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Welcome to Gaycels

Welcome! This is a forum for gay involuntary celibates: gay people who lack a significant other. Are you lonely and wish you had someone in your life? You're not alone! Join our forum and talk to people just like you.

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Gaycels Help Documents Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 September 2026

This policy explains what personal data Gaycels.org collects, why, who can see it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

1. Who is responsible

Gaycels.org is run by its administrator For anything about your data, contact us at board@gaycels.org or through the forum's Contact Us page.

2. What we collect

  • Account data: your username, email address and password. Passwords are stored only in hashed form; we cannot read them.
  • Application answers: what you write in the registration questions.
  • Profile data you choose to add: profile picture (avatar), signature, profile fields.
  • Content: threads, posts, private messages, and any images or files you upload to gaycels.org.
  • Technical data: your IP address (recorded when you register, log in and post), and basic browser information kept in our hosting provider's server logs.
  • Moderation records: reports, warnings and bans connected to your account.

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking tools.

3. Why we use it

  • To run the forum and your account (necessary to provide the service you signed up for).
  • To moderate and keep the forum safe: enforcing the rules, stopping spam and abuse, and preventing banned users from returning (our legitimate interest).
  • To comply with the law, including valid requests from authorities (legal obligation).

Sensitive information. By joining this forum and answering the application questions, you tell us information about your sexual orientation. We process this only with your explicit consent, which you give when you register. You can withdraw it at any time by asking us to delete your account; we cannot keep your membership without it.

4. Who can see your data

  • Everyone who can view the forum: your username, avatar, public profile and posts.
  • Only you and the recipients: your private messages. Note that private messages are not end-to-end encrypted: they are stored on our server, and administrators could technically access them. We do not read them unless they are reported or we are legally required to.
  • Only the forum staff: your email address, IP addresses, application answers and moderation records.

5. Who we share it with

  • Our hosting provider, which stores the forum on its servers in the Netherlands (European Union).
  • Authorities, only when the law requires us to.

We never sell your data or share it for advertising. Images or links that members post from other websites may load from those websites, which then see your IP address.

6. Cookies

We only use cookies needed for the forum to work: keeping you logged in, remembering your session, and saving your forum preferences. We use no advertising or tracking cookies.

7. How long we keep it

We keep your data while your account exists. After your account is deleted, we may keep the data listed in section 2 for up to 5 years, only for moderation needs (for example, preventing banned users from returning) and to comply with possible legal requests. After that, it is deleted. Copies in backups are deleted as the backups expire.

8. Your rights

You can ask us to:

  • show you the data we hold about you, and give you a copy;
  • correct data that is wrong;
  • delete your account and data (subject to section 7);
  • limit or stop certain uses of your data;
  • withdraw your consent (see section 3).

To use any of these rights, contact us at board@gaycels.org. We reply within one month. The forum has no self-service account deletion; just ask us and we will do it.

If you think we handle your data unlawfully, you can complain to a data protection authority, for example the one in your country of residence.

9. Age

Gaycels.org is for adults only. You must be 18 or older to register. If we learn that a member is under 18, we delete the account.

10. Security

The whole site uses an encrypted connection (HTTPS), passwords are hashed, and only staff can access private data. No system is perfectly secure, so please do not share information you would not want exposed, and remove location data from photos before uploading them.