TQA Weekly, henceforth referred to as us or we, and the tools used by us, require some level of tracking either using cookies, or browser fingerprinting.
Cookies
We use cookies to maintain and confirm users on our web-site, to enable extra functionality, based on their current membership type, and to keep the contents of their accounts secured.
Hivemind
We have technology code named Hivemind, which uses browser fingerprinting, amongst other things, to track, record, and process all spam bot attempts against our web-site, and we record all information by finger printing each attempt, comparing to previous attempts, and storing the information. The Hivemind technology, in a sense, learns from each subsequent attempt and stores all relevant information in a database that is used by multiple web-sites, all under the Zed Axis Dot Net banner. This means an attempt on this site, will be recorded, and can be processed by other sister web-sites in a preventative measure. This database is not encrypted, and is not for sale, but at one point will be made available as part of the Hivemind Product, under the Life of Coder property. This technology is meant to replace recaptcha. Logged in users with valid email addresses are not subject to this kind of tracking, and normal usage of the contact or registration forms will not trigger an event with the Hivemind Technology provided the message or other user characteristics are not flagged. In order, to be subject to Hivemind, you must use the contact form on the public facing side or register to the web-site. This program was meant to make it easier for users with diminished, or none existent visual ability, to use our site.
Connie V2 and Paradox Engine
The Connie V2 engine and Paradox engine of this web-site, to which, control all accounts, and functionality, maintain user information in a constant encrypted state. All account information, such as name, email address, gamer tag, user name, and security question are encrypted using AES-256 encryption. The security answer and password are further protected by a process of salted hash iteration and the result of the process is, also, encrypted using AES-256. All stored information on our users that affects login is encrypted.
The Site Tag is the only part of the account that exists in an encrypted and plaintext state, which is why each user is provided with the option to have a unique username and site tag. All extra functionality is tied to the site tag, and no login information can be derived from the site tag, even with database in hand. If any user wishes to close their accounts, all comments submitted by the user will be retained per the Terms of Service, but the Site Tag will be changed to Anonymous. We do suggest that you do not submit any personal information in comments, and since all comments are subject to approval, all future comments with personal information will be rejected for your own privacy.
All posts users make are considered public and are not subject to privacy. Any information provided in the post fall under the responsibility of the user posting the content. If there is an unsettling amount of personal information provided in the post, moderators may force the original poster to edit the post in favor of security, before such posts are made public.
Site Search
Our site search collects the following information: the search query entered by the user, the time and date the user searched for that query, and the number of results on that particular day. No other information is recorded beyond those data points. This is to allow us to find out which topics interest our general user base, and which topics we may want to look at in the future.
Data Transmission
The TQA Weekly Web-site uses TLS technology that is easily determined by looking at the address bar in your browser. The address always starts with HTTPS, meaning your data being transmitted is encrypted and private between your device, and the server.
Law Enforcement
In the unlikely event that the web-site has users that are harassing other users, or committing crimes, police, with a valid warrant, may receive information about the accounts of users, and only those users, who are being served under the warrant. We will not defend any user who violates the law, or commits a crime, or any kind, and will fully cooperate with Police, provided that the warrant is valid and provides specific requests to specific users. Because this web-site is internationally accessible, despite being in Canada, this clause also makes it possible for any police agency to provide us with a warrant from anywhere provided they can specify the username, site tag, and / or email address of the user they are interested in. This is the only time a user's privacy is suspended. However, it is important to note to any police agency, that passwords and security answers are hashed and iterated to a point that recovering them is impossible.
GDPR Related Details
The web-site uses a single consent cookie with only two modes, this makes it simpler for everyone. The web-site will operate normally only collecting basic information of each visit, and serving non-personalized advertisements until you consent to full tracking, personalized advertisements and enabling the sharing mode. At the bottom of the page you have the option to revoke consent at any time you wish. The length of time information is kept is 13 months and is removed automatically. We are using Google Tag Manager with the Silktide Consent bar to conform to GDPR laws. The silktide javascript is locally stored on our server.
COPPA and CFAA Compliance
If you are a member of this web-site, we record your first and last name, email, and birthday. You provide us with a username, and a site tag, a secret question, and answer. All these pieces of information are required for your account. Use of this web-site as a member requires that the user be 13 years of age in accordance with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule). This is why we require your birthday. Your e-mail address is used for confirmation reasons, and notifications. Your name is used to personal e-mails. Your secret question and answer are stored and used when you need to recover your account. In accordance to Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and similar laws in other countries, you are required to use your real name and information. However, we provide you with access to a custom site tag as to remain discreet on our web-site, provided you choose a site tag that doesn't reveal any personal information. Your information is secured by means of encryption using AES-256. Your password and secret answer are, also, hashed before encryption to further security.
Governmental or Police Agency Access to Data Requirements
If you are a government body, or police agency, requiring proof of explicit consent, where a user has choosen delibertly set their own preferences, you must provide us with an IP address, date, time, and a warrant. This is to ensure the privacy of all other users. The consent / revocation database is not for sale, and access requires a warrant by a government body or police agency. Seeking access to our database for any information implies you consent to providing us with a warrant, and without such a warrant, your government or police agency will have no access to any information on any user what so ever. The data of the consent database will be kept for no longer than 12 months, after which the related fields, like the cookies for those settings, will be deleted. For this reason, you have less than 12 months to provide us with the information, before we suppress it from our database.
Social Networking, Analytics and Advertising
We use other services for social networking, statistical tracking, advertising, etc. These services, and related privacy policies are listed below. We do not have control over their data retention practices, or privacy practices. We have set maximum data retention under Google policies to the shortest duration, currently 14 months. We use data to determine type of traffic, origin, and popular content. Please consult their privacy policies for more information.
Addthis.com
http://www.addthis.com/privacy/privacy-policy
Google Adsense, Analytics, YouTube
https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/
As with everything in life, this privacy policy is subject to change and evolution when deemed necessary, without notification, or previous warning. If you have any questions, please use the TQA Weekly Contact Form, we will try to communicate back with you in a timely manner. and will fully cooperate with Police, provided that the warrant is valid and provides specific requests to specific user(s)0. Because this web-site is internationally accessible, despite being in Canada, this clause also makes it possible for any police agency to provide us with a warrant from anywhere provided they can specify the username, site tag, and / or email address of the user they are interested in. This is the only time a user's privacy is suspended. However, it is important to note to any police agency, that passwords and security answers are hashed and iterated to a point that recovering them is impossible.