Privacy Policy

Introduction

FreeTimeline ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard information when you use our website at freetimeline.pt (the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Do NOT Collect (Local Mode)

If you never create an account, here is what we do NOT collect:

• Your timeline data (events, characters, stories, memories)
• Personal information you enter into your timelines
• Images or attachments you add to your timelines
• Account credentials — no account is required to use the core tool
• Your real name, address, or phone number

If you opt into the free account described below, some of this changes for the data you explicitly choose to save or publish — see "Optional Accounts & Cloud".

Information Collected Automatically

Like most websites, our web server automatically collects certain technical information when you visit:

• IP Address: Your IP address may be logged by our web hosting provider for security and analytics purposes.
• Browser Information: Type, version, and language settings of your web browser.
• Device Information: Operating system and device type.
• Access Times: Date and time of your visits.
• Referring URLs: The page that linked you to our site.

This information is used solely for maintaining site security, analyzing aggregate traffic patterns, and improving the Service. It is not linked to any personally identifiable information.

Retention: our hosting and CDN infrastructure (GitHub Pages, fronted by Cloudflare) retains standard web server/edge access logs of this kind for a short operational period—typically no more than 30 days—before they are rotated out or aggregated, after which the raw entries are not individually accessible to us. We do not export or independently archive these logs.

Local Storage

By default, FreeTimeline uses your browser's localStorage to save your timeline data. This means:

• Your data is stored on your device, not on our servers
• We have no access to this data
• Your data persists only in the browser where you created it
• Clearing your browser data will delete your timelines
• You can export your data at any time using the built-in export feature

This remains true unless you sign in to the optional account and explicitly save a timeline to the cloud, as described in the next section. For more details about what we store in localStorage, please see our Cookie Policy.

Optional Accounts & Cloud

FreeTimeline never requires an account. If you choose to create one, it unlocks optional features: cloud save (so a timeline is available from any device), publishing to the public Discover gallery, and social features like likes, follows, and comments. Here is exactly what that involves.

What we store when you create an account

• Email address — used to sign in and for account-related communication.
• Password — we never store your plain password. We store a salted hash generated with PBKDF2.
• Profile details you set — display name, username, bio, and avatar, if you choose to add them.

Note: we do not currently verify email addresses on signup. Do not use an account you don't control, and don't reuse a password from another site.

What we store when you save to the cloud

• The timeline JSON you explicitly chose to save (events, characters, notes, and any attachments included in it)
• Its title, description, and tags
• Timestamps for when it was created and last updated

Social data

If you use social features, we store the data those features require: likes and favorites, follows (who you follow and who follows you), comments you post, notifications generated by activity on your content, and any reports you file or that are filed about content you posted.

Where this data lives

Account and cloud data is stored in Cloudflare D1, a database hosted in the Western Europe region.

Visibility levels

Each timeline you save has a visibility setting you control: private (only you can see it), unlisted (viewable only by people with the direct link), public (listed in the Discover gallery and visible to anyone), or shared (visible to specific people, where that feature is offered). Anything you set to public is, by definition, visible to other users and to search engines that crawl the Discover gallery — treat publishing the same way you would treat posting something publicly on the web.

Deletion

Deleting a timeline removes it from the database. Deleting your account removes your account record and the timelines, comments, likes, and follows associated with it. Deletion is not reversible on our end.

Anti-abuse & rate-limiting logs

To prevent abuse (such as spam signups or scripted voting), we keep short-lived, IP-based rate-limiting logs for authentication and write endpoints. These are operational and are not used for tracking or advertising, and are retained only as long as needed for abuse prevention.

Moderation

Published content is subject to our content rules. We may unpublish or remove content that violates them, and we keep an internal audit log of moderation actions taken.

For questions about your account data, or to request export or deletion, contact privacy@freetimeline.pt or use the in-app account deletion option.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our Cookies

FreeTimeline itself uses minimal cookies. We use localStorage to remember your consent acknowledgment and to store your timeline data. We do not use cookies for tracking your behavior.

Third-Party Advertising Cookies

We display advertisements through third-party advertising networks to support the free operation of this Service. These partners may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Serve advertisements based on your interests
• Measure ad performance
• Limit the frequency of ads shown

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other sites. Google's use of the DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to FreeTimeline and/or other sites on the Internet.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting:

• Google Ads Settings
• Digital Advertising Alliance Opt-Out
• Your Online Choices (EU)

Third-Party Processors

FreeTimeline relies on a small number of third-party service providers to operate the site. By default, none of them receive your timeline data, because that data never leaves your browser unless you opt into the account features described in "Optional Accounts & Cloud" above. All providers below process limited technical information (such as your IP address and request headers) on our behalf; the account/cloud provider also processes the specific account and timeline data you choose to submit:

• Google AdSense — serves the advertising that supports the free tier, and may set cookies described in our Cookie Policy. See Google's Privacy Policy and the AdSense Programme Policies.
• DNS & CDN host (Cloudflare) — routes traffic to freetimeline.pt and protects the site from abuse. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
• Cloudflare (Workers & D1 database, Western Europe region) — powers the optional account API and stores account and cloud-saved timeline data for users who opt in. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Data Processing Addendum (DPA) — AdSense. Where Google AdSense processes personal data on our behalf within the meaning of the GDPR, that processing is governed by the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which we have accepted. Google may also act as an independent controller for ad-personalisation purposes, as disclosed in its own privacy notices.

