Your data stays yours.

📋 What we collect

Only what's needed to run the site:

• Account info: your username, a securely hashed password, and a hashed recovery word (used only to verify you if you ever need account recovery — we can't see or recover your actual password or recovery word).
• Your canvas: the layout, text, and images you build with the Canvas Builder, plus any images or GIFs you upload.
• Comments, follows, and loves: tied to your account (or, for profile "loves" and views, a lightweight IP-based check — just enough to stop the same visitor from repeatedly inflating a count, not to build a profile of you).
• Lobby chat: messages and presence are stored in short-lived files on the server, not a permanent database log.
• Security records: failed login attempts are logged briefly (IP + username) purely to detect and block automated attacks — these age out and aren't used for anything else.

🧪 Sandbox trials

If you try the Canvas Builder without an account, your work is saved to a temporary, private "sandbox" tied only to your browser — no one else can see it, no email or password is collected, and it's automatically deleted after 24 hours unless you create an account to claim and publish it. If you do claim it, that trial content becomes part of your new account and the temporary copy is removed.

🍪 Cookies

We use a small number of cookies, all functional — none for advertising or tracking you across other sites:

• A session cookie to keep you logged in.
• A security token (CSRF protection) to make sure form submissions actually come from you.
• A sandbox trial ID, if you're trying the builder without an account.
• Your light/dark theme preference, and whether you've already seen a one-time welcome tip popup.

🎬 Embedded content

If you or someone you follow embeds a video (YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion) or a GIF (GIPHY) on a canvas, loading that content means your browser connects directly to that platform, which has its own separate privacy practices outside of our control. We don't add any tracking of our own on top of these embeds, and thumbnails are fetched and cached once rather than repeatedly contacting the platform.

🔐 How we protect it

Passwords and recovery words are hashed, never stored in plain text. All form submissions are protected against forgery (CSRF tokens), and login attempts are rate-limited to slow down automated attacks.

🗑️ Your control

You can delete your account at any time from your dashboard. Deleting your account removes your profile, canvas, uploaded images, and associated data. This is permanent and can't be undone.

🔞 Age requirement

PeopleConnections is intended for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger.