Privacy & Terms

the short version

We don't sell your data, we don't track you across the internet, and we don't run analytics scripts watching your every click. This is a small homelab site run by two people. What follows is the honest, specific version of what actually happens when you use it.

what we collect

Comments. If you leave a comment on a blog post, we store the name and email you enter, your comment text, and your IP address, which is standard WordPress behavior used for spam prevention. Your email is never displayed publicly. First-time commenters are held for review before their comment appears; after that, comments from the same name and email post automatically.

The contact form. Messages sent through the contact page go straight to our email. We don't store them in a database beyond that.

Forum accounts. If you register for the forums, we store your username, email, and a hashed password. We never store or see your password in plain text.

Your site preferences. The theme (dark or light) and terminal accent color you pick are saved using your browser's local storage, not a cookie, and never leave your device. We have no idea what you picked. Clear your browser data and it resets to default.

cookies and third parties

A few third-party services we use set their own cookies. We don't control these directly, but here's what's in play and why:

• Google AdSense shows ads on the blog and forums, which is how we cover the (very small) cost of running this server. AdSense may use cookies to personalize ads based on your browsing history. You can opt out of personalized advertising through Google's Ad Settings.
• Google reCAPTCHA protects the contact form from spam and bots. It's invisible to most visitors, but it does load a script from Google and may set cookies as part of that check.
• Gravatar, a Automattic/WordPress.com service, is used to show avatar images next to comments, based on a hash of the commenter's email address.

Each of these is run by Google or Automattic, not us, and each has its own privacy policy governing what they do with that data.

your rights

You can ask us to remove a comment, delete a forum account, or tell you what we have on file. Email info@rootlabs.us and we'll sort it out, usually faster than a corporate privacy team would.

terms of use

The write-ups, guides, and project pages on this site are ours. Quote us, link to us, that's what the internet is for, just don't republish whole posts as your own. Code snippets we post are free to use however you like.

Everything here is offered as-is. We're documenting our own projects and mistakes, not providing professional advice. If you follow one of our guides and something breaks, that's homelab life, not a warranty claim.

The forums are moderated at our discretion. Spam, harassment, or general bad behavior gets removed, and repeat offenders get banned. We'd rather have a small, decent community than a big miserable one.

questions

This page covers the real, current state of the site as of the date above. If something changes, we'll update it here rather than bury it. Anything unclear: info@rootlabs.us.