Privacy Policy

When you use slashdot, you trust us with information about your searches, your preferences, and how you interact with the service. We take that trust seriously. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and the choices you have.

We've written this document in plain English. If anything is unclear or you want a more detailed explanation, write to privacy@slashdot.exampleand we'll respond.

We collect information to operate slashdot, maintain its security, and improve search quality. The information we collect falls into two broad categories.

Information you give us directly

• Search queries. The text you type into the search box. We use this to return results, and we use anonymized aggregates to improve ranking.
• Settings. Preferences you choose — region, safe search, results per page. These are stored in a single first-party cookie on your browser.
• Account information. If you create an optional account, we store the email address you provide and a hashed password. Account features are not required to use slashdot.

Information we collect automatically

• Request metadata. The approximate region derived from your IP address, the timestamp, the user-agent string of your browser, and the referring URL if any. We retain this in anonymized form for 30 days.
• Result interactions. Which result on a page you clicked (the position, not your identity). This signal improves the ranker over time.

The data described above is used for four purposes, and four only:

• Operating the service. Returning relevant results, remembering your preferences, sending your account password-reset emails.
• Maintaining security. Detecting and blocking automated abuse, distinguishing humans from bots, and protecting our infrastructure.
• Improving search quality. Aggregating click and dwell signals across all users to retrain the ranker.
• Complying with the law. Responding to valid legal process when we are legally compelled to do so.

We do not use your data for advertising, profile-building, content personalization based on identity, or any commercial purpose beyond the four above.

You can:

• Clear your settings cookie at any time through your browser. Doing so resets your preferences to defaults.
• Delete your account from the Settings page. Account deletion is permanent and processed within 24 hours.
• Request a copy of your data by emailing privacy@slashdot.example. We'll respond within 30 days as required by GDPR, CCPA, and equivalent regulations.
• Opt out of click-signal aggregation via a setting in your account. (Anonymized signals are used by default; opting out excludes your interactions from training data.)

We share personal information outside slashdot only in the following narrow circumstances:

• With your consent. If you explicitly opt in to share something with a third party (for example, exporting your saved searches), we share what you authorized.
• With service providers. Vetted vendors that help us operate the service — email delivery for password resets, cloud hosting, DDoS protection. They are bound by contract to use the data only on our instructions.
• For legal reasons. When we are legally required to do so, or to enforce our Terms of Service, prevent fraud, or protect the safety of our users.

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information.

Data sent to slashdot is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3. Passwords are hashed with Argon2id and never stored in plaintext. Internal access to production data requires multi-factor authentication and is logged.

If we discover a security incident affecting user data, we will notify affected users within 72 hours, as required by GDPR.

slashdot servers are located in the United States and the European Union. When you use slashdot, your data may be processed in either region. For users in the EU, EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission as the legal basis for transfers outside the EEA.

slashdot is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to slashdot, contact privacy@slashdot.example and we will delete it.

We may update this policy as the service evolves. Material changes will be announced via a banner on the slashdot homepage at least 30 days before the new policy takes effect. Minor edits (clarifications, formatting) are made without notice; the “Last modified” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change.

Archived versions of this policy are available on request.