Quick note on personal information

Hi everyone! I'm sure that everyone is getting a bit tired of hearing about the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) at this point. So are we, I promise ^^; We'll cover the basic points in quick-fire fashion and we'll keep it simple and understandable - rather than using all the fancy words that get thrown around. To start with, however, coming with the new changes to the GDPR for the European Union, we've taken steps to ensure that we're following the rules that are laid forward. I'm proud to announce that we had to change nothing in terms of how we handle user information - we were, and are, already following the rules. :D (unlike so many other companies :p)

Your rights

We do not collect additional information than what we state, we clearly tell you what the information is used for at the point of entry (though if you missed it, you can find it in the Privacy Policy at the bottom of every page), you have the right to ask for your information at any time and to request that it be amended or removed.

Our rights

(This is less of a "right" that we have, and more of a "restriction" on your rights. To put it simply, first, it stops people from abusing this privilege and that's pretty much it.) So long as we have viable reason, we are allowed to deny a request to have a user's information removed. Viable reason can be as severe as someone breaking the law, or attempting to use their rights to violate our Terms of Service. (eg. requesting information deletion so they can make a new account - which would be a violation of our ToS). That aside - On to the important stuff! Since that's always been the case for us anyway :D We just wanted to make sure that you were all aware of your rights in this matter. You deserve to be informed!

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In our efforts to just double-check that we are following the new regulations for the EU, we did a check on all of the accounts we have with throwaway e-mail addresses. The reason for this is simple. When you, the user, signed up to our website, you agreed to provide us with accurate information. With the GDPR change, it specifically tasks us with keeping accurate information. Throwaway e-mail addresses are not 'accurate information'. As such, from here onwards, the attempted creation of accounts with these throwaway e-mail addresses will be strictly barred. Additionally, all accounts with throwaway e-mail addresses linked to them will be deactivated in one week. If you are one of the people who this will affect, then you can resolve this in one of two ways: One: Contact the support centre (also at the bottom of every page :D), and have your information amended so that it is no longer pointing to an incorrect e-mail address. Two: Alternatively, you can wait until your account deactivates in 7 days - deactivation of your account means that there will no longer be an e-mail associated with your account, so you can visit our E-mail activation page to update your information without requiring you to contact anyone.

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While we're on the subject of "accurate information", it is worth nothing that this also covers "dates of birth". This information is also required by the new regulation to be accurate. If you are unsure as to whether the information you have on your account is correct, then please feel free to send in a support ticket and ask. It's no bother. Also - if you did use an incorrect date of birth because you were concerned about us having this information, we do actually have an "opt-out" feature now because we're allowed to either have it accurate... Or not have it at all. But we're not allowed to have it wrong. Please note that, as usual, if you are found to have an incorrect date of birth and you do not come to us then we will, unfortunately, be forced to restrict access to your account until the issue is resolved. This is a matter of law, I'm sorry to say, and we will treat it as appropriate as a result. That all said, if you have any concerns, please feel free to lay them out and we'll be happy to respond :)

Just one question actually; what is a "throwaway e-mail address"?

There are websites out there that provide you with a temporary e-mail that lasts for a short period of time. Enough to, for example, sign up to a website :) If you search google for that term then you'll find such websites with ease.

That... Actually sounds pretty neat. Obviously not to sign up for here but for kids who don't have their own email and wish to sign up for other websites.

Ah that makes sense, thank you! Also by "deactivate" do you mean account deletion, or account lock? I've seen Niet say a few times that it is impossible to delete accounts..

Ah. Alright. I was wondering if my email fell under one of those throwaway ones, but Gmail and Outlook aren't one of those so I should be fine.

It means... deactivate. When you signed up you had to activate your account. This will undo that if you used a throwaway email.

What is a support ticket?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being led on, but... A support ticket is a request for help that you send to our Support Centre.

This is probably a stupid question, but how do we check which email address we signed up with? '^^