Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Shark Guitars (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the Ocean Environment community forum at https://oceanenvironment.net. This policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of Turkey.

What Information Do We Collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site and gather data when you participate in the forum by reading, writing, and evaluating the content shared here.

Account Information:
When registering on our site, you may be asked to enter your name and e-mail address. You may, however, visit our site without registering. Your e-mail address will be verified by an email containing a unique link. If that link is visited, we know that you control the e-mail address.

Profile Information:
You may optionally add a profile picture, biography, and other details to your public profile. All such information is provided voluntarily.

Posts and Content:
When registered and posting, we store all content you submit including topics, replies, likes, bookmarks, and direct messages.

Technical Data:
When registered and posting, we record the IP address that the post originated from. We also may retain server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server, browser user agent, and referring URL.

What Do We Use Your Information For?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

  • To personalize your experience — your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs.
  • To improve our site — we continually strive to improve our site offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you.
  • To improve customer service — your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs.
  • To send periodic emails — the email address you provide may be used to send you information, notifications that you request about changes to topics or in response to your user name, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions. You can configure your notification preferences in your account settings.
  • To maintain security — IP addresses and technical data are used to detect spam, abuse, and unauthorized access.

How Do We Protect Your Information?

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you enter, submit, or access your personal information. Among other things:

  • Your account is protected by a password that is stored using strong one-way hashing.
  • All data transfer between your browser and the forum is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS.
  • We use Discourse, an open-source platform with a strong track record of security practices and regular updates.
  • Access to personal data is restricted to authorized administrators and moderators on a need-to-know basis.

Data Retention

We will make a good faith effort to:

  • Retain server logs containing the IP address of all requests to this server no more than 90 days.
  • Retain the IP addresses associated with registered users and their posts no more than 5 years.
  • Account data is retained as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, your personal data will be anonymized or removed, though some content may remain in anonymized form to preserve the integrity of community discussions.

Do We Use Cookies?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow). These cookies enable the site to recognize your browser and, if you have a registered account, associate it with your registered account.

We use cookies to:

  • Keep you signed in during your browsing session.
  • Understand and save your preferences for future visits.
  • Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction to improve the forum experience.

We do not use third-party tracking or advertising cookies. You can choose to disable cookies through your browser settings, but this may limit your ability to use certain features of the forum.

Do We Disclose Any Information to Outside Parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our site, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential.

We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to:

  • Comply with the law or respond to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
  • Enforce our site policies or Terms of Service.
  • Protect ours or others’ rights, property, or safety.

Non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses in aggregate, anonymized form only.

Third-Party Services

The forum is powered by Discourse, an open-source discussion platform. Discourse processes data as described in their own privacy documentation.

We may embed content from third-party services (such as YouTube, Twitter, or GitHub) within forum posts. When you interact with this embedded content, those third-party services may collect data about you according to their own privacy policies.

We use external hosting and CDN services to deliver the forum. These providers may process server logs and technical data as part of their service delivery.

Children’s Online Privacy

Our site, products, and services are directed to people who are at least 13 years old. If you are under the age of 13, per the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar regulations, please do not use this site.

If we learn that personal data from users less than 13 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records.

Your Rights

As a registered user, you have the right to:

  • Access your personal data through your account profile and preferences.
  • Rectify or update your personal information at any time through your profile settings.
  • Delete your account and request removal of associated personal data by contacting the site administrators.
  • Export your data using the built-in Discourse user data export feature available in your account preferences.
  • Restrict processing — you may request that we limit how your data is used.
  • Object to specific types of data processing by adjusting your notification and privacy settings.

To exercise any of these rights, visit your profile settings or contact the moderators.

Your Consent

By using our site, you consent to this Privacy Policy.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page and notify the community through a forum announcement. Significant changes will be communicated prominently. We will maintain a history of revisions via the post revision history.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you may reach us through the Site Feedback category or by contacting the moderators.