Privacy Policy

Updated 2026-09-08

We write about institutions that you cannot trust with your data. That makes it a little awkward if we cannot answer the same question about ourselves. So here it is, in plain language: what we collect, why, and what we never do with it.

The Short Version

• Reading the zine does not require an account. You can read everything without us knowing who you are.
• If you log in to comment, we store only what is needed to show your name and keep you signed in.
• We do not sell your data. We do not run ads. We do not build a profile of you for sale to anyone.
• You can delete your account, and when you do, we delete your personal data with it.

What We Collect

When you just read

Reading articles, the archive, the tag pages, and search requires no account and no personal data on your part. Your web browser sends standard server logs (IP address, the pages you request, your browser type, and the time of the request) to our web server, because that is how the web works. We do not attach a name to those logs, and we do not use them to track you across visits.

When you log in to comment

Our public login uses Google Sign-In. When you sign in, Google sends us a minimal set of information, and we store only the following:

• Your Google user identifier (a stable unique ID, not your name).
• Your email address, which we use to identify you across logins and, if you ever contact us about moderation, to reach you.
• Your display name, which is shown on your comments.
• Your Google profile picture URL, used only to display an avatar next to your comments.
• The date you registered, and a timestamp for when your data was last updated.

That is the entire list. We do not collect your phone number, your physical location, your browsing history, or any data Google does not explicitly hand us through the login. We request only the minimal permissions (openid, email, profile) and no more.

When you post a comment

We store the text of your comment, the article it belongs to, and the ID of the account that wrote it. If you report a comment, or one is reported to a moderator, we record that the report exists so a moderator can review it. We do not log the IP address of a comment.

When you upload an avatar

If you upload a custom profile picture from your preferences, we resize it to a small thumbnail and store that image file on our server, associated with your account. We delete it if you delete your account.

How We Use What We Collect

• To let you comment. Your name, avatar, and comment text exist so the conversation works.
• To keep you signed in. Your Google ID is what tells the site it is you and not an imposter on the next visit.
• To moderate. If a comment is reported, a moderator can see who wrote it and the context. This is the mechanism that keeps the comments section usable.
• To protect the service. We track failed login attempts to lock out brute-force attempts against accounts. This is a security log, not a profile.

We do not use personal data for advertising, remarketing, audience measurement, or to build a product that gets sold to a third party. We do not have a business model where your attention or your data is the thing being sold. The zine exists because we make it, not because a data broker makes it worth doing.

What We Never Do

• We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone, for any reason.
• We do not use third-party advertising or analytics pixels that track you across the wider internet.
• We do not build a "user profile" for marketing, scoring, or behavioral prediction.
• We do not read your comments to build a picture of you for any purpose beyond moderation and keeping the site working.
• We do not share your email address with any service other than the one that hosts the site, and only where technically necessary to operate it.

Third Parties

Two third parties see some data when you use the site, and we are naming them because we think you deserve the name:

• Google. If you log in with Google, Google sees that you signed in and can see your own Google account details. We cannot control what Google keeps on its side, and you should read Google's own privacy policy for that. What we can tell you is exactly what Google hands us, and it is the short list above. We do not ask Google for more.
• Our hosting provider. The server that runs the zine sits on a shared hosting network. That provider can see standard server infrastructure (the machine the site runs on) but not the content of your data in a way that gives them a usable profile of you. Our database is access-controlled and not publicly exposed.

How Long We Keep It

We keep your account and its comments for as long as the account exists, because the comments are part of the public record of the articles. When you delete your account, we delete your personal data. Existing comments you have already posted are handled by moderation: they may be hidden or removed, but they are not left under a dead identity that points at a real person. If you have a specific concern about a particular comment, contact us and we will take it down.

Your Rights and Controls

• See what we have. The preferences page shows your display name, avatar, and the login method. That is your data, on screen, that you can see and change.
• Change it. You can change your display name, your avatar, and your anonymous display mode at any time from your preferences.
• Delete it. You can ask us to delete your account. We will delete your personal data. If you believe we should delete a specific comment or data point, contact us and we will act on it.

Cookies

The site uses one session cookie to keep you logged in. It is scoped to this site, it is not shared with third parties, and it expires when your session ends. There is no advertising cookie, no cross-site tracking cookie, and no "consent banner" here, because there is nothing to give consent to. If a page ever starts asking for your permission to set a tracking cookie, that would be a change to this policy, and we would tell you about it plainly.

Children

The zine is a general-audience publication and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information on the site, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to This Policy

If we change what we collect or how we use it, we will update the "Updated" date at the top of this page and we will post the change plainly. If the change is significant (for example, if we start using a new third party that sees your data), we will call that out in the article feed, not bury it here. You should not have to diff a legal page to find out that the deal changed.

Contact

Questions, corrections, data deletion requests, or complaints about how we handle your information should go to editor@molotovmouthpiece.com. We read what comes in. We answer what we can. And if we cannot answer it, we will tell you that, rather than pretend we did.

Your data is not a product here. It is the minimum you have to give us to leave a comment, and we treat it that way.