What we collect and why
When you leave a comment, we collect the information you fill in, your name, email, and comment, along with your IP address and browser type. We use that to help catch spam, nothing more.
Your email may be run through Gravatar to pull in a profile picture if you use that service. You can read Gravatar’s own privacy policy at automattic.com/privacy. If your comment gets approved, your profile picture shows up publicly next to it.
Images
If you ever upload images to the site, be aware that photos taken on a phone or camera often contain embedded location data (GPS coordinates baked into the file). Anyone can extract that. Strip it before uploading if that concerns you.
Cookies
We use cookies in a few straightforward situations:
When you comment, you can choose to save your name, email, and website so you don’t have to retype them next time. That cookie sticks around for a year.
When you log in, we set cookies to keep you logged in. Those last two days by default, or two weeks if you check “Remember Me.” When you log out, they’re cleared. There’s also a short-lived cookie that checks whether your browser accepts cookies at all, it disappears when you close the tab.
If you edit or publish a post, a temporary cookie records which post you were working on. It expires after a day and doesn’t contain anything personal.
Embedded content
Some articles include embedded videos, tweets, or other third-party content. When that loads, it behaves as if you visited that site directly, meaning those platforms may collect data about you, set their own cookies, and track your interaction with their content.
How long we keep your data
Comments and their metadata are kept indefinitely so we can recognize returning commenters and skip the moderation queue for them.
If you’ve registered an account, your profile info stays on file until you ask us to remove it. You can view, edit, or delete your personal information at any time, the one exception is your username, which can’t be changed.
Your rights
You can request a copy of whatever personal data we hold on you, or ask us to delete it. Just reach out. The only exceptions are data we’re legally required to hold onto for administrative or security reasons.