This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use unblocksyria.com ("the Website") and how we use, store, and protect it. By using the Website or submitting information through our forms, you acknowledge and agree to the practices described in this policy.
Information We Collect
Service Submissions
When you submit a new service for tracking, we collect:
- Service name, URL, and description
- Blocking status and categories you select
- Evidence screenshots you upload (optional, up to 10)
- Your email address (optional, for follow-up)
- Any notes you include
Service Corrections
When you submit a correction to an existing service listing, we collect:
- The service being corrected and the type of correction
- Your proposed correction and supporting evidence screenshots (optional, up to 10)
- Your email address (optional, for follow-up)
- Any notes you include
Contact Form
When you contact us, we collect:
- Your name and email address (required)
- Your phone number (optional)
- Your message
- Any attachments you upload (optional, max 3)
Voting
When you vote for a service, we record the vote count on our servers. To prevent duplicate voting, we generate a one-way cryptographic hash of your IP address combined with the service identifier. This hash cannot be reversed to recover your original IP address, and we do not store your raw IP address in connection with votes.
Your browser's local storage is used to remember which services you have voted for. This data stays on your device and is not sent to our servers.
Automatically Collected Information
When you submit a form (submission, correction, or contact), our servers automatically collect:
- Your IP address
- Country (derived from your IP address)
- Browser type and version
- Device type and operating system
- Referrer (the page that linked you to our Website)
- Language preferences (from your browser's Accept-Language header)
- Timestamp of submission
This technical information is used solely for spam prevention, abuse detection, and platform security. It is accessible only to platform administrators and is never displayed publicly.
Analytics and Error Monitoring
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our Website. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited, time on site, device type, and general location (country/city level). This data is associated with a randomly generated identifier, not your name or email. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
We also use Sentry for error monitoring and performance tracking. Sentry may collect your IP address and browser information to help us diagnose errors. See Sentry's Privacy Policy for details.
Cookies and Local Storage
We use one cookie to remember your language preference (English or Arabic). Google Analytics also sets its own cookies to distinguish users and track sessions; see Google's privacy policy for details. We also use your browser's local storage to remember your vote history, which stays on your device.
Bot Protection
Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to verify that submissions come from real users. Cloudflare may process your IP address, browser characteristics, and device information (including device fingerprinting) for this purpose. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy for details.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Operate and improve the Website
- Respond to your inquiries and messages
- Process and review service submissions and corrections
- Prevent spam, abuse, and fraudulent activity
- Monitor and fix technical errors
- Generate aggregate statistics (e.g., total votes, service counts)
We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or automated decision-making.
Information Displayed Publicly
The following information may be displayed publicly on the Website:
- Service data: Service names, URLs, descriptions, blocking status, and categories
- Timeline events: When our team investigates or contacts companies about a service, we may publish timeline updates that describe the progress. These timeline events may include evidence screenshots.
- Vote counts: Aggregate vote totals for each service
We do not publicly display your name, email address, phone number, IP address, submission notes, or any other personally identifying information you provide through our forms.
User-Uploaded Content and Personal Information
Important: When you upload evidence screenshots through our submission or correction forms, you are solely responsible for ensuring that the images do not contain personally identifiable information (PII) of yourself or third parties. This includes, but is not limited to, names, email addresses, phone numbers, account identifiers, profile pictures, and any other information that could identify an individual.
While we take reasonable steps to review uploaded content and avoid publishing screenshots that contain personal information, we cannot guarantee that all PII will be detected and removed. Evidence screenshots attached to approved submissions or corrections may be displayed publicly as part of service timeline events.
By uploading evidence screenshots, you represent and warrant that:
- You have removed or obscured any personal information in the images before uploading
- You have the right to share any information contained in the screenshots
- You understand that uploaded evidence may be displayed publicly on the Website
If you discover that personal information — yours or someone else's — appears in publicly displayed evidence on the Website, you may request its removal by contacting us at hello@unblocksyria.com with a written request describing the content to be removed. We will make reasonable efforts to process such requests promptly.
Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services that may process your data under their own privacy policies:
- Google Analytics — website analytics
- Cloudflare — hosting, security, and content delivery
- Sentry — error monitoring
Data Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share information only:
- With the third-party service providers listed above, as necessary to operate the Website
- If required by applicable law, regulation, or legal process
- To protect the rights, safety, or property of Unblock Syria, its users, or the public
Data Retention
- Contact messages: Retained until the inquiry is resolved and for a reasonable period thereafter
- Submissions and corrections: Retained indefinitely as part of our service tracking records
- Automatically collected metadata (IP address, browser info): Retained alongside the associated record (indefinitely for submissions and corrections; until resolved for contact messages)
- Vote hashes: Retained indefinitely to prevent duplicate voting
- Analytics data: Subject to Google Analytics and Sentry retention policies
You may request deletion of your personal information by contacting us at hello@unblocksyria.com. We will process such requests in accordance with applicable law. Please note that vote hashes are anonymized and cannot be linked back to you, and approved service data that has become part of our public records may not be deletable. We may also retain certain data where we have a legitimate interest or legal obligation to do so.
Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Request deletion of your personal information
- Object to or restrict the processing of your information
- Request your data in a portable, machine-readable format
- Withdraw consent for analytics and error monitoring at any time
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@unblocksyria.com. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.
Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data under the following legal bases:
- Legitimate interest: Operating the platform, processing service submissions and corrections, spam prevention, vote deduplication, and platform security
- Consent: Analytics (Google Analytics) and error monitoring (Sentry). You may withdraw this consent at any time.
- Performance of a contract: Responding to inquiries you submit through our contact form
Children's Privacy
The Website is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.
International Data Transfers
Your information may be processed and stored in countries outside your country of residence — including the United States — through our use of Cloudflare, Google Analytics, and Sentry. These transfers are governed by Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the service providers' data processing agreements. By using the Website, you acknowledge these transfers.
Data Security
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. Continued use of the Website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Data Controller
Unblock Syria is the data controller responsible for your personal data as described in this policy.
Contact
For privacy-related questions or requests, email us at hello@unblocksyria.com.