Privacy Policy
Overview
Telloft is a place to write and read personal stories, and some of those stories are very personal. We collect only what we need to run the site, we don't sell your personal data, and we give you real controls over what is visible to others. This policy explains what we collect, why, who it is shared with, and how you can manage it. "Telloft", "we" and "us" mean the operator of telloft.com.
What we collect
Information you give us. Your email address and a password (stored only as a secure hash, never in plain text), a display name and username, and anything you choose to add to your profile such as a bio, photo, links or country. Also the content you create: stories, comments, reactions, bookmarks, follows, blocks and mutes, and reports you submit.
Sign in with Google. If you choose to sign in with Google, Google shares your name and email address with us (never your Google password), and we use them to create or sign in to your Telloft account.
Images you upload. Cover and profile images are resized and re-encoded when you upload them, and hidden metadata (such as GPS location stored in a photo) is removed.
Information collected automatically. Your IP address and basic request details (browser type, pages requested, time) are processed by our servers to deliver the site, prevent abuse and fix errors. We also keep your reading history so we can show your feed and recommendations. You can clear it at any time.
How we use it
- To provide the service: sign-in, publishing, comments, notifications, your feed.
- To keep Telloft safe: moderation, handling reports, rate limiting, spam and abuse prevention.
- To send essential emails, such as confirming your email address and resetting your password. We don't send marketing email unless you ask for it.
- To understand and improve the site, using aggregate, cookie-free analytics where enabled (see below).
- To meet our legal obligations and enforce our Terms.
Anonymous & pen-name posts
When you publish anonymously or under a pen name, your real name and profile are not shown on the story or anywhere public. To keep the community safe, we do retain an internal record linking the story to the account that created it. That record is visible only to authorised Telloft administrators and moderators, is used only for moderation, abuse prevention and legal compliance, and is never displayed publicly. We may disclose it only if we are legally required to, for example by a valid court order, or where needed to prevent serious harm.
Cookies & analytics
We use essential cookies to keep you signed in, protect forms from forgery, and remember your cookie and theme choices. These can't be turned off because the site can't work without them. You can review your choice at any time through "Cookie Preferences" in the footer.
We may use privacy-friendly analytics (for example Plausible or Cloudflare Web Analytics) that count visits without cookies and without building profiles of individual visitors. We don't run advertising networks or sell your data. Featured members and partners are sometimes shown on the site, and they are always clearly labelled as such. We will update this policy before making any change that affects your privacy.
Services we use
We rely on a small number of providers who process data on our behalf: our hosting and database provider, an email delivery provider (for confirmation and password emails), Cloudflare Turnstile (a spam and bot check on sign-up and login forms), Google Sign-In (only if you choose it), and Google Fonts (which loads our typefaces, so your IP address is sent to Google when a page loads). These providers may process data in countries other than your own.
When we share data
We don't sell your personal data. Beyond the providers above, we share information only when you make it public yourself (for example a published story or public profile), when the law requires it, or to protect the safety of people or the service. If Telloft is ever merged or acquired, we will tell you before your data is transferred and changes to this policy apply.
How long we keep it
We keep your account information for as long as your account exists. Server logs are kept for about 14 days. If you delete your account, your personal identifiers (email, name, bio, photo and other profile details) are removed straight away. Stories and comments you published stay up, to preserve conversations other people are part of, but are no longer linked to any identifying information. Internal safety records and routine backups may keep some data for a limited period afterwards, and we may retain data longer where the law requires it.
Your controls
From Settings you can control the visibility of your profile and of each story individually, manage notifications, review and end active sessions, change your password, download a copy of your data (profile, stories, comments, reactions, bookmarks and reading history) as a JSON file, clear your reading history, deactivate your account, or permanently delete it.
Depending on where you live (for example the EU/UK or California), you may also have the right to access, correct, delete or restrict the use of your personal data, to object to certain processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Most of this you can do yourself in Settings; for anything else, contact us below and we will respond within a reasonable time.
Children
Telloft is for people aged 13 and over. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will remove it.
Security
We protect your data with encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, login rate limiting and lockouts, sanitised user content, and restricted staff access. No online service can promise perfect security, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us right away if you suspect misuse of your account.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we make a significant change we'll update the date above and, where appropriate, let you know on the site or by email.
Contact
Questions, requests or concerns about your privacy: telloft.official@gmail.com, or use our Contact page.
