Privacy Statement

v1.5 - February 2024

About this document

This document has been originally written in English and is the only version for which Stichting Disroot.org can be held accountable.

Any translation of this Privacy Statement is a community effort to make the information accessible in other languages and should be taken as such, with no other value than merely informative.

Definitions used on this Privacy Statement

GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation, EU 2016/679
Data: According to the GDPR, data is any information that can be used to identify a person, either directly (real name, phone number, IP address, etc.) or indirectly (any combination of the aforementioned plus device fingerprints, cookies, etc.). In the specific context of the use of our platform, it is the minimum information required for the proper operation of the services provided by Disroot.org as well as the information the user optionally submits on any of them.
Services: the set of different software, protocols and standards used to exchange data between web applications.
User or you: any person or third party that access and uses the services provided by Disroot.org.
Disroot, Disroot.org, we or us: Stichting Disroot.org
Platform: the set of services provided by Disroot.org and that are hosted on our servers.
Disroot credentials: they are the username and password created and used by the user to log in to the services provided by us.
Federated services: services that operate on the basis of so-called federation protocols which enable users who signed up at different services providers to interact with each other. Examples of these services are Nextcloud, Email, Akkoma and XMPP.
Brute-force attack: is a cryptographic attack that consists of submitting many passwords or passphrases, hoping to eventually find the right ones.

The Data covered by this Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement applies to all services hosted on Disroot.org and its sub-domains. It does not extend to any websites or web services that can be accessed from our platform including, but not limited to, any federated services and social media websites outside Disroot. Federated services are those that interoperate with each other (exchanging information and services) regardless of the provider (e.g. email or open social networks). These services use protocols that necessarily share or transfer data between different providers and therefore such interactions are outside the scope of this Privacy Statement.

It is important to note that sharing data with other services providers is a user’s choice (see 1. What data do we collect?) and is configured by the users in their services settings, including the decision what to share and with whom.

1. What data do we collect?

If a user chooses to use any of the services provided by us, the following data will be required and therefore collected by Disroot.org:

A valid email address: required for account creation. This email address is deleted from our database after the account has been approved/denied, unless the user chooses during the registration process, to keep it for password reset process.
An username and a password: required to identify the account holder and provide the services offered by Disroot.org.
Necessary information related to the operation and functioning of the services which may include, for example, IP address, User Agent, etc. More detailed information about this and how we handle it can be found in the Privacy notices per service.
When a user makes an online donation to Disroot.org, we collect personal data such as, but not limited to, username (if any), country (in case of extra storage request for tax purposes), transaction IDs or bank account/reference. The purpose for which we use this data is merely administrative (verification of regular donations, accounting management) and is maintained under the same security measures described in the "How do we store your data?" section. Since all the data we collect is previously processed by a third-party payment processor such as PayPal, Patreon or Liberapay, by using these or similar services, their use of your information is based on their terms of service and policies, not ours, so we encourage you to review those policies carefully.
Any additional information that the user chooses to supply while using the services provided by us (whether it is chats, posts, emails, etc.). This additional information is optional and with the user's consent.

(For more detailed information, please refer to the Detailed privacy notices per service section below)

1.1. What do we do with your data?

Our processing of your information is limited to providing the service.
We store logs of your activity for a period no longer than 24 hours (unless specified otherwise per service). This data is used to help diagnose software issues, maintain security of the system against intrusion and monitor the health of the platform.

(Detailed information on Privacy notices per service section)

1.2. How do we store your data?

To protect your data we use the following security measures:

We use disk encryption on all servers to prevent data leak in case the servers are stolen, confiscated or in any way physically tampered with.
We provide and require SSL/TLS encryption on all "user-to-server" and "server-to-server" communications on all provided services.
We utilize "end-to-end" and/or "server-side" encryption technologies whenever it is made available by services that allow it to provide maximum security for the users.

1.3. How do we backup your data?

In order to allow attempt at recovery from data loss disaster situations, we create backups on remote server owned by Stichting Disroot.org. We backup data on daily basis and store them for period of 4 days.

2. What we do not do with your data

We do not collect any other data than what is needed to provide you the service.
We do not, in any way, process, analyze your behavior or personal characteristics to create profiles about you or your usage of the services. We have no advertisements or business relationships with advertisers.
We do not sell your data to any third party.
We do not share your data to any third party unless in case of federated services which requires certain data to be shared in order to operate (e.g. other email service provider needs to know your email address to be able to deliver emails).
We do not require any additional information that is not crucial for the operation of the service (we do not ask for phone numbers, private personal data, home address).
We do not read/look nor process your personal data, emails, files, etc., stored on our servers unless needed for providing the service, troubleshooting purposes or under suspicion of breaking our Terms Of Services in which case we ask for prior permission from you or inform you afterwards of all actions taken against the account in the transparency report addressed to account holder.

