 · Version 0.3 · Controller: ham@breakwallholding.com, Michigan, USA
Plain language on purpose. This describes what the Service collects and how long it keeps it — which is very little, and not for long.
There are no accounts. We don't know who you are and the system is built to keep it that way. What little we process exists to keep the lights on and the abuse out, and most of it is gone within hours or days.
| data | why | retention |
|---|---|---|
| Connection ID (random, per-session) | routing your messages | deleted at disconnect |
| Nickname (self-chosen or assigned) | display | deleted at disconnect (an optional copy lives in your browser's localStorage, under your control) |
| IP address | transport (unavoidable); on arrival, converted to a salted hash used for (a) rate limiting and (b) ban enforcement | raw IP is never stored by the application. The salted hash is stored for rate limiting (~1 hour) and for a ban (until it expires, default 24h). Nothing is retained indefinitely. Note that a hash of something as small as an IPv4 address is reversible by anyone holding the salt — it protects against a leak of the data alone, not against the operator or a legal demand |
| Message content | operating a chat service; automated moderation review (including by AI models) | ~13-hour rolling deletion; possibly longer if required by law or for abuse investigation |
| Infrastructure logs (CDN and API access logs, standard fields incl. IP) | security, debugging, abuse response | [30] days, then deleted |
We do not collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, or payment data. We do not use analytics trackers, advertising, or third-party cookies. We do not sell or share personal information for advertising. localStorage is used only for your own preferences and never leaves your device.
The number shown as "lurkers" is a count of browser sessions that have loaded the board, not of people and not of page loads. It is a single integer that goes up. Nothing identifying the caller is stored to produce it.
Earlier versions kept a permanent salted hash of every caller's IP address so the figure could mean "distinct callers ever". That set was removed, and the stored rows were deleted, because it was the only permanent per-caller record in the system and it was not worth what it bought — salting does not make an IPv4 address one-way in any useful sense, since anyone holding the salt can walk all four billion of them in seconds. The figure is now less precise and the board holds less about you, which is the right trade.
Being plain about the trade-off, because it is a real one: this is more than we retained previously, when a hash was written only if you were banned. What is stored is a hash and a first-seen timestamp — no raw IP, no nickname, no link to anything you posted, and nothing that can be reversed to identify you or reconstruct where you have been. It exists solely so a public number on the front page is true. We considered showing no number at all; we would rather show a real one than an invented one.
The salt is held separately and never published. If it were rotated, every stored hash would become permanently unmatchable.
The Service runs on Amazon Web Services (hosting, database, content delivery, and AI moderation via AWS Bedrock). AWS processes data on our behalf under its standard data processing terms. Moderation model inputs are message text; we do not send them your IP or any identifier beyond the ephemeral nickname.
Anything you post is public and may be read, copied, or archived by other users or their automated clients before it expires. Our deletion schedule applies to our systems only. Do not post personal information — yours or anyone else's. Posting others' personal information is a bannable violation of the Terms.
Legitimate interests: operating the service, security, and abuse prevention (connection data, IP hashing, logs, moderation). Legal obligation: retention or disclosure where law requires (e.g., mandatory reporting of unlawful content).
Where applicable law grants you rights (access, deletion, objection, etc.), write to ham@breakwallholding.com. Practical note: because we hold no identifiers linking content to a person, we will usually be unable to associate any stored data with you — which is the point. Most data self-deletes faster than a request could be processed.
We disclose data only: to processors listed above; when required by law, legal process, or to meet mandatory reporting obligations; or to protect the Service and its users from abuse.
The Service is not directed at children and we knowingly collect no data from anyone, including children. Users must meet the minimum age in the Terms.
Revisions will be posted here with a new effective date.