Privacy Policy

Analytics (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages and features people use. It collects things like the pages you view, your approximate location, your browser and device, and the events we send (for example "searched" or "opened a link"). We never send your email, username or account id to Google. Advertising and personalization features are switched off, and so are Google signals.

In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland (and whenever we can't tell where you are), Google Analytics only loads after you click "Accept analytics" in our banner. If you decline, it never loads. Everywhere else it runs by default.

Google Analytics sets the cookies _ga and _ga_<ID>, which hold an anonymous id.

To change your mind, use Cookie settings at the bottom of every page (shown where the banner applies): withdrawing deletes the _ga cookies and stops analytics. You can also block Google Analytics everywhere with your browser's privacy settings, a content blocker, or Google's opt-out browser add-on.

Your choice is saved in your browser's local storage under the key lt_consent. It only stores your choice and its date, is never sent to us, and we ask again after 12 months.

Cookies

• A session cookie keeps you signed in. It is only set when you sign in.
• A short-lived notice cookie (lt_notice) shows a one-time message after some account changes.
• The Google Analytics cookies above, only as described there.

Your account

You can sign in with Google or GitHub. We receive your verified email address, your name and your profile picture address from them. Your email is never shown publicly. Your username is public only in the Top Contributors list, when that list is visible on the page.

If you sign up with an email address and a password, we store only a one-way hash of your password, never the password itself. We send a link to verify your email address. Accounts that are not verified within 7 days are deleted automatically.

While you are signed in, we keep your session along with the IP address and browser it was created from, so you stay signed in and we can spot abuse. Sessions end when you sign out or they expire.

Votes, clicks and abuse protection

To count one vote per person and to stop abuse, we store a hash of your IP address (and, for votes without an account, of a browser fingerprint). A hash is a scrambled value made with a secret key: we can tell two visits apart, but we never store your actual IP address.

Emails

We email you only to verify your address, to reset your password, and, if you turn them on in your profile, to tell you whether a link you submitted was approved. If an email to you bounces, we stop sending you notification emails. We keep a short log of what we sent (no address and no content) for 2 days, to respect our daily sending limits.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself: Profile → Delete account. It takes effect immediately.

• Deleted: your account, your sessions, your sign-in methods and your votes.
• What stays: the links you submitted stay in the directory, and the totals (clicks and votes) stay as they are, but they are no longer connected to any account.

Contact

Questions about your data? Write to admin@linkteresting.com.