Effective June 13, 2023.
At Democratic Underground we take your right to privacy seriously. This privacy notice describes how and why Democratic Underground LLC ("we," or "us"), might collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your information when you use our website ("Site"). If you do not agree with anything contained in this notice, please do not visit the Site.
Our visitors fall into three different groups. "All Users" are visitors who simply browse the Site. "Registered Users" are visitors who browse the Site and create an account. "Star Members" are Registered Users who purchase a premium membership ("Star Membership").
We may collect different information, and process your information differently, depending on what you do when you visit the Site.
Quick LinksLike most websites, we collect certain information automatically from All Users who browse the Site. This information includes, but is not limited to, your Internet service provider (ISP), Internet protocol (IP) address, Internet browser type and version, and operating system (OS). Other information collected may include the date and time of your arrival at and departure from the Site, the names and web addresses of referring websites, the specific pages you choose to visit on the Site, and certain search terms that you may have employed to find the Site.
Information collected automatically from All Users is used for purposes of internal review, including tailoring pages to your specific technology environment, analyzing traffic and search trends, generating aggregate demographic information, and general Site administration. We store the information we collect for as long as it is necessary for the purpose(s) for which we originally collected it. We may retain certain information for legitimate business purposes or as required by law.
We do not sell your personal information. In some cases your information may be shared with third parties who have a legitimate interest in the data. See the "Third party services" section below.
Information you provide to usYou do not need an account to browse the site, but if you decide to create an account then we will collect some additional information from you.
Registration Information
If you choose to create an account on the Site, we require you to provide an email address, username, and password ("Registration Information"). Registration Information is used for purposes of creating and logging into user accounts, facilitating communication between users, and communicating with users, including, but not limited to, sending users occasional email messages from the Site, corresponding with users via email in response to inquiries, providing services a user may request, and otherwise managing a user’s account.
We log the IP addresses of Registered Users for identity, safety and security purposes. Such uses may include checking to see if Registered Users are using multiple accounts, or preventing access to the Site based on a user's IP. Unless deletion is requested by the user (see the "Your privacy rights" section below), we retain Registration Information and related IP data indefinitely for the purposes of user identification and enforcement of the Site's policies and procedures. We do not share Registration Information or related IP data with any third parties, except when required to by law.
Profile Information
After creating an account, Registered Users may choose to provide additional information about themselves ("Profile Information") . You may enter your real name, gender, home town/state/region, home country, current location, and any other information about yourself. You may also select an avatar image from our existing selection, and write a "signature line" which may include text or images. Avatars and signature lines appear on all of your posts. Information entered into your Profile is public and can be viewed by All Users. Registered Users may delete or change their Profile Information at any time while logged into the Site.
Other User-Submitted Content
Registered Users can post messages on the discussion forum, can recommend posts by other users, can vote in polls posted by other users, and can send non-public messages to other users ("DU Mail"). When you post a message to a public area of the Site, any visitors to the Site will be able to see that message, the username associated with the message, and the date and time that the message was posted. Some areas of the Site are restricted -- for example, to members who have volunteered to assist with Site moderation -- but while those areas of the Site are not publicly available, messages posted there may become public.
Star Members
The information we collect from Registered Users also applies to Star Members. If you are a Star Member you can use additional functionality, for example, you may upload a custom avatar image to your Profile. In addition, if you purchase a Star Membership we may collect certain data necessary to process your payment, depending on how you make the purchase.
We do not collect or process credit card information. All electronic payments to the Site are processed through PayPal, and payment data is stored by PayPal in accordance with their privacy practices. You may find their privacy notice here.
CookiesWe serve first-party cookies to Registered Users for the purpose of improving user experience, for example, by remembering user settings across pages. Third parties who partner with us may also serve cookies for various purposes related to analytics, advertising, or marketing. For information on how to opt out of third party services see the "Your privacy rights" section below.
Third party servicesWe do not sell your information to third parties. We may share your information with select third parties for purposes which include providing additional functionality to the Site, analytics, advertising, or marketing.
