Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Veridonia is operated by Astraplex Technologies Lda, registered in Portugal at Av. Dr. José Grilo Evangelista 30, apt. 3 FRT, 2890-007 Alcochete, Portugal. For any privacy-related questions, you can reach us at support@veridonia.com.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Browsing Without an Account

You may browse and view content on Veridonia without creating an account. When you visit the site, our servers process your request (which includes your IP address), but we do not store personal data about anonymous visitors beyond standard server logs, which are automatically deleted within 7 days.

2.2 Account Creation and Login

If you create an account or log in using a third-party provider (such as Google, Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter/X), we receive and store the following information from that provider:

• Name or display name
• Email address (if available)
• Profile image (if provided)
• Provider-specific user ID

2.3 IP Address

When you create an account, we store your IP address. This is used solely for bot detection and anti-abuse purposes, as described in Section 3 below.

2.4 Participation Data

If you participate on the platform, we store the content you submit (posts, comments) and your voting decisions.

2.5 Technical and Security Data

We collect basic device and browser information for security logging, debugging, and platform stability.

3. How We Use Your Data and Legal Basis

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process your data on the following legal bases:

• Account data (name, email, profile image): processed for contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b)) — necessary to provide you with an account and access to the platform.
• OAuth provider data: processed on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — you choose to link a third-party account. You can withdraw this consent at any time by unlinking your account.
• IP address and rating inheritance: processed under legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — anti-bot and anti-abuse protection. When you create an account, your IP address is used to assign an initial reputation rating. If previous accounts from the same IP address have low ratings, your starting rating may be lower. This is a bot-detection measure: it makes it progressively harder to create fresh accounts from the same source to manipulate the platform. Your rating immediately begins adjusting based on your own participation from your first vote onward. This mechanism is described in detail in our whitepaper.
• Participation data (posts, comments, votes): processed under legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — necessary for the platform to function as a community-governed feed.
• Technical and security data: processed under legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — security monitoring and platform stability.

4. Automated Decision-Making

The IP-based rating inheritance described above is an automated process. It may affect your initial experience on the platform, including how frequently you can post and which voting stages you are eligible for. Your rating adjusts based on your own actions from the first vote onward.

If you believe your initial rating was unfairly affected — for example, because you use a VPN or a shared network — you have the right to contest this. Contact us at support@veridonia.com and we will review your case.

5. Cookies

Veridonia uses only cookies that are strictly necessary for the platform to function:

• Session cookie: used for authentication after you log in. Expires after 1 year or when you log out.
• CDN access cookies: used to securely deliver images. Expire after 24 hours.

We do not use any analytics, tracking, or advertising cookies. Where the platform embeds third-party content (such as YouTube videos), we use privacy-enhanced modes to minimise third-party cookies.

6. Data Retention

• Account data: retained while your account is active. Deleted within 7 days of a deletion request.
• IP address associations: retained while your account is active. Deleted when your account is deleted.
• Technical and security logs: retained for up to 30 days.
• Participation data (posts, comments, votes): if you delete your account, this data is anonymised rather than deleted, to preserve the integrity of community voting records. Anonymised data is no longer linked to your identity. See our Data Deletion Policy for details.

7. Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access (Art. 15): request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification (Art. 16): request correction of inaccurate data.
• Erasure (Art. 17): request deletion of your data. See our Data Deletion Policy.
• Restriction (Art. 18): request that we limit how we process your data.
• Portability (Art. 20): request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Objection (Art. 21): object to processing based on legitimate interest, including IP-based rating inheritance. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@veridonia.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Portuguese data protection authority, the CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados), at www.cnpd.pt.

8. Where Your Data Is Stored

All data is stored and processed within the European Union.

9. Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as Veridonia evolves. Any changes will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date.

10. Contact

For privacy-related questions or requests, email: support@veridonia.com