Privacy Questions and Answers

This notice describes how Cogto.com, or Cogto for short, collects and uses data about you.
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How does Cogto collect data about me?

Cogto collects data about you:
  • when you browse a forum that Cogto hosts
  • when you create and use an account on a forum that Cogto hosts
  • when you post, send private messages, and otherwise participate in a forum that Cogto hosts
Cogto collects data when you use forums, whether you use the forums using a web browser on your own computer or mobile devices. Cogto does not buy or otherwise receive data about you from data brokers.

What data does Cogto collect about me, and why?

Cogto collects data about visits to forums.

When you visit a forum that Cogto hosts, whether you have an account or not, the forum uses cookies, server logs, and other methods to collect data about what pages you visit and when. Cogto uses data about how you use the website to:
  • optimize the forum, so that it’s quick and easy to use
  • diagnose and debug technical errors
  • defend the forum from abuse and technical attacks
  • compile statistics on forum and topic popularity
  • compile statistics on the kinds of software and computers visitors use
Cogto usually stores data about how you use the forum in identifiable form for just a few weeks. In special circumstances, like extended investigations about technical attacks, Cogto may preserve log data longer, for analysis. Cogto stores aggregate statistics about use of the forum for as long as Cogto hosts the forum, but those statistics don’t include data identifiable to you personally.

Cogto collects account data.

Many features of forums that Cogto hosts require a forum account. For example, most forums that Cogto hosts require an account to post and reply to topics. To sign up for a forum account, Cogto requires your name, a user name, and an e-mail address. Cogto uses your account data to identify you on the forum, and to create pages specific to you, like your profile page. If the forum is public, Cogto publishes your account data. If the forum is access-restricted, Cogto makes your account data available to everyone who can access the forum, according to the forum administrator’s configuration. Cogto uses your e-mail address to:
  • notify you about posts and other activity on the forum
  • reset your password and help keep your account secure
  • contact you in special circumstances related to your account
  • contact you about legal requests, like DMCA takedown requests
You may provide additional data for your account, like a short biography, your location, or your birthday, on the profile settings page for your account. Cogto makes that data available to others who can access the forum. You don’t have to provide this additional information, and you can erase it at any time. Cogto stores your account data as long as your account remains open.

Cogto collects data about posts and other activity on the forum.

Cogto collects the content of your posts, plus data about bookmarks, likes, and links you follow in order to share that data with others, through the forum. If the forum is public, Cogto publishes your activity. If the forum is access-restricted, or access restrictions apply to the specific post, Cogto makes your activity available only to users permitted to see it. Cogto also collects data about private messages that you send through the forum. Cogto makes private messages available to senders and their recipients, and also to forum administrators. Cogto stores your posts and other activity as long as your account remains open.

How can I make choices about data collection?

You can make choices about how data about you is used on the settings page for your account. When a forum uses access restrictions that vary by category, you can choose who will see your post by choosing the appropriate category.
Cogto does not respond to the Do Not Track HTTP header.

Where does Cogto store data about me?

Cogto stores all data in Linode's data center in Singapore.

Does Cogto comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation?

Cogto respects privacy rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information that GDPR requires Cogto to give can be found throughout this privacy notice. So can information about specific rights, like access, rectification, erasure, data portability, and objection to automated decision-making.

Where can I access data about me?

You can see your account data at any time by visiting your account page on the forum. Your account page also lists your posts and other activity on the forum. Your account activity page also includes a link to download all of your activity in standard comma-separated values format.

How can I change or erase data about me?

You can change your account data at any time by visiting the profile settings page for your account. The settings for a particular forum may also allow you to close your account, on the settings page for your account. Closing your account starts a process of erasing or anonymizing Cogto’s records of data you provided for your account. Forum administrators can also erase and anonymize accounts. Depending on the settings for your particular forum, you may also be able to edit, anonymize, or erase your posts. When you edit posts, Cogto will keep all versions of your posts. Forum administrators can view old versions of posts, and optionally make them visible to other forum visitors.

Does Cogto make automated decisions based on data about me?

Cogto classifies posts as spam automatically.

Cogto uses data about your posts and other activity on many forums to make automated decisions about whether your posts are spam. If you think a post has been wrongly blocked or removed, contact an administrator of your forum. They can override the decision that a post was spam.

Cogto uses data about posts and activity to set trust levels automatically.

Depending on how administrators of your forum configure the forum, the forum may use data about your posts and activity to award you badges and calculate a trust level for your account. Your trust level may affect how you can participate in the forum, such as whether you can upload images, as well as give you access to moderation and management powers in the forum. Your trust level therefore reflects forum administrators’ confidence in you, and their willingness to delegate community management functions, like moderation. If you think your trust level has been set incorrectly, contact an administrator of your forum. They can manually adjust the trust level of your account.

Does Cogto share data about me with others?

Cogto shares account data with others as mentioned in the section about account data. Cogto shares data about your posts and other forum activity with others as mentioned in the section about account data. Apart from making data available to the customer that pays Cogto to host a forum, Cogto does not sell or give information about you to other companies or services. However, Cogto does use services from other companies on some forums that it hosts. The companies behind those services may collect data about you on their own, for their own purposes. Some of these services may be used to collect information about your online activities across different websites. All of these services are based in the United States.
reduces spam posts on some forums
Service Privacy Notice Description
Google Analytics https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/ Compiles visitor statistics on some forums, including meta.cogto.com. You can opt out of Google Analytics using a browser extension.
Amazon Web Services https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/ Provides cloud servers and services, in service regions across the world, to host and back up some forums.
Linode https://www.linode.com/privacy Provides cloud servers and stores backups.
Other individuals and companies may also reuse data about you that Cogto publishes, such as your posts to public forums.

How can I contact Cogto about privacy?

You can send questions and complaints to: Zzyzx Co., Ltd.
team+privacy@zzyzx.co

How can I find out about changes?

This version of Cogto’s privacy questions and answers took effect July 25, 2018. Cogto will post the next version at https://cogto.com/privacy. Cogto may change how it announces changes in future versions. In the meantime, Cogto may update above information without announcing a change. Please refer to https://cogto.com/privacy for the latest contact information at any time.