The basics
This page explains what personal data we collect, why, and what you can do about it. The company responsible for your data is Thing.pub Series of Althing LLC, a Texas Series LLC. Reach us at contact@thing.pub.
What we collect
- Your email address, which is how you sign in. We send you a one-time link instead of using a password.
- Your display name or handle, plus any social or web links you add for verification.
- A device fingerprint for each device you sign in from, so we can enforce the device limit and catch shared or hacked accounts.
- What you do on the platform: reading progress, annotations, endorsements, applications, and similar activity.
- The manuscripts you write. These are encrypted in your browser before they reach us, so we can't read them.
Why we collect it
- To run the service and sign you in.
- To keep the community safe: verifying people, preventing abuse, limiting devices, and watermarking each reader's copy to protect authors.
- With your consent, for anything you opt into: you can change those choices anytime in your Settings.
Who sees it
We don't sell your data, and we don't share it for advertising. Manuscripts only go to the readers an author invites or approves. When you apply to read a pre-published book, the author sees your name, emails, socials and your answers.
A few outside services help us run Thing.pub: Supabase and Fly.io host the database and site, and SMTP2GO sends our emails. All are in the United States, so if you're elsewhere, your data may be handled in the US.
How we protect it
We encrypt your data as it travels, encrypt manuscript contents end to end, and limit who can access what. No system is ever perfectly secure, but we take real steps to keep your data safe.
How long we keep it, and deleting your account
We keep your data while your account is active. You can delete your account whenever you want. When you do, we remove your profile and strip the personal details from your applications. Some activity can't be fully deleted without erasing other people's records, so it shows up as "User deleted" instead. We hold on to certain security and audit records to keep the platform sound.
Kids
Thing.pub isn't for children. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18 years of age. If we find out we did, we'll delete it.
If there's a data breach
If a breach puts your data at risk, we'll tell you and the right authorities as fast as the law requires. We strive to have notifications out within 48 hours of a known breach.
Your rights
You can ask us to see your data, fix it, export it, limit how we use it, or delete it. Email contact@thing.pub. We won't treat you differently for asking, and if we say no and you think we're wrong, reply and we'll look again.
We don't sell your data or share it for advertising, to anyone, ever. Some privacy laws give you a right to opt out of data sales, but there's nothing here to opt out of.
These rights come from the GDPR (EU and UK) and from state laws in places like California and Texas. If you're in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data-protection authority.
Cookies and local storage
We use one necessary cookie to keep you signed in, and your browser's local storage for basics like your theme and a device key. No advertising or third-party tracking cookies.
Changes to this page
If we change something important here, we'll update the date at the top and tell you directly. Using Thing.pub after that means you're okay with the changes.
Contact
Questions about privacy or these terms? Email us at contact@thing.pub.