Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 1, 2025 · Ghost Together / ghosttogether.net

Ghost Together is a community platform for writers, artists, photographers, and creative people. We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and what we never do with it.

What We Collect

Account information — username, email address, display name, password (hashed), and the date you registered.
Profile content — bio, location, website URL, avatar image, and any other information you choose to add to your public profile.
Posts and activity — everything you post, like, repost, or comment on the platform.
Birthday (optional) — if you provide it, your birthday is stored privately and used only to suggest connections with people near your age group. It is never shown publicly.
Uploaded media — images, audio, and other files you upload.
Messages — direct messages you send to other users.
Technical data — IP address (used for security and abuse prevention), browser type, and approximate timestamps of activity.

Google Contacts (Invite Feature)

When you use the Invite Friends feature and choose to connect your Google account, we request read-only access to your Google Contacts for the sole purpose of displaying them to you in the invite flow. We do not store, transmit, or retain your Google contacts data on our servers. Contact names and email addresses are used only in your browser session to let you select recipients, and then passed directly to our email sending system to deliver a one-time invite. We never access your Google data without your explicit consent.

How We Use Your Information

To operate and improve the Ghost Together platform.
To send you notifications about activity on your account (likes, replies, follows, messages).
To send invite emails on your behalf when you use the Invite Friends feature.
To match you with people near your age group (if you provide your birthday).
To detect and prevent spam, abuse, and platform manipulation.
To communicate important updates about the platform.

What We Never Do

We do not sell your personal information to anyone, ever.
We do not run ads and do not share your data with advertisers.
We do not build advertising profiles from your behavior.
We do not share your data with third parties except as described in this policy.

Third-Party Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS SES) — used to send transactional and notification emails.
Google Identity Services — used for the optional Google Contacts OAuth flow described above.
MongoDB — used to store platform data securely on our servers.

Data Retention

Your data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, your personal data is deleted within 30 days. Some data may be retained longer if required by law or for legitimate security purposes.

Your Rights

You can edit or delete your profile information at any time from your Settings page. To request full deletion of your account and data, contact us at hello@ghosttogether.net.

Children

Ghost Together is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, the effective date at the top of this page will be updated. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at hello@ghosttogether.net.