Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 26, 2026

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your username and optionally your email address. Passwords are hashed using bcrypt and never stored in plaintext.

Usage Data

We track page views on propositions for impact scoring and contribution analytics. This data is associated with your account to power features like your profile dashboard and achievements.

Contributions

All propositions, arguments, edits, and discussion comments you create are stored and publicly visible. Edit history is maintained for transparency and accountability.

2. How We Use Your Information

To provide and improve the Carmelics platform.
To display your contributions, profile, and achievements to other users.
To compute confidence scores, argument analysis, and intellectual alignment features.
To send notifications about activity on your contributions (if opted in).
To detect and prevent abuse, spam, and vandalism.

3. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. Your contributions are public by design -- this is a collaborative knowledge platform. We may share aggregated, anonymized usage statistics for research purposes.

4. Cookies and Sessions

We use a session cookie (carmelics-session) to keep you logged in. This cookie is HttpOnly, Secure in production, and uses SameSite=Lax policy. We do not use third-party tracking cookies.

5. Data Storage and Security

Data is stored on Turso (distributed SQLite) with encrypted connections.
Passwords are hashed with bcrypt (cost factor 12).
Session tokens use HS256 JWT with 30-day expiration.
All connections use HTTPS in production with HSTS enabled.
Rate limiting protects against brute-force attacks.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access your account data and contribution history.
Update or correct your profile information.
Delete your account (contact an administrator).
Opt out of email communications at any time.

7. Children's Privacy

Carmelics is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of significant changes through the platform's notification system.

9. Contact

For privacy-related questions, contact the site administrators through the platform.