Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you register we collect your first name, surname, username, email address, and a password. You may optionally provide a professional role/title, a biography, and a referral code.

1.2 Profile & Activity Data

We record content you create (downloads, discussions, comments, tutorials, ratings, suggestions, support messages) and interactions you perform (votes, subscriptions, shop purchases, referral activity). This data is used to calculate your reputation points and tier.

1.3 Automatically Collected Data

• Page views — we log the page path, a truncated user-agent string, and your IP address on each page load for analytics purposes.
• Session data — we store a session cookie to keep you signed in.
• Theme preference — saved to your browser's local storage (dark or light).

We do not use third-party tracking cookies, advertising networks, or fingerprinting scripts.

1.4 Data We Do Not Collect

We never ask for payment information, government IDs, phone numbers, or physical addresses. We do not process sensitive personal data such as health, biometric, or financial information.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account.
• To display your public profile, username, tier badge, and contributed content.
• To calculate and display reputation points and tier progress.
• To send in-app notifications (discussion replies, tier promotions, download approvals, referral alerts).
• To moderate content (review submissions, prevent abuse).
• To generate aggregated, anonymized analytics visible only to administrators (page view trends, user growth, engagement metrics).
• To respond to support requests you initiate via the support chat.
• To improve the platform based on suggestions and usage patterns.

We will never sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

3. Data Storage & Security

All data is stored in a PostgreSQL database on infrastructure we control. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt (work factor 12) and are never stored or logged in plain text.

Connections to it-hub.io are encrypted end-to-end with TLS 1.2+ via Cloudflare. The origin server accepts connections only from Cloudflare IP ranges; direct IP access is blocked.

Administrative access to the server is restricted to a private WireGuard VPN. Database backups run daily and are retained for 14 days.

While we implement reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, no system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a breach that affects your data, we will notify affected users promptly.

4. Cookies & Local Storage

We set no advertising, analytics, or social-media cookies.

5. Third-Party Content & External Links

IT-Hub aggregates cybersecurity news from public RSS/Atom feeds published by sources including BleepingComputer, The Hacker News, Krebs on Security, Dark Reading, Ars Technica, CISA, Microsoft Security, Cisco Security, Fortinet PSIRT, Schneier on Security, Google Project Zero, Rapid7, and Sophos Naked Security. Article summaries and metadata are cached; full content remains on the original publisher's site.

Download links point to the official vendor's website or repository. IT-Hub does not host software binaries. We verify official tools with VirusTotal scans where possible, but user-submitted links are provided "as is."

Clicking an external link takes you to a site we do not control. We encourage you to review that site's privacy policy before sharing personal information.

6. Data Retention

• Account data — retained for as long as your account exists.
• Page view logs — aggregated after 90 days; raw records deleted after 180 days.
• Support chat messages — retained for 1 year after ticket closure, then deleted.
• Password reset tokens — expire after 1 hour and are purged within 24 hours.
• Deleted accounts — upon account deletion, personally identifiable data is removed within 30 days. Public content (discussions, comments) is anonymized.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectify — correct inaccurate or incomplete information via your account settings.
• Delete — request permanent deletion of your account and associated data.
• Object — object to processing of your data for specific purposes.
• Portability — request your data in a machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children's Privacy

IT-Hub is not intended for users under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child under 16 has registered, please contact us and we will delete the account promptly.

9. International Users

IT-Hub is operated from infrastructure located in Europe. If you access the platform from outside the European Economic Area, your data will be transferred to and processed in Europe. By using IT-Hub you consent to this transfer.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced via an in-app notification and the "Last updated" date above will be revised. Continued use of IT-Hub after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please reach out:

• General inquiries: [email protected]
• Abuse reports: [email protected]