The Village

Privacy Policy

Last updated July 21, 2026

The Village is a community platform. This page explains what we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, and what you can do about it. It is written plainly on purpose.

1. What We Collect

You give us this

• Account details — your first name, last name, email address, and handle.
• Date of birth — collected at signup to confirm you meet our minimum age. It is never shown on your profile and never shown to other members.
• Profile details — anything you choose to add, including your photo, cover image, bio, and location.
• What you publish — posts, comments, reactions, group activity, and event responses.
• Private messages — messages you send to other members through the platform.

We record this automatically

• Your IP address at signup and at each login attempt. We keep this to stop bots and to investigate abuse.
• Sign-in activity — when you log in, and whether the attempt succeeded.
• Last active time — so other members can see who is around.

We do not collect

• Payment card numbers. We do not process payments on this platform.
• Your precise location. The location on your profile is whatever text you typed.
• Advertising trackers. There are no third-party ad networks on this site.

2. Why We Collect It

To run your account, show your content to the people you intend, deliver notifications you asked for, keep bots and abusers out, and understand how the platform is being used so we can improve it. That is the full list.

3. Who Can See What

• Public by default — your handle, name, photo, cover, bio, and posts are visible to anyone unless you change it.
• Private profile — you can switch this on in Settings. Your posts are then limited to people you have accepted.
• Private messages — visible to you and the person you sent them to. They are stored on our server, not encrypted end-to-end. Treat them as private but not secret.
• Your email address — never shown to other members.
• Your date of birth — never shown to other members.
• Your IP address — never shown to other members.

4. Cookies

We use one cookie. It holds your login session and is deleted when you close your browser. It carries no advertising or tracking data. We do not use analytics cookies or third-party trackers.

5. Moderator Abilities

Moderators are trusted members given the power to keep this community safe. They are held to a written standard and every action they take is recorded in a permanent log.

What a moderator can do

• Edit any profile — a moderator can change a member's display name, bio, location, profile photo, or cover image. This is used to remove content that violates our rules, not to alter how you present yourself.
• Edit or remove any post or comment — including yours, without warning, where it breaks our Community Guidelines.
• Hide content from public view while a report is reviewed.
• Take account action — issue a warning, place an account in timeout, suspend it, or remove it entirely.
• See reports filed against you and the moderation history on your account.
• View sign-in records including IP addresses, when investigating abuse.
• Manage groups and events — including handing a group to a new leader or removing a group.

What a moderator cannot do

• Read your private messages.
• See or change your password. Passwords are stored scrambled and cannot be read by anyone, including us.
• Post as you, or send messages in your name.

Every action is logged

Each moderator action records who did it, what they did, who it affected, when, and from what address. These records are permanent and reviewable.

If you disagree with a moderator

You can appeal. Write to mailbox@thevillage.llc with your handle and what happened. An appeal is reviewed by someone other than the moderator who acted.

6. How Long We Keep It

• Account and content — for as long as your account is open.
• Sign-in records — a short rolling window, then automatically deleted.
• Moderation records — kept permanently, because accountability requires a record.
• Deleted accounts — your profile and content are removed. Moderation records tied to the account remain.

7. Your Rights

• See it — request a copy of what we hold about you.
• Fix it — edit your profile any time in Settings.
• Delete it — request account deletion and we will carry it out.
• Stop the email — turn off notification emails in Settings, or use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any notification.
• Go private — switch your profile to private in Settings.

To exercise any of these, write to mailbox@thevillage.llc.

8. Who We Share With

We do not sell your information. We never have and we will not.

We share only with the services needed to run the platform:

• Our web host, which stores the site and its database.
• Our email provider, which delivers verification and notification messages.
• Our AI assistant provider, which powers the help assistant. Your conversations with it are processed to generate replies.

We will also disclose information where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to prevent serious harm.

9. Age

You must be at least 13 years old to hold an account here.

We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and refuse the account if you are under 13. We keep that date so we can show we checked. It is used for nothing else, and no other member can see it.

If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 13, we will remove it. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, tell us at mailbox@thevillage.llc.

10. Security

Passwords are stored scrambled and cannot be read by anyone. The site runs over an encrypted connection. Sensitive folders are locked down. Forms are protected against forged requests.

No system is perfect. If you find a security problem, report it to mailbox@thevillage.llc and we will act on it.

11. Changes

If we make a meaningful change to this policy, we will update the date at the top and notify members on the platform.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy go to mailbox@thevillage.llc.