Embedded content
When posting, Registered Users may embed images that are stored elsewhere on the Internet, or may embed in-line content from services such as YouTube or Twitter. We also provide embedded buttons which allow Registered Users to share content with third party services such as Twitter and Facebook. We do not control how third party services collect data when they serve you their content directly via these embeds. As a result, embedded content is not covered by this privacy policy but by the policies of the service from which the content is embedded. You may find information about their privacy notices and opt-out instructions here:
Advertising partners
We partner with certain third party companies to serve ads when you visit the Site. (Ads are not served to Star Members.) These companies may use non-personally identifiable information, for example, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over, during your visits to our Site in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you, or for other marketing purposes. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. For more information about our advertising partners, see the "Your privacy rights" section below.
Links to other sites and services
The Site may contain user-posted links to third party websites, online services, or mobile applications. The Site may also contain advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us and which may link to other websites, services, or applications. Accordingly, we do not make any guarantee regarding any such third parties, and we will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the use of such third party websites, services, or applications. The inclusion of a link towards a third party website, service, or application does not imply an endorsement by us. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other websites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the Site. You should review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to respond to your questions.
How we protect your informationWe have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Site is at your own risk.
Your privacy rightsDepending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to your personal information, to request the deletion of your personal information, to opt out of certain advertising practices, or to withdraw consent for processing where you have previously provided consent. We do not discriminate against users for exercising their rights under data protection laws.
Accessing and changing your information
All Users may request access to their personal information, or request deletion of their personal information, by contacting us at mail@democraticunderground.com. If you are a Registered User whose account has not been deactivated, you can view or change your Registration Information and Profile Information by logging into your account and visiting your Account or Profile pages, and you can remove any of your posted content using the "Self-delete" function. To request deletion of your Registration Information, contact us at mail@democraticunderground.com. Please note that deletion of your Registration Information will also deactivate your account. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Third party analytics, advertisers, and marketing
We partner with certain third party companies to provide personalization, advertising, marketing, and analytic services. The third party companies we partner with may provide their own opt-out mechanisms and privacy policies. You may find information about their privacy notices and opt-out instructions here:
If you receive marketing and/or promotional communications from us, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send.
Additional information for EEA usersUsers in the European Economic Area have the right to request access to, rectification of, or erasure of their personal data; to data portability in certain circumstances; to request restriction of processing; to object to processing; and to withdraw consent for processing where they have previously provided consent. These rights can be exercised as described in the "Your privacy rights" section above. EEA users also have the right to lodge a complaint with their local supervisory authority.
As required by applicable law, we collect and process information about individuals in the EEA only where we have a legal basis for doing so. We process your information on the following legal bases:
The California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") requires us to provide California residents with the following information.
In the last 12 months, we collected the following categories of personal information from California residents:If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the CCPA, including the right to opt out of any sales or sharing of your personal information, to request access to and information about our data practices, and to request deletion or correction of your personal information, as well as the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights. These rights can be exercised as described in the "Your privacy rights" section above.
International data transfersWe process and store information on servers located in the United States. By accessing or using the Site or otherwise providing information to us, you consent to the processing, transfer, and storage of information in and to the U.S. and other countries, where you may not have the same rights as you do under local law. When we transfer the personal data of users in the EEA, UK and/or Switzerland, we rely on the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission for such transfers or other transfer mechanisms deemed "adequate" under applicable laws.
Disclosure by legal mandateWe reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by legal mandate, including, but not limited to, compliance with a judicial proceeding, court order, or lawfully served legal process.
Transition of ownershipWere we to engage in a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition or sale, your information may be among the assets transferred.
Children under 13Children under the age of 13 are not allowed to create an account or otherwise use the Site. Additionally, if you are located outside the United States, you must be over the age required by the laws of your country to create an account or otherwise use the Site.
Changes to this Privacy PolicyWe may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do, we will let you know by revising the date at the top of the policy. If the changes, in our sole discretion, are material, we may also notify you by posting an announcement on the Site. By continuing to use our Site after Privacy Policy changes go into effect, you agree to be bound by the revised policy.
Previous revisions:
December 19, 2022
May 11, 2010
If you have other questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Democratic Underground
P.O. Box 342453
Bethesda, MD 20827
mail@democraticunderground.com