3. Where the data is stored?

We store all data in our own servers, located in a data center in the Netherlands.

4. Detailed privacy notices per service

4.1. - Disroot Email (https://webmail.disroot.org)

This service requires login with Disroot credentials.
All emails, unless encrypted by the user (with GnuPG/PGP, for example) are stored unencrypted on our servers.
IP addresses of currently logged in users via IMAP/POP3 protocols are stored as long as the device is logged in the server (per each device logged in).
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your username and your IP address, from and to email addresses, IP addresses of servers the emails come in or go out to, are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.
Given that email works on a federated protocol, when interacting with email addresses hosted on third party servers (e.g. Gmail.com, Posteo.org), data is sent to other independently operated and owned servers in the network over which we have no control.

4.2. - Disroot Cloud (https://cloud.disroot.org)

This service requires login with Disroot credentials.
All files sent to the cloud are encrypted with a key-pair created based on the user password to add an extra level of security. Note, however, that the keys are stored on the server, which compromises the level of security to some degree (e.g.: if an attacker knows your password and obtain the encryption key-pair, can decrypt the data). However, no "Master Key" does exist on our setup, which means the Admins cannot decrypt any file stored on the cloud without knowing user's password prior.
Excluding the files, everything else (calendars, contacts, news, tasks, bookmarks, etc.) is stored unencrypted in a database, unless an application provides external encryption (none so far). This is a limitation of the software we are utilizing for this service (Nextcloud).
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your IP address, your username, an app currently used, error messages and User Agent, are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.

4.3. - Disroot XMPP Chat (https://webchat.disroot.org)

This service requires login with Disroot credentials.
The roster (your XMPP contact list) is stored on the server's database.
Chat history is stored on the server in the same form as on the chat itself, meaning unencrypted chat is stored in plain-text and encrypted chat is stored encrypted. Additionally, the chat history, if not specified by the user on per chatroom basis, is stored on the server for a period of 1 month. You can decide to not have any history stored on the server per chat.
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your IP address and your username are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.
Given that XMPP is a federated protocol, when interacting with users or chat-rooms hosted on third party servers, data is sent to other independently operated and owned servers in the network over which we have no control.
Files uploaded to the server are stored as is (plain-text or encrypted) for a period of 1 month.
If using Movim, all the articles and comments published by you on our services are stored on the server. Using the Movim configuration panel you can choose to leave the instance. If you do so, all the data related to your XMPP account will be destroyed.

4.4. - Disroot Search (https://search.disroot.org)

This service does not require login or providing any personal data.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
Logs may be enabled occasionally in case of troubleshooting. Logs are then enabled for the duration of problem assessment and are purged immediately after.
Personal information of our users is never leaked to the other search engines.

4.5. - Disroot Upload (https://upload.disroot.org)

This service does not require login or providing any personal data.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
Logs may be enabled occasionally in case of troubleshooting. Logs are then enabled for the duration of problem assessment and are purged immediately after.
All files uploaded to the server are end-to-end encrypted which means no one with access to the server can decrypt/read the data.
Files uploaded to the server are wiped based on the retention period set by the user upon upload. However, there are maximum retention periods automatically set depending on the file size (the bigger the file is, the shorter time it is kept on the server.)

4.6. - Disroot Pads (https://pad.disroot.org)

This service does not require login or providing any personal data.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
We do not collect any other personal data that can be linked to the pads.
Pad content is stored on the server in the database as is (plain-text).
Users can't delete pads, but untouched pads expire after six months and are then removed from the server.

4.7. - Disroot Bin (https://bin.disroot.org)

This service does not require login or providing any personal data.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
Logs may be enabled occasionally in case of troubleshooting. Logs are then enabled for the duration of problem assessment and are purged immediately after.
All files uploaded to the server are end-to-end encrypted which means no one with access to the server can decrypt/read the data.
Files uploaded to the server are wiped based on the retention period set by the user upon upload.
Comments and discussions under pastes are end-to-end encrypted.

4.8. - Disroot Scribe (https://scribe.disroot.org)

This service requires to create separate account to interact with discussions.
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your IP address and your username are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.
All Scribe data such as, but not limited to, communities, messages, files, etc., are stored on the server in the database as is (plain-text).
Given that ActivityPub is a federated protocol, when interacting with users hosted on third party servers, data is sent to other independently operated and owned servers in the network over which we have no control.

4.9. - Disroot Translate (https://translate.disroot.org)

This service does not require login.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
No user data is permanently stored on the server.

4.10. - Disroot Calls (https://calls.disroot.org)

This service does not require login.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
No user data is permanently stored on the server.

4.11. - Disroot Git (https://git.disroot.org)

This service requires to create a separate git account to interact with others.
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your IP address, your username, error messages and User Agent, are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.
All git data such as, but not limited to, usernames, email addresses, messages, code, files, versions, pull requests, etc., are stored on the server in the database as is (plain-text).

4.12. - Disroot Audio (https://mumble.disroot.org)

This service requires to connect with an username, but it is not mandatory to register it on the server.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server, only the username and its associated certificate are saved, if the user decided to register.

4.13. - Disroot CryptPad (https://cryptpad.disroot.org)

This service does not require login or providing any personal data. However, an account can be created in order to save files.
No log data (IP address, session cookie, etc.) is stored on the server.
All documents created or uploaded to the server are end-to-end encrypted which means no one with access to the server can decrypt/read the data.
Documents expire after three months and are then removed from the server, except if an account was created, in which case documents uploaded to the server are wiped based on the retention period set by the user upon upload/creation.

4.14. - Disroot Akkoma (https://fe.disroot.org)

This service requires login with Disroot credentials.
Server logs, which store information such as, but not limited to, your IP address and your username are stored for a period of 24 hours after which they are deleted from the server. No backup of log files is created. Logs are kept to prevent brute-force attacks on accounts and to provide quick insight when debugging issues.
All Akkoma data such as, but not limited to, messages, files, etc., are stored on the server in the database as is (plain-text).
Given that ActivityPub is a federated protocol, when interacting with users hosted on third party servers, data is sent to other independently operated and owned servers in the network over which we have no control.

5. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data:

Right to access - The right to request (I) copies of your personal Data or (II) access to the information you submitted and we hold at any time.
Right to correct - The right to have your Data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.*
Right to erase - The right to request delete or remove your Data from our servers.
Right to restrict the use of your Data - The right to restrict processing or limit the way we use your Data.
Right to Data portability - The right to move, copy or transfer your Data.
Right to object - The right to object to our use of your Data.

Your Disroot username and Disroot email address are integral part of your user account and cannot be modified.
Usernames remain in the database, even after erasure request, to prevent old usernames being re-used by new users, compromising the privacy of both and enabling possible identity theft. For that reason, usernames of accounts that have been deleted remain in the database to avoid being reused. However, all the linked personal information is deleted permanently.

You have the right to lodge a complain, make inquiries, exercise any of the rights described above or withdraw your consent to the processing of your Data (where consent is our legal basis for processing your Data), by contacting us via email to:

data.protection.officer@disroot.org - Person responsible for this Privacy Statement
info@disroot.org - General information contact

For the purposes of the GDPR, Disroot.org is the "data controller". This means that Disroot determines the purposes for which and the manner which your data is processed.

Stichting Disroot.org:
Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) number: 69988099

If you are not satisfied with the way your Data is handled by us, or think its processing is not appropriate, you have the right to send a complaint to the Information Commissioners’ Office.

Dutch Data Protection Authority (Dutch DPA)
Postal address
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
PO Box 93374
2509 AJ DEN HAAG
Phone: (+31) - (0)70 - 888 85 00
Fax: (+31) - (0)70 - 888 85 01

5.1. Access to your information

Access to your personal data, stored files and other information you provide to any of the services offered by Disroot.org is under your control. This means that all data stored on our services that are bound to personal information (services that require logging in) are available for you to download either for archival purposes or to transfer to another compatible service.

Learn how to access and self-export your personal data here
Modify your personal data or delete your account here

6. Changes on this Privacy Statement

Any and all changes to this Privacy Statement will be publicly available and communicated to all users via our social networks and blog post. We recommend that you regularly check for any changes on this Statement.

You can follow the history of changes on this document on our version control system here or in the section 6 of this document.

Last updates of this Privacy Statement:

February, 2024: add Translate, Movim and Scribe information, remove Forum and Project Board, update info about backup retention.
April, 2023: add Upload information about retention periods.
December, 2022: add Akkoma information.
September, 2022: update XMPP information about file retention.