Festipedia:Privacy policy

From Festipedia, hosted by the FR Heritage Group

The information collected by this website when you visit pages is similar to that collected by most websites. However, if you choose to start a new page or make changes to an existing page, rather more information will be kept. You should assume that this information, along with your contributions to the wiki, will be retained forever.

Reading pages

Whenever you visit a page on any website, your browser sends some information to the website. Most web servers log some of this information. The administrators of this wiki do not currently have access to these logs, although this may change if the hosting arrangements for the site are altered. The administrators do have access to the data in the logs in aggregated form as activity reports. These are produced by Webalizer and allow the administrators to analyse traffic patterns and certain other information. The reports do not allow administrators to determine which pages you have looked at or when you visited the website.

Publishing information on the wiki

When you edit any page on the wiki, your user name and IP address are logged. Your IP address is a set of four numbers which uniquely identifies your computer on the internet. Depending on your connection, this may be fixed or may vary over time.

If you are logged in when you make the edit, other users of the wiki will only see your user name. This can be your real name or a pseudonym. Administrators will be able to determine your IP address but will only use this facility as set out in the section on third parties below.

If you are not logged in when you edit a page on the wiki, other users will see your IP address. Under some circumstances, it may be possible for private individuals to use your IP address in conjunction with other information derived from your contributions to determine your identity. Law enforcement agencies can usually determine your identity from your IP address. Under some circumstances, it may be possible for your employer to identify you from your IP address. If you are concerned about privacy, you may choose to log in under a pseudonym.

If you do choose to log in on a shared computer, make sure you log out at the end of each session otherwise other users will be able to make use of your identity to edit this wiki.

Cookies

A cookie is a small text file that a website may put on your computer and interrogate. There are two types of cookies:

  • A session cookie is automatically deleted when you close your browser.
  • A persistent cookie is kept until for a period of time defined by the website.

This wiki uses both a session cookie and a persistent cookie. The session cookie (FRHGWikiNow) is required to log in. It holds your user name and, if you are logged in, your password in encrypted form. The persistent cookie (FRHGWiki) is kept for 30 days and holds your user name. If you tick the "Remember me" checkbox when logging in, this cookie will also hold your password in encrypted form. You can delete this cookie if you are using a shared computer and you don't want other users to see your user name.

Passwords

Each time you log in, your password is sent over the internet in unencrypted form. Whilst it is unlikely to be intercepted, we recommend that you avoid using a password you also use for other purposes. Once you have logged in, your password will be sent in encrypted form every time you access the wiki. It is unlikely that anyone intercepting the encrypted password could use it to work out your password.

Passwords are the only protection you have against other users making use of your identity for editing this wiki. You should therefore choose a strong password and keep it safe. You must not knowingly release the password of another user, either directly or indirectly.

Email

You may give your email address when you create your user account and allow other users to send email to you through the wiki. Your email address will not be exposed to other users unless you respond to their emails or, possibly, if their message to you bounces. If you send an email to another user through the wiki, they will see your email address so that they can respond.

If you do not provide an email address, you will not be able to request an automated email with your password if you forget it.

Deleting content

Remember that removing text from a page does not delete it completely. Anyone can use the page history to view a version of the page containing the deleted text. If an article is deleted, administrators may still be able to see the article content for a short while until the deletion becomes permanent.

Security

We cannot guarantee that there will be no unauthorised access to the information you provide, although we take reasonable steps to prevent such access.

Third parties

All text contributed to this wiki is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Administrators may share information about you with each other, including information found in the wiki page logs and recent changes log, if:

  • they have your permission, or
  • they are investigating vandalism or disruptive behaviour, or
  • they are attempting to resolve technical issues, or
  • it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of the Festiniog Railway Heritage Group, its users or the public.

We will not release or sell any private information we hold about you unless you consent to the release or we are required to release the information by law.