Privacy

Only the current version of this policy is in effect. Past versions are kept here for transparency and are no longer followed.

Ctrl+Shift+3 is a text community platform (website, iOS app, and optional command-line client). This page explains how this installation handles privacy. It is also the privacy policy linked from App Store Connect for the iOS app.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites for advertising. We do not use your data for targeted ads.

Who we are

This installation is operated by the site operator (platform owner). Questions: contact the operator via the site’s Contact page when signed in, or the support email listed on the App Store product page.

What we collect

• Account information you provide: username, email, and password (stored as an Argon2id hash. We cannot read your password).
• User content you write: posts, comments, art, bios, Click names/descriptions, poll text, scheduled chat messages, moderation/report reasons (plain text), and an optional companion name if you set one.
• Reminders you set on a thought: a short excerpt of the text you highlighted, and the time you chose. We keep that until the reminder ping is sent.
• App / functional data needed to run the service: session cookies (website); an optional Remember me cookie if you turn that on; API auth tokens (iOS Keychain, and on your computer if you use the CLI); private saved posts and subscriptions tied to your account; rate-limit records; push device tokens if you enable notifications; theme and similar display preferences; and moderation log entries (actions and reasons, not deleted content).

How we use data

• To create and secure your account, and to show your content to people who are allowed to see it.
• To send optional email (for example password reset, or a daily ping digest if you turn that on). A reminder ping can be included in that digest. Reminders are not sent as push notifications.
• To send optional push notifications on iOS if you enable them (ping-related).
• To enforce rules, rate limits, blocks, reports, and moderation.
• To operate optional Fediverse sharing only if you opt in under Settings (off by default).

We use this data for app functionality only, not for advertising, not for data brokerage, and not to profile you for sale.

What we do not do

• No advertising networks or ad SDKs.
• No analytics or tracking pixels.
• No fingerprinting.
• No sale or rental of personal data.
• No “tracking” as Apple defines it (we do not link your data with other companies’ apps or websites for ads, and we do not share data with data brokers).
• No advertising, analytics, or social-network scripts loaded from other companies. Website JavaScript is first-party code written for this site, plus a few small open-source libraries we copy into this installation and serve from this same origin (not from a CDN). Fonts are self-hosted; we do not load fonts from Google or other font CDNs.

Sharing

We do not share your personal data with third parties for their marketing. Limited technical sharing may occur only as needed to run the service: for example your email provider receiving a password-reset or ping-digest message we send via SMTP, or Apple delivering a push notification you opted into. The site may run on a hosting provider and/or behind a reverse proxy or content-delivery network; those operators see ordinary request metadata (such as IP address and TLS details) in order to deliver the pages. Optional Fediverse sharing (if you turn it on) publishes selected main-feed posts to other servers you interact with; see below.

Cookies and local storage

The website uses only functional cookies (session and security). If you choose Remember me, a separate login cookie lasts 400 days and is renewed when you visit. It is only used to keep you signed in. There are no marketing cookies. The iOS app stores your login token in the device Keychain and may store simple preferences (such as appearance) in app storage. The optional CLI stores an API token on your computer.

Offline reading is optional and off by default. The website, iOS app, and CLI can keep a copy on that device of posts and comments you already opened, so you can read them without a connection. That copy is not sent to the server. Logging out leaves it on the device. Turning offline reading off, or clearing the cache, deletes it.

Push notifications (iOS)

Push is optional. If you enable ping notifications, we store a device token so we can send those notifications through Apple Push Notification service. You can revoke permission in iOS Settings. Logging out unregisters the token from this installation when possible.

Direct Connect (optional)

Optional browser chat is not kept as history. Messages for a session are cleared when you leave. Connecting two browsers may use a public STUN service so the browsers can try to reach each other; that service sees connection-setup traffic, not a copy of your chat stored here.

Scheduled chat

Live chat messages in the scheduled chat room are stored so people in that room can read them. You can choose to replace your messages with a placeholder when you log out. Deleting your account replaces your visible messages with a placeholder. This is separate from Direct Connect.

Blocks, reports, and safety

You can block another user so you do not see their posts or comments; blocking also stops them from writing on your profile, inviting you to Clicks, or viewing your profile in the usual way. You can report accounts for moderator review. Account deletion is available in Settings (website and iOS app).

Access, correction, and deletion

• On the website, you can edit your bio, change your password, manage Fediverse sharing, and export your data from Settings while signed in.
• In the iOS app, you can edit your bio, change appearance theme, log out, and delete your account from Settings (You → Settings).
• You can delete your account in Settings (website or iOS). When you delete, your username becomes abandoned (or a numbered variant), and mentions of that old username in posts and comments are rewritten to the abandoned name. The original text of your posts, comments, post polls, and visible scheduled chat messages is permanently replaced with placeholders. Report reasons you wrote are replaced with a placeholder too. We do not keep the deleted text. Waiting reminders are removed, and any ping-digest mail still queued for your account is deleted.

Retention

We keep account and content data while your account is active, and for as long as needed for security, abuse prevention, and legal obligations after that. Soft-deleted account rows may remain with placeholder content so historical threads stay coherent without your original words.

Children

Ctrl+Shift+3 is not directed at children under 13. Do not create an account if you are under 13.

Fediverse (optional)

Main-feed posts (and your comments on main-feed posts) can be shared into the Fediverse, for example so someone using Mastodon can look up [email protected] and read that public writing. This only happens if you opt in under Settings (“Send posts to main feed out into the Fediverse”). The option is off by default. Click posts, profile posts, and contact posts are not shared this way.

If you delete a post or comment here, or turn Fediverse sharing off, this site stops offering that content to new Fediverse requests (and may mark it removed for servers that check again). Servers that already downloaded a copy (such as a Mastodon instance) may keep it; this site cannot reliably force those remote copies to disappear.

Changes

If this policy changes in a material way, we will update this page. Earlier wording stays available from the version menu at the top. Continued use of the website or iOS app after an update means you accept the revised policy. The version line below also helps you notice updates.

Wayback Machine

In October 2026 we asked archive.org to exclude ctrlshift3.com from the Wayback Machine, to respect your privacy.

Contact

Privacy questions about this installation should go to the site operator (Billy Wilcosky). Email [email protected], use Contact when signed in, or the support channel listed with the iOS app on the App Store.

v1.1.94 · (c) billy wilcosky