What we collect—and why.

This policy describes information handled by Debate-Abel when you browse, create an account, vote, post, report, or join a live room.

1. Information you provide

We collect your username, email address, 18+ age attestation, policy acceptances, password verifier, optional recovery-key verifier, statements, votes, debate-room settings, invitations, reports, and messages sent through the Contact page. Passwords and recovery keys are not stored in readable form. Public usernames, statements, room activity, and qualifying verdict information may be visible to anyone.

2. Information collected automatically

We receive technical information needed to deliver and protect the service, including IP address, request and security logs, session cookies, a random anti-abuse device cookie, browser/device information made available by the hosting platform, and CAPTCHA results. Rate-limit identifiers are keyed hashes rather than raw account-security secrets.

3. Live rooms

Room metadata, participants, format, timers, votes, and short-lived WebRTC signaling may be processed. Debate-Abel does not currently record or store live-room audio or video. Audio and video generally travel through peer-to-peer WebRTC connections and may use a relay when configured. Other participants can still record externally.

4. How we use information

We use information to create and secure accounts, verify email, provide rooms and ballots, lock votes, assign Founding Voter status, personalize what you see, hide blocked profiles, respond to reports and requests, prevent fraud and automation, enforce our rules, measure reliability, comply with law, and improve the service.

5. When information is shared

We use service providers for hosting and security, CAPTCHA, transactional email, and live connectivity. Cloudflare infrastructure processes site traffic and Turnstile checks; Resend is the intended transactional-email provider. Embedded or linked publishers such as YouTube and Rumble may receive information when you load or visit their media. We may disclose information when required by law, to protect rights or safety, or as part of a business transfer. We do not currently sell personal information or run behavioral advertising.

6. Cookies

We use a secure session cookie to keep you signed in and a secure random device cookie to rate-limit abuse. The session normally lasts up to 14 days and the device cookie up to one year. Third-party media may set its own cookies under its privacy policy.

7. Retention

Account and public contribution records remain while the account or content is active and as needed for integrity, safety, legal compliance, and backups. Sessions expire; live signaling is short-lived; verification links expire after 30 minutes; and rate-limit records are periodically removed. Reports and contact requests may be retained long enough to investigate patterns, resolve the request, and meet legal obligations.

8. Your choices and rights

You can browse without an account, block profiles, and report content. You may request access, correction, or deletion of account information through the Contact page. We may retain limited records when necessary for security, vote integrity, disputes, or law. Privacy rights vary by location; we will respond as applicable.

9. Age policy

The public beta does not permit participation by people under 18. Existing accounts that previously selected 13–17 are placed in read-only mode. We do not knowingly offer account participation to children under 13. If you believe a minor provided personal information contrary to this policy, contact us.

10. Security and international use

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, including secure cookies, hashed credentials, email verification, CAPTCHA, and rate limits. No system is perfectly secure. Information may be processed in the United States and other places where our providers operate.

11. Changes and contact

We will update the effective date when this policy changes and require a new acknowledgment for material changes before participation. Send privacy questions or rights requests through the Contact page.