Privacy Policy | Diaryland

Diaryland is a place to keep a personal diary online. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the Diaryland website and mobile app, how we use it, and the choices you have. We have tried to write it in plain language. If anything is unclear, email us at help@diaryland.com.

Who we are

Diaryland has hosted personal diaries since 1999. It is an independent, ad-free service. For the purposes of data protection law, Diaryland is the controller of the personal information described here. You can reach us at help@diaryland.com.

What we collect

We collect the information you give us, and a small amount that is created automatically when you use the service.

Information you give us

Account details: your email address, a password (stored only as a secure hash, never in plain text), your username, and any optional private account name.
If you sign in with Google: we receive your email address and basic profile information from Google so we can create or match your account. We do not receive your Google password.
Optional profile and settings: your public profile details, including a diary title, public author name, description, and pronouns, plus things like your timezone, an optional phone number, and notification preferences.
Content you create: diary entries, comments, notes, direct messages (including any voice notes and image attachments), profile text, daily prompt responses and questions you ask or answer.
Payment details: if you choose to become a supporter, payments are handled by Stripe. We receive a record that a payment was made and your subscription status. We never see or store your full card number.
Messages to us: if you contact support, we keep what you send so we can help.
Newsletter subscriptions: if you subscribe to a Diaryland newsletter, or a newsletter publisher imports a list you already joined elsewhere, we keep your email address, subscription status, consent history, and the source of the signup. Uploaded import files are read once and are not kept.
Member story submissions: if you share a story about Diaryland, we keep the story, the public name and optional photo you selected, your private contact name and email address, and a record of the publication choices you made.

Information collected automatically

Sign-in and security logs: standard server logs that may include your IP address, browser or app version and timestamps. We use these to keep accounts secure and to prevent abuse and spam.
Visitor statistics (only if you turn them on): if you enable visitor stats, we record visits to your diary pages, public zines, and public books, plus successful requests for your public RSS feed. When someone starts an audio entry, we also record a listen and whether it came from a logged-in member or a guest. We work out an approximate location (such as country or region) from the visitor's IP address at the moment of a request and then discard the raw IP address. We do not store raw visitor IP addresses for stats.
Push notification tokens: if you use the mobile app and allow notifications, your device provides a token that lets us send the notifications you have asked for.

How we use it

To run your account and show your diary to the people you choose.
To deliver features you use: messaging, comments, notes, daily prompts, stats and so on.
To send service messages you have opted into, such as comment or message notifications, and to send password resets.
To process supporter payments and manage subscriptions.
To keep the service safe: detecting spam, abuse and unauthorised access.
To respond when you contact us for help.
To deliver newsletters people asked to receive, manage subscriptions and unsubscribes, and review imports for spam or abuse.
To review member story submissions, contact you about your submission, and use a story on the site, in newsletters, or in press outreach when you have given permission.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not show advertising.

We share personal information only in these limited cases:

Service providers who help us run Diaryland, under contracts that limit them to working on our behalf. These include Stripe (payments), Google (sign-in), our email delivery provider, Twilio (text messages, if you use a feature that needs them), and Apple and Google for delivering push notifications to the app.
Other members see whatever you choose to make visible: your public diary entries, comments, profile and messages you send them. You control your diary's visibility in your settings.
Member stories: the story, public name and optional photo covered by the submitter's permission may appear on Diaryland or in press outreach about Diaryland. Private contact names and email addresses are not published. We do not give an email address to a reporter unless the submitter separately agrees at that time.
Legal reasons: if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and property of Diaryland, our members or the public.

Your diary content

Your diary is yours. You decide how visible it is, from fully public to private. Direct messages are visible to you and the people in the conversation. Please remember that anything you choose to publish publicly can be seen, and potentially saved, by others while it is public.

Cookies and sessions

We use a small number of cookies that are necessary to run the site, mainly to keep you logged in and to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

Keeping and deleting data

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. Security logs are kept only for a limited period and then removed.

When you delete content or your account, it is first removed from view and then permanently deleted after a short retention window. There is no self-service undo. If you contact us quickly after a mistake, we will check whether recovery is still possible, but we cannot guarantee it.

When someone unsubscribes from a newsletter or an address must not receive email, we keep a limited suppression record so the address is not added or mailed again by mistake.

We keep member story submissions and their consent records while we review or publish them. You can ask us to withdraw your story and remove its private contact details.

Your choices and rights

You can:

View and update your account details and settings at any time.
Control who can see your diary, and turn features like stats and notifications on or off.
Request a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or delete it.
Unsubscribe from a newsletter at any time using the link in every newsletter email.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under local data protection law. To make any of these requests, email help@diaryland.com from the address on your account so we can verify it is really you.

Children

Diaryland is not intended for children under 13, and you must be at least 13 to create an account. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will remove it.

Security

We protect your information with measures appropriate to its sensitivity, including encrypted connections and hashed passwords. No online service can promise perfect security, but we work to keep your diary safe and to fix problems quickly.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make meaningful changes, we will update the date at the top of the page and, where appropriate, let you know in the app or by email.

Contact

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Email us at help@diaryland.com or visit our help page.