Data Retention & Account Deletion Policy

1.1 Overview

SlutteryTales ("Platform," "We," "Us," or "Our") is committed to transparent, secure, and legally compliant practices regarding the retention, anonymization, and deletion of user data. This Data Retention & Account Deletion Policy ("Policy") outlines how long we store personal data, technical logs, and user-generated content (UGC), as well as the exact procedures for account closure and data erasure.

1.2 Statutory Framework

This Policy is designed to comply with global data protection laws, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), the United Kingdom GDPR (UK GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act 2023).

SlutteryTales adheres to the principle of data minimization. We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the operational purposes for which it was collected, enforce our platform agreements, resolve legal disputes, or satisfy statutory compliance mandates.

2.1 Summary Retention Matrix

Data Category

Retention Period

Post-Retention Action

Active Account Data (Username, email, password hashes)

Lifetime of the active account.

Permanently deleted upon verified account closure request.

User Profile Data (Bio, avatar, preferences)

Lifetime of the active account.

Erased immediately upon account deletion.

Published Works (UGC) (Stories, poetry, artwork, audio)

Retained while the account is active or until author deletion.

Erased or permanently disassociated (anonymized) based on user setting during account closure.

Community Comments & Forum Posts

Lifetime of the platform or until post deletion.

Anonymized (attributed to [Deleted User]) to preserve thread context, or deleted upon explicit request.

Server Security & Interaction Logs (IP logs, user agents)

Up to 12 months from date of creation.

Automatically overwritten or purged from active logging systems.

Moderation & Disciplinary Records (Ban logs, strike history)

Up to 36 months post-account termination.

Retained in internal administrative archives to prevent repeat platform abuse.

Legal & Copyright Records (DMCA notices, law enforcement orders)

Up to 7 years or as mandated by statutory limitation periods.

Archived in secure, restricted compliance databases.

Users hold the explicit right to close their accounts and request the deletion of their personal information at any time.

3.1 Self-Service Account Deletion

Registered users may initiate account deletion directly through the Platform:

Navigate to Account Settings -> Privacy & Security.

Select "Delete Account".

Re-enter your password or confirm authentication via Google OAuth to authorize the action.

Confirm deletion state options for published content.

3.2 Manual / Email Deletion Request

If you are unable to access your account dashboard, you may submit a formal deletion request:

Email Contact: slutterytales@gmail.com

Subject Line: Account Deletion Request - [Your Username]

Verification: To protect accounts against malicious closure, we will send a confirmation link to the primary email address registered with the account. Verification must be completed within 72 hours.

3.3 Deletion Processing Window & Grace Period

Immediate Deactivation: Upon authorizing deletion, your public profile is immediately hidden, and your account credentials disabled.

30-Day Restoration Grace Period: To prevent accidental or fraudulent account loss, SlutteryTales maintains account data in a soft-deleted state for 30 calendar days. During this period, you may reactivate your account by logging in and selecting "Cancel Deletion."

Permanent Erasure: After 30 calendar days, the account is permanently deleted, and all primary database records are scrubbed.

When closing an account, creators and users have choices regarding the disposition of their published works and contributions:

4.1 Literary Works & Digital Art

Option A (Complete Removal - Default): All stories, poetry, uploaded artwork, and audio files associated with your account are permanently removed from public view and deleted from active servers.

Option B (Anonymization & Archiving): Creators may choose to leave their public stories intact while removing all personal metadata. The author name will display as [Anonymous Author], and all direct links to your profile will be severed.

4.2 Interactive Content (Comments, Forum Threads)

To maintain reading context and discussion continuity across public forums and story comment sections, individual comments and forum threads will remain visible but will be permanently disassociated from your identity, displaying the author as [Deleted User].

5.1 System Backups

Data contained in routine system disaster-recovery backups is not erased instantaneously upon account deletion due to technical limitations in database snapshot architectures. However, backup snapshots are automatically overwritten on a rolling 30-to-60-day cycle. Restored databases will honor previous deletion requests.

5.2 Legal Exceptions

SlutteryTales reserves the right to retain specific pieces of personal data, IP addresses, or communication history despite an account deletion request if processing is required for:

Compliance with a statutory legal obligation or pending court order.

Protection of public safety or investigation of severe platform violations (e.g., CSAM/CSAE or non-consensual media).

Defense against active or threatened legal claims or ongoing litigation.

SlutteryTales reserves the right to archive or terminate accounts that remain inactive (no successful login activity) for a continuous period of twenty-four (24) months. Prior to terminating an inactive account, we will send an advance notification email to the registered address giving the user 30 days to retain the account.

For questions regarding data retention windows, manual deletion requests, or data privacy rights, please contact our privacy operations team at:

Email: slutterytales@gmail.com

Subject Line: Data Retention & Erasure Query