Last updated: May 2026
Short version: we collect what we need to run the forum and process your payment. We don't sell your data. We don't share your name with anyone outside the gate.
When you apply: your name, years working, shop name, city, portfolio link, and your answers to the application questions.
When you pay: Stripe processes your payment. We receive your name, email, and the last four digits of your card. We never see your full card number.
When you use the forum: Discourse stores your email, username, IP address, posts, messages, and activity. Standard forum stuff.
Applications are reviewed by the Stewards group. Your application data is stored as a private message in the forum—visible only to Stewards, not other members.
Your email is used to send forum notifications and digest summaries. Mailgun handles email delivery on our behalf.
We use your data to run the forum. That's it.
Your posts are visible to other members. Your email address is not visible to other members unless you choose to display it.
The member list is private. We do not publish, share, or sell the list of members to anyone—inside or outside the forum.
Stripe processes payments. Mailgun delivers email. DigitalOcean hosts the forum. Vercel hosts the landing page. Each has their own privacy policy. We chose them because they're not in the business of selling your data.
The forum uses cookies to keep you logged in and remember your preferences. The landing page doesn't use cookies or tracking scripts. There's no analytics. Nobody is watching.
You can request a copy of your data or ask us to delete your account. Contact the Stewards group inside the forum. If you're in the EU, you have additional rights under GDPR—right to access, rectification, erasure, and data portability. We'll comply.
If you delete your account, your posts remain but are anonymized. Your application data is deleted.
Account data is kept as long as you're a member. Application data for rejected applicants is deleted after the review window closes. Payment records are retained as long as required by law.
The forum runs on HTTPS. Passwords are hashed. The server is maintained and patched. We're a small operation, not a bank—but we take it seriously.
If we change this policy, we'll post in Announcements. Continued use of the forum after notice means you accept the updated policy.
Questions about your data go to the Stewards group inside the forum.