This Privacy Policy explains how Hub 4 Mech ("we") processes personal data when you use the Service. We process data in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK), where they apply.
1. Data we collect
| Category | Examples | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account | name, e-mail address, password (stored only as a secure hash), member id, sign-up date | to create and secure your account |
| Profile | avatar, bio, theme and e-mail preferences | to show your profile and respect your settings |
| Content | notes, problems, apps, images, sources, comments, feedback, versions | to provide the Service |
| Activity | votes, favourites, reading history, problem attempts and solutions, points and milestones, notifications | features such as My Hub, statistics and reputation |
| Messages | the private messages you send and receive | to deliver them |
| Search | search terms and number of results (linked to your account if you are signed in) | popular searches and improving search |
| Technical | IP address, browser, device and time of requests, security logs | security, preventing abuse, fixing errors |
2. Purposes and legal bases
- Providing the Service (account, content, messages, statistics) - performance of the contract with you.
- Security and abuse prevention (logs, rate limits, reCAPTCHA) - our legitimate interest in a safe service.
- E-mails about messages, comments and milestones - your settings; you can switch them off at any time.
- Legal obligations - where the law requires us to keep or disclose data.
3. What is public
Your name, member id, avatar, bio, membership length, reputation, published content and comments are visible to everyone. Drafts, favourites, votes, history, messages and your e-mail address are not.
4. Who receives data
- Hosting provider - stores the website and database on our behalf.
- E-mail delivery - sends notification and account e-mails.
- Google reCAPTCHA - checks sign-up, login, password reset and feedback forms for bots; Google receives technical data such as your IP address. See Google's privacy policy.
- Authorities - only where required by law.
Some providers may process data outside your country. Where this happens we rely on the safeguards required by law.
5. How long we keep data
- Account and profile data: as long as your account exists.
- Content: as long as it is on the Service; earlier versions are kept to allow restoring.
- Messages: until both participants have deleted them.
- Search logs and technical logs: up to 12 months, then deleted or anonymised.
6. Your rights
To use your rights, send us a message or feedback. We answer within 30 days.
7. Children
The Service is not intended for children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account without permission, please contact us so we can remove it.
8. Security
We protect data with encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access controls, CSRF protection and regular updates. No system is perfectly secure; tell us if you notice a problem.
9. Cookies
See the Cookie Policy.
10. Changes
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version; important changes are announced on the site.
