Privacy Policy

Who we are

AntiCirc is a volunteer-run educational project operated by a private individual who is a citizen of, and based in, the United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK data protection law, that individual is the data controller for this site. The project is not a company, medical provider, or government body.

The site is published for a global, English-first audience and is not directed at the residents of any particular country. Some pages are offered in other languages (for example Tagalog and Cebuano); these translations are provided by volunteers purely to make the material accessible and do not mean the site is aimed at, or targeting, any specific national market.

Your data protection rights

We handle personal data in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is written to reflect those laws regardless of where you access the site from.

Our approach

AntiCirc is designed to be pseudonymous. Your public identity is a persona — a display name you choose. We never expose your internal account ID or email to other users, and we do not sell your personal data to anyone.

What we collect

• Account data: your email (for login, recovery, and important notices) and a hashed password. If you sign in with a magic link or passkey, we store only what's needed to authenticate you.
• Persona & profile: your display name and anything you choose to add to your profile.
• Content you create: posts, comments, votes, and — if you use restoration tools — the progress entries and photos you save. Restoration photos are private to you by default.
• Technical data: basic logs and security signals (e.g. a hashed IP for rate-limiting and abuse prevention).

How we use it

To operate your account, show your contributions to the community, keep the platform secure, and send you notices you've asked for. We do not use your data to build advertising profiles.

Our legal basis

Under the UK GDPR we rely on the following lawful bases:

• Contract — to create and run your account and provide the features you use.
• Legitimate interests — to keep the platform secure, prevent abuse, and operate the community, balanced against your rights.
• Consent — for anything you explicitly opt into, such as optional notices or uploading sensitive health-related content like restoration progress. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — where we must retain or disclose data to comply with the law.

Sensitive content

Health-related content — such as restoration progress and photos — is treated as private. You choose the visibility of what you upload, it is not public by default, and you can delete it at any time.

Sharing

We share personal data only with the service providers we need to run the site (for example hosting and email delivery), and only as required to provide the service. We may disclose information if legally compelled. We never sell it.

Your controls

• Edit or delete your posts and profile at any time.
• Manage sessions, passkeys, and security from your account settings.
• Request full account and data deletion.
• Post anonymously in supported areas, which scrubs your author identity.

Your rights under UK law

Wherever you live, we honour the rights the UK GDPR gives data subjects. You have the right to:

• Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectify data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Restrict or object to certain processing.
• Port your data to another service where technically feasible.
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these, contact us via the contact page. If you believe we've mishandled your data, you also have the right to complain to the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

International access & data transfers

AntiCirc is operated from the United Kingdom and hosted on infrastructure that may be located in the UK, the EEA, or elsewhere. If you access the site from another country, your data may be transferred to and processed in these locations. Where data leaves the UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law. The site is not specifically directed at, and does not knowingly target, residents of any single country.

Data retention

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. When you delete content or your account, we remove it from the live service; residual copies in backups age out on our normal backup cycle.

Changes & contact

We'll update this policy as the project evolves; the "last updated" date above reflects the latest version. Questions or a data request? Reach us via the contact page. See also our Terms of Service.