Your account and your data

What is public, who holds your data, and how to remove it.

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When you share something on GainForest.app, it helps to know where it goes and who can see it. This page tries to explain that simply. It is a short guide, not a legal document: the privacy policy has the full details, and GainForest.app keeps its own, longer page at Your account and your data.

Your account is not held by GainForest

You sign in to GainForest.app with a Certified account. Certified is run by the Hypercerts Foundation, a nonprofit, and it stores your posts in a space that belongs to you.

GainForest.app is one app that reads from and writes to that space. Other apps on the same open network (the AT Protocol, which Bluesky also uses) can do the same, so your work is not locked inside GainForest. GainForest cannot see your password or sign in as you.

Your account Held by Certified, not GainForest
  • GainForestSightings, Projects, and Bumicerts
  • Ma EarthFunding rounds for communities
  • HypercertsRecords of good work
  • Other apps on the same network
One account, many apps. Each app opens the same account.

Most of what you post is public

Your profile, sightings, photos, sound recordings, sites, , and can be seen by anyone, including other apps. Only what you use to sign in, such as your email address and sign-in codes, stays private.

Public: anyone can see

  • Your name, picture, and bio
  • Sightings and photos
  • Sound recordings
  • Sites and maps
  • Projects and Bumicerts
  • Posts, likes, and follows
  • Organizations you belong to
  • Donations

Private: only for signing in

  • Your email address
  • Your sign-in codes
  • Your password, if you set one
Almost everything is public. Only what you use to sign in stays private.
Important:

Please do not post the exact location of rare species or protected places, or people who have not agreed to be shown.

Because posts are public, other apps or websites may keep copies. If you delete something later, GainForest cannot remove those copies.

How your data is used

GainForest is a nonprofit. Your data is used to run the app: to show your work on maps, profiles, and Projects, to connect it to , rounds, and funding, and to keep the service safe. It is not sold, and it is not used for advertising.

What it is used for

  • Show your work on maps, profiles, and Projects
  • Connect it to organizations, BioBlitz, and funding
  • Let you sign in and keep the service safe

What it is never used for

  • Sell your data
  • Show you ads
  • Follow you on other websites
Your data is used to run the app, and for nothing else.

Removing your data

You can delete a single post yourself at gainforest.app. To delete your whole account, email the Certified team at support@hypercerts.org from the address you sign in with.

What do you want to remove?
  • One post
    1. 1.Sign in at gainforest.app
    2. 2.Open the sighting, Project, or post
    3. 3.Delete it from its page
    Only that post is removed
  • Your whole account
    1. 1.Email support@hypercerts.org
    2. 2.Send it from the address you sign in with
    3. 3.The Certified team confirms and deletes it
    Everything in the account is removed. This cannot be undone.
Two ways to remove your data, depending on how much you want to remove.

GainForest may keep data it has paid for, such as data from funded grants or photos entered into BioBlitz prize rounds.

Questions

We are still learning how to explain this well. If something here is unclear, or seems wrong, please tell us at team@gainforest.net. For sign-in or account deletion, write to support@hypercerts.org.

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