Account Deletion and Data Retention

1. How to delete your account

Go to Settings → Close account → Delete my account. The app first shows exactly what will be deleted and what will stay, then asks for your password and a typed confirmation. Deletion takes effect immediately and signs you out on every device. It cannot be undone.

If you can't sign in, email [email protected] from the address on your account and we will help after confirming it is you.

2. Before you delete

• Export your research (Settings → Privacy & data → Export all my research).
• Delete any public posts, replies or published research you want removed — they stay otherwise (see below).
• If you own a collaboration that has other members, transfer it or archive it first; deletion is blocked until you do.

3. What is deleted

• Private research drafts that were never published (their content is erased) and your research reviews and reflections.
• Journal entries, expenses and budgets, QWrite documents, QSheets workbooks, watchlist and saved items.
• Stored AI provider keys and broker tokens, and your connections.
• Your profile photo and images you uploaded but never posted.
• Usage analytics events and your analytics choice, and your preferences.
• All your sessions and any pending email links.

4. What is anonymised

Your account record is kept in anonymised form: your email address, name, bio and password are removed and your username is replaced. You can register again later with the same email address as a new member.

5. What stays, shown as “Deleted member”

So that discussions and shared work still make sense for other members, the following stay without your name:

• Research you published, community posts and replies.
• Messages you already sent to other people.
• Content you shared into collaborations.
• Feedback you sent (it never had your name or email attached).

6. Records we keep

We keep the following after deletion, because we need them for security, moderation, legal or accounting reasons:

• Audit records of security and administrative actions, and moderation records (reports and decisions).
• Records of acceptance of the Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Member Charter.
• Voluntary contribution and payment records, as required for accounting, tax and disputes.
• The Q-Points ledger, which is append-only.

7. Retention periods

• Sessions: up to 30 days. Verification links: 24 hours. Password-reset links: 1 hour.
• Usage analytics (only if collected): about 13 months; deleted at once if you switch analytics off or delete your account.
• Feedback and survey answers: about 2 years.
• Server and application logs: generally up to about 30 days.
• Backups: deleted data can remain in backups until they expire (currently up to about 14 days).
• Records listed in section 5: for as long as needed for the purpose they are kept for, or as the law requires.

Full details of the data we hold are in the Privacy Policy.

8. Accounts we close

If we close an account for breaking the Terms and Conditions, the same deletion and retention rules apply, except that we may keep the information needed to prevent the person from returning and to handle any dispute or legal obligation. QFinera does not currently delete accounts for inactivity.