Data Retention Policy
Effective: 2026-07-06
We keep data only as long as it serves the purpose it was collected for: running debates, keeping the platform safe, and meeting legal obligations. The table below is the authoritative schedule.
| Data class | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account profile (username, email, avatar) | Life of the account; removed on deletion |
| Date of birth | Life of the account; removed on deletion |
| Political compass position | Until consent is revoked or account deleted |
| Debate transcripts | Life of the account; anonymized to a tombstone on deletion so the opponent's record stays intact |
| Match results and ELO history | Indefinite as an anonymized game record |
| Reports and appeals | 24 months after resolution |
| Warnings and bans | 24 months after expiry; permanent bans retained while enforced |
| Moderation events (category, confidence, action) | 24 months |
| Admin audit log | 24 months |
| Analytics | Raw events 90 days; aggregated daily rollups indefinitely |
| Voice and video media | Never stored; peer-to-peer only |
| Sampled video moderation frames | Never stored; processed transiently |
| In-debate strike counters | 2 hours (Redis TTL) |
| Infrastructure logs (hosting providers) | Approximately 30 days |
Deletion
Deleting your account (Profile Settings) removes your authentication record, profile fields, date of birth, compass position, reports, appeals, warnings, bans, consents, and moderation events. Your debate messages are replaced with a “[deleted by user]” tombstone so your former opponents keep a coherent match history. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone.
Legal holds
Data subject to a valid preservation request or legal hold is retained for the duration of the hold regardless of the schedule above, then deleted.