No analytics today. FreeTimeline does not currently use Google Analytics, Plausible, Matomo, or any other analytics platform. If we add a privacy-friendly analytics tool in the future, we will list it here and update the "Last Updated" date.

Cookie Consent & Advertising

FreeTimeline shows the same cookie consent banner to every visitor on first visit, regardless of where you are—we do not detect your location or vary the banner by country. Google AdSense is not loaded and no advertising cookie is set until you press Accept all. If you press Reject all, or simply close the banner without choosing, no advertising script loads and no ads are shown at all; there is no separate "non-personalised ads" mode running in the background. You can change your decision at any time using the "Manage cookie preferences" link in the footer of every page, or directly on our Cookie Policy page. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland have the additional statutory rights described below under "Your Rights (GDPR)".

How We Use Information

The limited information we do collect is used to:

• Operate and maintain the Service
• Monitor and analyze usage patterns to improve user experience
• Detect and prevent security threats or fraud
• Display advertisements through our advertising partners
• Respond to your inquiries if you contact us
• If you have an account: authenticate you, store the timelines you choose to save, and operate the features you use (publishing, likes, follows, comments, notifications)

Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to others. We may share anonymized, aggregate statistics about site usage (such as total number of visitors) but this data cannot identify any individual.

Our advertising partners (such as Google AdSense) have their own privacy policies governing their data practices. We encourage you to review their policies.

If you have an optional account, content you set to public or unlisted is, by design, shared with and viewable by other people who visit the Discover gallery or your share link — see "Optional Accounts & Cloud" above for the visibility levels available and how to keep a timeline private.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical measures to protect against unauthorized access to our systems. For your local timeline data, stored in your browser:

• The security of that data depends on your device and browser security
• We recommend keeping your browser updated
• We recommend regularly exporting backups of your important timelines
• Anyone with access to your browser can access your timeline data

For optional account and cloud data: passwords are stored as salted PBKDF2 hashes, never in plain text; data is transmitted over HTTPS; and the database is hosted on Cloudflare D1 in the Western Europe region. No online system is perfectly secure, so we recommend using a unique password and keeping regular exports of anything important, cloud-saved or not.

Children's Privacy

FreeTimeline is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

Data Controller

For the purposes of the GDPR, the data controller for the limited technical processing described in this policy (edge/access logs, advertising cookies, and any information you voluntarily send us via email or the contact form) is the individual operator of FreeTimeline, reachable at privacy@freetimeline.pt. FreeTimeline is a solo/independent project rather than a registered company; this email is the controller's official point of contact for privacy matters.

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR Art. 6)

• Edge/access logs (IP address, browser, timestamps): legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — keeping the Service secure, functioning, and free of abuse. This processing happens at the GitHub Pages/Cloudflare infrastructure level, not by bespoke tracking code we write.
• Advertising cookies (Google AdSense): consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — these only load after you press "Accept all" on the cookie banner. You can withdraw consent at any time via "Manage cookie preferences," which takes effect for future page loads.
• Timeline data in localStorage (local mode): not processed by us at all — it is created, read, and stored entirely on your own device, so no legal basis is needed on our side because we never receive it.
• Optional account & cloud-saved data: contractual necessity (Art. 6(1)(b)) — processing your email, password hash, profile, and the timelines/social data you submit is necessary to provide the account features you have chosen to use.
• Emails you send us (support/contact): consent and/or legitimate interests in responding to your enquiry (Art. 6(1)(a)/(f)).

Your Rights (GDPR)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have certain data protection rights:

• Right to Access: You can request information about data we process about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can request correction of inaccurate data.
• Right to Erasure: You can request deletion of your data.
• Right to Restrict Processing: You can request we limit how we use your data.
• Right to Data Portability: You can request a copy of your data.
• Right to Object: You can object to our processing of your data.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent (such as advertising cookies), you can withdraw it at any time via "Manage cookie preferences," without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. In Portugal, this is the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD). You can also complain to the supervisory authority in your own EU/EEA member state.

If you have never created an account, we do not store your timeline data, so most of these rights apply only to server logs and contact information you may have provided. If you have an optional account, these rights also cover the account and cloud-saved data described in "Optional Accounts & Cloud" above — you can exercise access, export, and deletion for that data directly in the app (account settings), or by emailing us.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@freetimeline.pt. We aim to respond within one month, as required by Art. 12(3) GDPR.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

General contact: support@freetimeline.pt

Privacy & data requests: privacy@freetimeline.pt