Effective September 17, 2026
KEH-TECH (keh-tech.net) is a knowledge base, news site and community forum for IT people. It is a personal project run by Karl E. Henry (“we”, “us”). This page explains what information the site collects, why, and what you can do about it. The short version: we collect what is needed to run a forum and keep it free of spam, we do not run ads or analytics trackers, and we do not sell anyone’s data.
What we collect
When you just read the site
You can read the knowledge base, news and forum without an account. Like every web server, ours keeps short-lived logs of requests: IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time. Our security software also looks at this information to block attacks. We do not use it to build profiles of readers.
When you create an account
We store the username and email address you give us and a scrambled (hashed) version of your password, which we cannot read. Your email address is never shown publicly. Anything you add to your profile, such as a display name, avatar, signature or links, is optional and is public.
When you post
Forum topics, replies and comments are public and can be found by search engines. We store the content, the time, and the IP address it was posted from. IP addresses are visible only to the site’s administrators and moderators and are used to fight spam and abuse. Please do not post passwords, license keys, or private details about yourself, your employer or anyone else. Remove them from logs and screenshots before you share them.
When you contact us
The contact form sends us your name, email address, message and IP address by email. We use them only to deal with your message. The form does not save messages in the website’s database.
Cookies
We use only the cookies needed to run the site:
- Login cookies keep you signed in. They last for two days, or two weeks if you choose “Remember Me”, and are removed when you log out.
- Forum cookies remember things like which topics you have read.
- Comment cookies, if you tick the box when commenting, remember your name and email for next time. They last one year.
- Google reCAPTCHA may set its own cookies on the login, registration, password reset and contact forms.
- Dark mode: if you use the light/dark switch, your choice is saved in your own browser’s local storage so the site looks the same on your next visit. It is never sent to us.
There are no advertising cookies and no analytics or tracking scripts on this site.
Services that help us run the site
We share information with other companies only where it is needed to operate the site:
- Bluehost hosts the website and its email on servers in the United States.
- Google reCAPTCHA protects our forms from bots. When a form with the “I’m not a robot” box loads, Google receives your IP address and information about your browser. Google’s privacy policy and terms apply.
- Akismet (Automattic) checks comments and contact messages for spam. It receives the text, the name and email entered, the IP address and browser details. See the Akismet privacy notice.
- Wordfence (Defiant) is our security plugin. It examines visitor IP addresses and login attempts to block attacks. See the Wordfence privacy policy.
- Gravatar (Automattic). If you have not uploaded an avatar, a scrambled version of your email address may be sent to Gravatar to look up a profile picture you have set there.
We do not sell, rent or trade personal information. We would disclose it only if the law required us to, or if it were necessary to protect the site or its members from harm.
How long we keep it
- Account details are kept until you ask us to delete your account.
- Posts and comments stay published so that discussions remain useful to others. When an account is deleted we can remove its posts or keep them without your name, whichever you prefer.
- Server and security logs are kept for a limited time, normally no more than a few months.
- Contact form emails are kept only as long as needed to deal with them.
Your choices and rights
You can change your email address, password and profile from your account at any time. You can also ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account and data. Write to contact@keh-tech.net from the address on your account, or use the contact form, and we will respond within 30 days. We will not erase information we are required to keep for legal or security reasons.
Depending on where you live, laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws may give you additional rights, including the right to object to certain uses of your data and to complain to your local data protection authority. Where the GDPR applies, we process your data to provide the account and forum you asked for, and on the basis of our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and free of spam. The site is run from the United States and your information is stored there.
Children
KEH-TECH is written for working IT professionals and students. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, please tell us and we will remove it.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, passwords are stored hashed, administrator accounts require two-factor authentication, and repeated failed logins are locked out. No website can promise perfect security, so please use a unique password here.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal information we will update this page and its effective date. Significant changes will also be announced in the forum.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: contact@keh-tech.net or the contact form.