Who we are
This website is operated as part of the Common Data project.
Our website address is:
https://common-data.org
This site exists to explain ideas about digital trust, privacy, and proportionate data use. We aim to collect as little personal information as possible.
Comments
If visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the information shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string. This is done solely to help with spam detection and site security.
If you choose to use an email address when commenting, an anonymised string (a hash) may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at:
https://automattic.com/privacy/
After a comment is approved, any profile picture associated with Gravatar may be visible publicly alongside the comment.
Comments are optional. Reading the site does not require providing personal information.
Media
If you upload images to the website, please avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors may be able to download and extract such data from images displayed on the site.
Cookies
This site uses cookies only where necessary for basic functionality.
If you leave a comment, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for convenience. These cookies exist so you do not need to re-enter details for future comments and will last for up to one year.
If you visit the login page (for site administrators), a temporary cookie is set to determine whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
If you log in, cookies are used to manage login sessions and screen preferences. These cookies are used only for site administration and are not used for tracking.
If you edit or publish content while logged in, an additional cookie may be stored to record the post ID. This cookie contains no personal data and expires after one day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may occasionally include embedded content (such as videos or images).
Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if you visited those websites directly. These external sites may collect data about you, use cookies, or track interaction according to their own policies.
We aim to minimise embedded third-party content wherever possible.
Who we share your data with
We do not sell, trade, or share personal data for commercial purposes.
If you request a password reset (for site administration), your IP address may be included in the reset email for security reasons.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata may be retained to allow follow-up comments to be approved without delay.
If user accounts exist on this site, personal information provided in user profiles is stored only for site administration purposes. Users can view, edit, or delete their personal information at any time, except for usernames.
We aim to retain personal data only as long as it serves a clear and limited purpose.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site or have left comments, you may request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you.
You may also request that we erase personal data we hold, except where retention is required for administrative, legal, or security reasons.
Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
We do not operate advertising networks, behavioural tracking, or data brokerage on this site.
A note on intent
This site is deliberately designed to minimise data collection.
Our goal is to demonstrate — in practice — that useful public information can be shared online without extensive tracking or data retention.