Privacy Policy

The Thinkers Forum is a community that runs peer-led discussions, online and in person, from India. This policy explains what we collect when you use thinkers-forum.com, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. It sits alongside our Disclaimer.

Only what we need to run the community:

• Your account: first and last name, email address, city, how you found us, what draws you to the forum, and a password, which we store only as a one-way hash.
• If you sign in with Google: your name, email address, profile picture and Google account ID. We do not see your Google password and we do not access anything else in your Google account.
• Things you send us: topic suggestions, Speak Up messages, contact messages, event proposals and replies to our emails.
• Feedback forms: discussion feedback is anonymous. Community feedback rounds record an approximate city and state, looked up from your IP address when you submit, and nothing that identifies you.
• Technical data: a sign-in cookie that keeps you logged in, and standard server logs (IP address, browser, pages requested) kept for security.

• To create and run your account and your member dashboard.
• To email you about discussions: reminders, updates and occasional community news.
• To read and respond to what you send us, and to plan future discussions.
• To keep the site safe and to understand, in aggregate, how the community is doing.

We do not sell your information, we do not show advertising, and we do not use advertising or analytics trackers.

If you choose "Continue with Google", we request only your basic profile (name, email address and profile picture) through Google's standard sign-in scopes. We use it solely to create your account and sign you in. We do not transfer it to anyone else except the hosting providers below, we do not use it for advertising, and no person reads it except to help you with your account. Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

You can disconnect The Thinkers Forum from your Google account at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

A few service providers process data on our behalf, only to provide their service:

• DigitalOcean hosts the website and its database, on servers in Bengaluru, India.
• Amazon Web Services (Simple Email Service) delivers our emails.
• Cloudflare sits in front of the site for speed and security.
• Google provides sign-in, only if you choose to use it.
• ip-api.com turns an IP address into an approximate city for community feedback forms.

RSVPs for discussions happen on Meetup, and our WhatsApp groups run on WhatsApp. Those services have their own privacy policies.

We use only the cookies the site needs to work: one that keeps you signed in, and security cookies that protect sign-in forms. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.

We keep your account information for as long as you have an account. If you ask us to delete your account, we remove your profile and sign-in details. Messages and suggestions you sent may be kept in anonymised form to help us plan discussions. Server logs are kept for a short period for security.

• See and correct your details any time on your Profile page.
• Ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you.
• Ask us to delete your account and associated information.
• Ask us to stop sending you emails.

For anything that you cannot do from your profile, write to us through the contact page and we will respond within 15 days.

Passwords are hashed, the site is served only over HTTPS, and access to member data is limited to the people who run the forum. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable care and will tell affected members promptly if something goes wrong.

The Thinkers Forum is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger.

If we change how we handle your information, we will update this page and the date below. For significant changes we will also tell members by email.