Forum Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 2026
This policy covers the Alderun forum only, and is separate from the privacy policy for the game. The forum is a different service with different processing: it publishes what you write, and it sets a cookie. The game does neither.
Who we are. The forum is run by Innova Inc., trading as SquirrelFM, which is responsible for the data described here — the data controller, if you are somewhere that uses the term. “We”, “us” and “our” below mean Innova Inc.
- Reading the forum requires nothing. No sign-in, no cookie, no analytics.
- Posting requires an Alderun account, and what appears next to your post is your display name — never your email address.
- The forum does not store your email address at all. See below; this is unusual enough to be worth stating plainly.
- There is no advertising, no analytics and no third-party script on any forum page. The only thing a page loads from anywhere else is an image somebody linked in a post — see Images in posts.
Signing in, and why we hold no email
You sign in with the email address registered to your Alderun account. The forum sends that address to our own account service, which mails you a 6-digit code and — once you type it back — tells the forum only who you are: your account identifier and your display name.
Your email address is held by the account system and is covered by the game's privacy policy. The forum keeps a one-way cryptographic hash of it, and only to count sign-in attempts against the daily limit. That hash cannot be turned back into your address, and nothing on the forum can be used to look your address up.
What the forum stores
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your posts and topics, with your display name and the time you posted | They are the forum. They are public. | Until you or a moderator remove them. |
| Your account identifier and display name | To attach posts to you, keep you signed in, and apply moderation. | While you have a forum account. |
A sign-in cookie (alderun_forum) |
So you stay signed in. It is a random value that identifies your session and nothing else. It is not used for tracking, profiling or advertising. | Until you sign out or clear your cookies. It has no expiry date of its own. |
| Your avatar | Assigned automatically from the game's spell icons. You do not upload anything and we hold no images of you. | While you have a forum account. |
| The fact that you accepted the forum rules, and the version you accepted | To show we asked, and to ask again if the rules change. | While you have a forum account. |
| Your answer to the age question | Checked and then discarded. We record that you passed, never the year you gave. | Not stored. |
| Reports you send, and moderation actions | So moderators can act on them and check their own work. | Open reports until handled; then up to 90 days. |
| Sign-in attempt counters, keyed by IP address and by a hash of the email | To enforce three sign-in attempts a day and stop automated abuse. | 24 hours. |
| Ordinary web server logs, which include IP addresses | Security and troubleshooting. | Up to 14 days, then deleted automatically. |
Your posts are public
Anyone can read the forum without signing in, and search engines are allowed to index it. That is the point of a forum, but it means anything you write can be found by name, copied and archived by people we do not control. Do not post anything you would mind a stranger reading years from now, and do not post other people's personal information at all.
Images in posts
A post can contain a link to an image — a screenshot of a bug, usually — and the forum shows that image in the post. The image is not copied to our server. Your browser fetches it from whatever site the poster linked to, exactly as if you had clicked the link, which means that site can see your IP address, your browser's user agent, and the time you read the post. It is the only request a forum page makes to anyone but us.
We ask your browser not to tell that site which page the image is on, and images can only be loaded over a secure connection. We cannot do more than that without copying every image onto our own server, which would be a different trade. If this matters to you, most browsers can be told not to load images, and the post still shows the address that was linked.
The captcha
The distorted letters on the sign-in page are generated by our own server. There is no reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or similar service involved, so no third party learns that you visited, and nothing about your browser or behaviour is sent anywhere to score you.
Who else sees it
The forum runs on our own server, on hosting in the United States. Sign-in codes are delivered by our email providers, Resend and Brevo, who receive the address the message goes to and act only on our instructions — the same providers the game uses. That is the complete list. Nothing is sold or shared with anyone else, and there are no advertising or analytics partners.
Moderators are players we appoint. They can see your posts (which are public anyway), your display name, when you joined, how many posts you have made, and reports about your posts. They cannot see your email address or your IP address.
Your choices
- Delete a post — you can delete any of your own posts at any time.
- Sign out — ends the session and removes the cookie.
- Have your posts removed — write to us and we will remove them. Deleting your Alderun account in the game does not automatically delete your forum posts, because they are part of conversations other people took part in; ask us and we will take them down.
- A copy of your data, or an objection to how we use it — if you are in the UK, EU or a similar jurisdiction, write to us using the address on our contact page.
Children
The forum is not for anyone under 13. We ask your age the first time you sign in and refuse access below that age, and we do not keep the answer. If you believe a child under 13 is posting here, contact us using the address on our contact page and we will remove the account's access and its posts.
Changes
If this policy changes materially you will be asked to accept it again the next time you sign in, and this page will carry a new date.