Privacy Policy

For the purposes of this document, "Journal Watcher" and "Steve(n Calderwood)" are used interchangably. No liability or responsibility applies to Journal Watcher that does not apply to Steve Calderwood. You use Journal Watcher at your own risk!

Your privacy is of paramount importance. At Journal Watcher, Steve Calderwood (creator and maintainer of Journal Watcher) has a few fundamental principles regarding privacy:

• Personal information should not be requested unless it is truly needed. (To work properly, this service does not need, for example, gender or income level, so you are not asked for it.)
• Personal information shouldn't be shared with anyone except to comply with the law. In so far as he knows, Steve Calderwood is the only person who has access to the information of your's that Journal Watcher stores (and your password is encrypted, so he does not have access to that).
• Personal information isn't stored on the servers unless required for the on-going operation of Journal Watcher (with the exception of whatever information the webhost, DreamHost, stores; as far as Steve knows, they only store information supplied by your web browser).

Below is Journal Watcher's privacy policy which incorporates these goals:

In addition to the information that the webhost's visitor statistics program collects, Journal Watcher collects the following information:

• A Username (can be unique to the Journal Watcher site)
• Email Address (has to be valid to register an account)
• Password (again, this can be unique to Journal Watcher, and that is recommended; it is encrypted before storing in the database)
• Date and time (stored in a UNIX timestamp format) of last access of Journal Watcher - this is only used for cookie/session maintenance purposes.
• URLs of watchings (these are associated with your account until you delete them)
• If you watch are watching F-locked communities, then we also store the username and password you supply for a particular *Journal site.
• Toolbar info (only if you use it)
• Icons - These are stored until they are manually deleted (usually within a week). The username/password needed to upload them to a particular *Journal site are not stored.

As always, with sending any information over the internet, there is an inherent risk the user undertakes. Neither Journal Watcher nor Steve Calderwood is responsible for any breach of your privacy that occurs. Steve takes privacy incredibly seriously and has taken the steps he is able to take to protect your privacy. If you are not satisfied by the steps outlined in this document, then you are recommended to a) suggest changes via the contact page (yet you understand full well they may not be implemented); b) do not register an account; or c) request account deletion via the contact page (Steve promises a user-enabled account deletion to be available before 11/1/2008).

The Way We Use Information:

Journal Watcher uses your information in the following ways.

• User-management within the Journal Watcher community: provide unique user accounts to each person that allow each person to get the maximum benefit from the service as possible. We may automatically provide you with a way to retrieve or reset your password; this is tied to the email address with which you registered. If your email address has been compromised, Journal Watcher is not responsible.
• Interaction with *Journal sites: Information is passed between Journal Watcher's servers and the *Journal sites you link with your account. Namely, information is sent about what posts or communities to watch and what icons to upload.
• If you email Journal Watcher, your email is stored for response purposes only. After responding and/or the resolution of a problem or suggestion, your email address is deleted (note: This deletion does not affect what you choose to store in the Journal Watcher database by registering for an account). The only reason why an email address is retained after an initial response is if communication with the sender is essential for solving a problem or implementing a suggestion.
• Journal Watcher may use anonymous browser information for site-enhancement purposes. Any such information is collected by the webhost, DreamHost.

Journal Watcher does NOT under any circumstances give out, sell, or otherwise distribute the email addresses or *Journal account information it collects (according to the above descriptions). The ONLY exception are those situations in which we are compelled by law to distribute information.

Regarding Data Security

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, appropriate electronic and managerial procedures have been implemented in the hope of safeguarding and securing your information. Steve Calderwood does not have physical access to the equipment on which your information is stored. If you are concerned about that security, then you need to consult the webhost, DreamHost.

Children's Privacy

Protecting children privacy is incredibly valuable. Journal Watcher does not collect or maintain information on those under thirteen (13) years of age. Furthermore, Journal Watcher does not permit those who are under thirteen (13) to register for an account (and hence, use the provided services).

Accessing, Correcting, Deleting your information

After registering an account, you may edit your account information by going to the Edit Account page. No later than 11/1/2008, you will be able to delete your account information from that page. Your username, email address, timestamp of last access, all watchings, post tracker information, and toolbar information are deleted when you deleted your account (once the feature is available, which will be no later than 11/1/2008). Information used in the icon uploader may not be deleted immediately. That information is deleted on an irregular basis, but roughly once-a-week.

The exception to this deletion policy is that the Journal Watcher database is routinely backed up. The backup includes the entire contents of the database (e.g. the above listed information). These backups are purged on an irregular basis. Backups are ONLY used for restoration purposes (unless Journal Watcher is served with a legally compelling order to turn over the contents of a backup file). When you delete your account, you are not entitled to the deletion of your information in the backup files, as any such change to the backup information could compromise their veracity and affect the Journal Watcher service as a whole.

Again, Steve Calderwood considers privacy of paramount importance. He takes every step he reasonably can to protect your privacy. Your use of the Journal Watcher service is at your own risk.