Privacy Policy

Effective date: March 31, 2026

We do not sell your data. If the business changes ownership in the future, users will be notified of any changes to this policy before they take effect.

Casual Encounter ("us", "we", or "our") operates the casualencounter.org website (the "Service"). This policy describes what data we collect, how we use it, and your choices.

Information We Collect

Account Data

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address - used for account verification, login, and notifications (listing approvals, denials, and responses to your listings)
• Username - a display name for your account, visible only to you and site administrators
• Password - stored in hashed form, never in plain text

Listing Data

When you create a listing, the subject, body text, and location (city/region) you select are stored and displayed publicly. Your username and email address are not displayed on your listings.

Messages and Responses

When you respond to a listing, your message and any contact information you choose to include are stored temporarily. Message content is automatically deleted after 90 days. The listing owner receives your message via email at the time it's sent, so the on-site copy exists only for moderation and abuse prevention purposes.

Usage Data

We automatically collect certain information when you use the Service:

• Last activity timestamp - we record when you last accessed the site (updated at most once per minute)
• IP addresses - logged in connection with error tracking for site maintenance purposes, deleted after 30 days
• Browser and device info - user agent strings collected with error tracking data

Email and Notifications

We send transactional emails for account and listing events (welcome, listing approved/denied, responses to your listings). These emails are delivered through Mailgun, a third-party email service provider.

We track email delivery status (delivered, bounced) to ensure our emails are reaching you. We do not track whether you open emails or click links within them.

You can unsubscribe from listing response notification emails at any time via the unsubscribe link included in each email. Account-related emails (verification, approval/denial notices) cannot be unsubscribed from as they are essential to the Service.

Analytics

We use Fathom Analytics, a privacy-focused analytics service that does not use cookies or collect personal data. Fathom provides aggregate traffic statistics without tracking individual users. For more information, see Fathom's privacy policy.

Cookies

We use cookies strictly for functionality:

• Session cookies - required for login and site operation
• CSRF token cookies - required for form security

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking cookies, or any third-party cookies for marketing purposes.

Affiliate Links

Some links on this site point to third-party services. These are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up through them. We track aggregate click counts on these links for our own records but do not track which individual users clicked them. The linked services have their own privacy policies.

How We Use Your Data

• To operate and maintain the Service
• To verify your identity and prevent abuse
• To deliver email notifications about your account and listings
• To moderate listings (human review of all submitted content)
• To monitor and improve site reliability and performance
• To detect and prevent spam, fraud, and abuse

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. Your data may be shared only with:

• Mailgun - for email delivery (your email address and notification content)
• Infrastructure providers - our hosting and storage providers process data on our behalf
• Law enforcement - we will comply with valid legal requests such as court orders and subpoenas. We will notify affected users of such requests unless prohibited by law from doing so.

Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. Specific retention periods:

• Message/response content is automatically deleted after 90 days
• Administrative activity logs are deleted after 90 days
• Error tracking data (including IP addresses) is deleted after 30 days

You can delete your account at any time from your account settings. Your personal information will be anonymized and your listings removed.

Your Choices

• You can update your username and email in your account settings
• You can delete your account at any time from your account settings
• You can delete your listings at any time from the my listings page
• You can unsubscribe from response notification emails

Age Requirement

This Service is intended for adults aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we become aware that a user is under 18, we will terminate their account and delete their data.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and access controls. No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Warrant Canary

As of April 13, 2026, Casual Encounter has not received any secret court orders, national security letters, gag orders, or any other classified requests for user data. If this section is removed or the date stops updating, draw your own conclusions.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this privacy policy can be directed to:

• Email: support@casualencounter.org