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Privacy Policy

SocialOrbit+ Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-09

SocialOrbit+ is a nostalgic social networking project. This policy explains what information we store, what we do not store, and which third parties run on the site. By creating an account or using the site, you agree to this policy and our Terms of Service.

1. Information we collect (our servers)

  • Account data: username; email address (stored encrypted at rest, with a one-way lookup hash so you can log in); password (one-way hash — we cannot read your password); account status (active / suspended / banned); optional moderation notes.
  • Profile data: display name, blurbs, interests, mood, status, music, movies, heroes, location, accent color, avatar text, and photos or image URLs you provide. We do not let members upload custom HTML, CSS, or page backgrounds.
  • Social activity: home posts (text, photos, links), comments, likes, reposts, guestbook comments, testimonials, cool votes, forum posts, public chat messages, private messages (including photos you attach), friend connections, blogs, bulletins, and groups you join or create.
  • Uploads: images you upload (avatar, gallery, posts, chat, messages, forum, groups) are stored so we can show them again.
  • Presence & visits: last login time; last-seen time (updated about every 30 seconds while you are logged in, used for “Active friends”); a public profile-view counter; an anonymous site-wide visit counter on Home.
  • Post shares: anonymous share counts (tied to a browser session, not shown as “who shared”).
  • Activity notices (alerts): when someone mentions you, comments, likes or reposts your post, adds you, votes you cool, or writes on your page, we store a short notice for What’s new / the alert bell.
  • Privacy choices: who can view your profile, whether you appear in search and “Active friends,” who can message you, and whether you accept friend requests.
  • Onboarding: whether you dismissed the getting-started checklist.
  • Browser cookies we set: the essential login session cookie (sid). Optional Google cookies only after you accept them (see sections 4 and 7).

2. What we do not collect

  • We do not store your IP address, browser fingerprint, or user-agent in our database.
  • We do not store precise location. Hometown is only what you type on your profile.
  • We do not rank, bury, or shuffle the feed based on what you click.
  • We do not sell your profile, posts, or messages.
  • We do not run member-supplied HTML or CSS on profiles.

Rate limiting may briefly use your IP address in server memory to slow spam. Those counters are not saved as a log of who visited.

3. Monitoring we do ourselves

  • Login sessions: a server-side session (cookie name sid) so we know you are signed in. Lasts up to 30 days with activity, HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax, Secure in production.
  • Last seen: if you are logged in, we refresh last-seen about every 30 seconds so friends can see you in Active friends (you can hide this in Settings).
  • Profile views: visiting someone else’s profile increments a public counter. We do not show a list of who viewed a profile.
  • Home hits: loading the home page increments a public visit total. It is not tied to an account.
  • Moderation: site operators can look at account records (including email and last login) and user-posted content to handle abuse.

4. Third-party tracking (Google)

The site can load scripts from Google only after you accept optional cookies in the cookie banner (or if you previously accepted them on this device). Those companies collect data under their own policies. We do not control their cookies or reports. Choosing “Essential only” keeps the site working without Analytics or AdSense.

  • Google Analytics (measurement ID G-QEP06048TL): page views and related usage on SocialOrbit+. Google typically receives your IP address, device/browser info, and Analytics cookies (such as _ga).
  • Google AdSense (publisher ca-pub-1566573312352415): ads. AdSense may use cookies and similar tech to show and measure ads, including across other sites.

See Google’s Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from sites that use their ads. You can also use browser controls and, where available, Google Analytics opt-out. To change your choice later, clear this site’s local storage for cookie consent (or clear site data) and reload the page to see the banner again.

5. How we use our own data

  • To run SocialOrbit+ (profiles, friends, messaging, forums, chat, blogs, bulletins, groups, the feed).
  • To keep you signed in and show online/active status when you allow it.
  • To protect the community (rate limits, CSRF tokens, spam/abuse prevention).

6. What is public vs private

  • Public or visible to other members: your profile (unless you set it to friends-only or private), posts, likes and reposts, comments, forum posts, public chat, blogs, groups you join, and bulletins shared with friends. Profile view counts are public numbers, not a viewer list.
  • Private: private messages; your password hash; your email (not shown on profiles); your privacy settings; unread-notice counts.

You can change profile visibility, search listing, “Active friends,” messaging, and friend requests in Settings.

7. Cookies & local storage

  • Our session cookie (sid): login only (essential). Stored server-side. Logging out or clearing cookies ends that session.
  • Cookie consent choice: we store whether you accepted or declined optional cookies in local storage on your device (so_cookie_consent).
  • This browser only: theme and accessibility choices (text size, contrast, reduce motion, underline links) are saved in local storage on your device. We do not send those prefs to our server.
  • Google cookies: Analytics and AdSense may set their own cookies only if you accept optional cookies, as described in section 4.

8. Data retention & deletion

Your content remains while your account exists. If you want your account and associated content removed, contact the site operator (or use an account-deletion feature if provided). Backups or logs may retain limited data for a short period for security and recovery.

9. Security

We use hashed passwords, encrypted emails at rest, CSRF protection on forms, rate limiting (including a login cooldown), input sanitization, parameterized database queries, secure session cookies, and opaque public IDs in post links so sequential numbers are not exposed in the address bar. No system is perfectly secure — please use a unique password and be careful what you post.

10. Children’s privacy

SocialOrbit+ is intended for users old enough to consent to online services in their region. If you believe a child’s information was submitted, contact the site operator to request removal.

11. Other third parties

If you link or embed an image or URL from another host, that host may see requests from visitors’ browsers. We do not sell your personal information. Google’s role is described in section 4.

12. Changes

We may update this policy. Continued use of SocialOrbit+ after changes means you accept the updated policy. The “Last updated” date above will change when we revise it.

13. Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach the site operator through the SocialOrbit+ About page or the contact method published with this deployment.

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