# New privacy policy
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856
**Category:** Site Feedback
**Created:** [February 18, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856 "2018-02-18T14:39:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tablerocker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/tablerocker)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/1 "2018-02-18T14:39:35Z")
The new privacy terms are very general and a bit concerning:
- It doesn't really state what information is collected besides email and IP (which is saved for up to **five years** ), so collection could be anything up to [session replay](https://www.heise.de/ct/ausgabe/2017-26-Wie-Webseiten-per-Session-Replay-ihre-Nutzer-verfolgen-3909141.html) (german).
Quote: "gather data when you participate in the forum"
- Cookies: "We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors."
- We do not [...] transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This **does not include trusted third parties** [...]. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate [...]. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
How do you guys think about that?
/edit
Even the forum stats for other users are over-the-top.
Why should anyone be allowed to see when and how often I visit or how long I stay?
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/2 "2018-02-18T17:44:51Z")
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> The new privacy terms are very general and a bit concerning:
Thanks for pointing to that. I'm using the standard privacy policy and TOS installed by Discourse, so it really might be too generic. I have a dedicated [privacy policy on my website](https://www.mp3tag.de/en/privacy.html) and I plan on combining the two.
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> It doesn’t really state what information is collected besides email and IP (which is saved for up to five years), so collection could be anything up to session replay (german).
> Quote: “gather data when you participate in the forum”
Except from Google Analytics, I'm not using any third-party tracking/analysis code. I'm also not using any tracking that has been added by myself and I'd never start to track users across the web (as described in the post you've linked to).
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> Cookies: “We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors.”
I don't have such third-party service providers so this is very likely to be removed in the combined version of the privacy policy.
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> We do not […] transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties […]. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate […]. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
As I've also removed any advertising from the forums (did anyone even notice this?), this part is very likely to be removed in the combined version of the privacy policy.
Regarding the forums stats, I'm not planning to modify the core functionality of the community software. If you feel that this information is too sensitive to be visible to other users, I'd recommend to use the forums without a dedicated user account (read-only).
---
### Author:  [@tablerocker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/tablerocker)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/3 "2018-02-18T18:05:19Z")
Thanks for the clarification, this calms my paranoia 😉
> [@Florian](#):
>
> I’ve also removed any advertising from the forums (did anyone even notice this?)
I didn't as I rigorously block every ad and especially everything coming from third parties.
I like the donation system much better and have a fixed amount of money every month spreading over projects that I like via paypal and patreon.
I've seen too many times stuff getting out of hand with ads and website hosts that trusted the wrong third parties ("I only linked two scripts" - but don't know what they do and have no control over changing contents).
> [@Florian](#):
>
> Regarding the forums stats, I’m not planning to modify the core functionality of the community software.
Yeah I already guessed this is default with this software, but I don't know how well configurable the backend / template system is. In good old php forums you comment out one line in template.php that creates the relevant `` and off you go.
> [@Florian](#):
>
> track users across the web (as described in the post you’ve linked to)
Actually session replay is not across the web but tracks every single user input on a website so you can replay when he clicked and how far and fast he scrolled, what terms he wanted to search for but never sent... frightening.
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/4 "2018-02-18T18:56:49Z")
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> I didn’t as I rigorously block every ad and especially everything coming from third parties.
>
> I like the donation system much better and have a fixed amount of money every month spreading over projects that I like via paypal and patreon.
I also like the donation system much, much more and I hope that one day all the users of Mp3tag like it to a similar degree 😃
> [@tablerocker](#):
>
> Actually session replay is not across the web but tracks every single user input on a website
I've read the article now and can assure you that I'm also not doing any of those (or allow any third-parties that employ such techniques here).
As a general statement, I try to not do anything that might be irritating to users. I'm getting daily emails from companies that offer installer bundles, adware SDKs, ad platforms and other stuff — often offering reasonable amounts of money and I'm refraining from adding any of those.
Mp3tag is also one of the few programs that doesn't send any usage data and I like it that way 🙂
---
### Author:  [@tablerocker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/tablerocker)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/5 "2018-02-18T19:57:55Z")
> [@Florian](#):
>
> I’ve read the article now and can assure you that I’m also not doing any of those [...]
>
> As a general statement, I try to not do anything that might be irritating to users.
I knew you are one of the good guys! 😉
Well, at least judging from the last 10 years I didn't expect you to make a 180 turn so I was a bit surprised about the new privacy policy.
> [@Florian](#):
>
> I’m getting daily emails from companies that offer installer bundles, adware SDKs, ad platforms and other stuff — often offering reasonable amounts of money and I’m refraining from adding any of those.
I can imagine that, a constant nightmare. A good opportunity to say "thank you" again!
But [you are not alone](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15372048)...
> [@Florian](#):
>
> Mp3tag is also one of the few programs that doesn’t send any usage data and I like it that way
Oh, I like it too! Especially you show that one can be very successful without data collection but listening to user feedback. Although, I opt-in to telemetry for programs I like and that clearly show what data they send. But that's not many.
Others are satisfied by sending them crash reports (e.g. foobar) or debug logs (e.g. filezilla).
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2018, 10:04am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/new-privacy-policy/40856/6 "2018-05-24T10:04:13Z")
As a follow-up on this, also for others who are curious:
I’ve reworked the privacy policy which is basically still: I don’t collect Mp3tag usage information and I don’t track any of your activities when you're using Mp3tag. I haven’t changed my practice there, but in light of the recent developments around data leaks and data-harvesting nightmares, I wanted to make this a little bit more explicit.
I now have single privacy policy (and removed the default one that was shipped with the forum software). I've added information of what data is collected if you use the website or the forums, how this data is treated and much more. You can review the current version here at [https://www.mp3tag.de/en/privacy.html](https://www.mp3tag.de/en/privacy.html)
As a side-note: I’ve also said goodbye to Mp3tag’s +5k fans on facebook end of March. Closing my account there was long overdue and it feels good to not make this platform more interesting with my presence.