PRIVACY POLICY

Effective: April 10, 2026

Afterline BBS ("Afterline," "we," "us") is a small, independently operated bulletin board system delivered as a browser extension. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices.

1. Information We Collect

Account information. When you register, we collect:

• A handle (username) you choose
• An email address
• A password, which is hashed with bcrypt before storage — we never store your plaintext password

Content you create. Material you submit through the service, including wall posts, conference chat, instant messages (IMs), BBS mail, board threads and replies, and profile information you choose to add.

Optional resident bot (“Ava”). When this feature is enabled on the server, if you send an instant message to Ava or include @Ava in conference chat, the text you send (and a short amount of context the server includes to generate a reply, such as recent conference lines) is sent to an external cloud service used only to produce those automated responses. You choose whether to contact or mention Ava; we do not use that flow for advertising or behavioral profiling.

Technical data. Your IP address is collected on connection for rate limiting, abuse prevention, and ban enforcement. We do not use it for tracking or advertising.

Local storage. The browser extension stores data in your browser's extension storage: an authentication token (JWT) so you stay signed in, and local preferences such as display and sound settings. This data stays on your device and is not shared with third parties.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide the BBS service — sign-in, messaging, presence, and community features
• To authenticate your account and maintain your session
• To enforce our Terms of Service and protect the community (moderation, bans)
• To rate-limit connections and prevent abuse
• To send optional transactional email when you turn on mail or board notifications in settings (for example, new mail or replies to your threads)
• To provide optional automated replies from the resident bot character (Ava), when you choose to message or mention Ava as described above

3. What We Don't Do

• We do not sell your personal information
• We do not use your information for advertising
• We do not serve advertisements
• We do not use third-party analytics or tracking scripts
• We do not read or access your browsing activity, unrelated tabs, or arbitrary web page content — the extension only communicates with the Afterline server

3a. Service providers

We use infrastructure vendors to host and operate Afterline. When you use Ava, message content needed for that interaction is processed by an external provider solely to return a reply into the BBS. We do not control that provider’s internal retention or security practices; we select providers we believe are reputable and configure access only for this feature.

4. Data Storage & Security

Account data and messages are stored in a server-side database. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Connections between the extension and the server use HTTPS and WSS (encrypted WebSocket). We take reasonable measures to protect your data, but no system is perfectly secure.

5. Data Retention

Account data is retained for as long as your account exists. Wall posts, conference messages, and public board content are retained as part of the community record. BBS mail, IMs, and similar messages are stored on the server so you can read and manage them. You may delete your account and associated data from the extension's Settings screen, or by contacting us at the email below.

6. Your Choices

• You can sign out at any time, which removes your session token from local storage
• You can uninstall the extension at any time, which removes all locally stored data
• You can delete your account from Settings in the extension (permanent deletion of your account and associated data), or request deletion by emailing [email protected]
• You can turn mail and board email notifications on or off in Settings
• You can avoid Ava by not sending IMs to Ava and not using @Ava in conference; you can also block Ava like any other user if that option is available

7. Children's Privacy

Afterline is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date. Continued use of Afterline after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact

Questions or requests? Email [email protected].