PianoClack Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
PianoClack is a piano-focused online community forum. It is operated by the forum owner, reachable via the forum alias CyberGene. For any privacy-related matters, please contact the forum owner directly via private message to @CyberGene.
2. Data we collect
Personal data is any information that relates to an identifiable person. When you register and use the forum, the following personal data is collected:
- Email address
- Username and (optionally) a nickname
- Password (stored as a cryptographic hash — never in plain text)
- IP addresses from which you access the forum
Anything a user posts in a discussion or on their profile is stored data, but unless a post explicitly contains personal information, it is not in itself considered personal data. Participating in discussions is optional — users are not required to include personal details in their posts.
As a contributor, please think before you post: if your account were deleted tomorrow but your posts remained, could someone identify you from them? As a rule, avoid including your real name, email address, or other contact details in discussion threads.
3. Legal basis for processing
We rely on the following lawful bases under GDPR Article 6:
- Contractual necessity — email, username, password, and nickname are required to create and maintain your account.
- Legitimate interests — IP address logging is used for security, abuse prevention, and spam detection. Discussion content is retained to preserve forum integrity and readability.
- Consent — by registering, you consent to the processing described in this policy. You may withdraw consent at any time by requesting account deletion (see section 8).
4. Cookies and sessions
The forum uses cookies and server-side sessions to keep you logged in and to ensure the correct functioning of the site. These are essential for the operation of the forum and do not track you across other websites. No advertising or third-party tracking cookies are used.
5. Third-party service providers
To operate the forum, we use the following third-party services that may process your personal data:
- Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) — server hosting. Data stored within the EU.
- Cloudflare, Inc. (USA) — content delivery network and DDoS protection. Data may be processed outside the EU under Cloudflare's Standard Contractual Clauses.
- Amazon Web Services, Inc. (USA) — transactional email delivery (Amazon SES) and file storage (Amazon S3). Data may be processed outside the EU under AWS's Standard Contractual Clauses.
These providers are bound by data processing agreements and appropriate safeguards for any transfers outside the EU/EEA.
6. Security
PianoClack uses the Flarum forum software, an actively maintained open-source platform. Passwords are stored using strong cryptographic hashing and are never accessible to administrators. The forum is served over HTTPS and we apply security updates promptly.
7. Data retention
Personal data associated with your account (email, IP addresses) is retained for as long as your account remains active. If you request deletion of your account, this data is removed within 30 days. IP address logs may be retained for a shorter period for security purposes and are not used for any other purpose.
8. Your rights
Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — you can view and modify your personal data at any time via your forum profile settings.
- Right to rectification — you can correct inaccurate personal data at any time.
- Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) — you may request deletion of your personal data and/or your entire account. Please contact the forum owner via private message to @CyberGene. Requests are fulfilled within 30 days.
- Right to restriction of processing — you may request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
- Right to data portability — you may request a copy of your personal data (username, email, and IP address). Forum posts are generally not considered personally identifiable data and are not included in data exports.
- Right to object — you may object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Right to withdraw consent — you may withdraw consent at any time, which will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
- Right to lodge a complaint — you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your country of residence. A list of EU supervisory authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu.
Policy on user posts after account deletion
Forum posts are an essential part of discussion continuity. PianoClack reserves the right to retain user posts after account deletion, since posts do not in themselves constitute personally identifiable data (as explained in section 2). Any posts that do contain personal data will be removed or anonymized. When an account is deleted, the author attribution on remaining posts is removed, which is considered sufficient anonymization to prevent future personal identification.
9. Children
This forum is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a minor has registered, please contact us so we can remove the account.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Significant changes will be announced in the forum.
Effective date: May 1st, 2026
