This policy covers the website at simtx.net, the account portal, and the SimTX desktop app and its command-line tool. It also covers the game servers, the public receiver, the wiki at wiki.simtx.net, and our Discord server and bot. Here, "SimTX", "we" and "us" mean whoever runs SimTX, as section 1 explains. If you're under 18, section 12 has a short version written for you.
Summary
- When you transmit, anyone tuned to your frequency hears you live and sees your callsign and station. Moderators can listen to any live transmission.3
- We don't record transmissions.2.4
- You sign in with your email address or with Discord. From Discord we keep only your user ID and username.2.1
- To enforce the rules, we keep an activity log with IP addresses, mostly for 180 days.4.2
- The website stores only what it needs to keep you signed in and remember your settings. It counts visits and clicks with privacy-friendly analytics that use no cookies and no profiles. No advertising, and we don't sell your data.11
- You can download your data and delete your account in the portal.10
- You can object to any use of your data that we base on our legitimate interests.5
1. Who we are
SimTX is a free, non-commercial project run by qrmcat, a private individual based in Hungary. Whoever runs SimTX is the controller of your data under data protection law. Today that's qrmcat. If SimTX is transferred to a company or another operator, they become the controller. We'll announce it and update this policy.
For anything about your data, write to [email protected]. If you need our full name and postal address, for example to bring a claim, ask at the same address and we'll send them.
2. What we collect and why
The EU's data protection law, the GDPR, lets us use your data only on certain legal bases. We use three:
- contract: we need the data to give you SimTX under our terms
- legal obligation: a law requires it
- legitimate interests: we need the data for an interest we name each time
None of what follows depends on your consent. Section 8 says how long we keep each kind of data.
2.1 Your account
You sign up with an email address or with Discord. With email, we keep the address, as section 2.2 says. With Discord, Discord sends us your basic profile. From it we keep only your Discord user ID and username, and we store both encrypted. Nothing else is copied from Discord. Your account gets a random handle, and a display name made from that handle. You can change both in the portal.
You can also add a bio, a QTH, pronouns and up to 3 links to your profile. All of these are optional. The bio is up to 2000 characters of Markdown, with no images or HTML. The QTH says where you are in words, such as "near Budapest". It can't be coordinates. We don't keep earlier versions of these fields.
We also keep the date you joined, and your roles, badges and awards. We record which version of the terms you accepted, and when. And we keep whether you're listed in the people directory. The listing is on unless you switch it off in the portal. A new account is listed under its random handle and display name, with its join date and any badges, until you add more.
We need this to run your account and show your profile (contract). You need an email address or a Discord account to have a SimTX account. You can listen through the public receiver without either.
2.2 Your email address
Do it yourself Add, change or remove your email, and choose which emails you get, on the Account page
You can sign up with an email address, or add one to your account in the portal. We store it encrypted, with a keyed hash that lets us find your account when you sign in with it. Before we use a new address, you confirm it with a code or link we send to it.
We send it:
- sign-in links and codes, and the code that confirms a new address
- notices about your account: new sign-ins, new access tokens, a changed or removed address, and a deletion you asked for or cancelled
- moderator decisions about your account
- what we decided about reports you sent
You can switch off the notices about sign-ins, and those about your account and reports, in the portal. Sign-in emails, moderator decisions and deletion notices always come. We don't send newsletters or advertising.
We need this to run your account and keep it safe (contract). Telling you about moderator decisions and the outcome of your reports is also required by law (legal obligation). Confirming an address gives your account the QSL award, which shows on your profile unless you hide it.
2.3 Signing in
Do it yourself End a browser session or app device on the Sessions page
For each browser and app install you sign in on, we keep its last IP address, when it was last used, and a random ID stored on that device. We also keep which browser or app and operating system it uses and, for the app, the processor type it reported. We keep the names, permissions and dates of any personal access tokens you create.
We need this to keep you signed in (contract). It also lets you see and end your sessions, and lets us protect your account from misuse (legitimate interests). We use the random IDs for nothing else.
2.4 Stations, satellites and what you transmit
When you save a station or satellite, we store what you enter. That includes its name, callsign, location, antennas (with any model files), radio settings and visibility, and a satellite's orbit. While you're on the air, our servers handle your callsign, location, frequency, mode and power. They also handle the server you're on and your app's name and version.
What you transmit goes live to the receivers that can hear it. We never store it. Our servers hold at most a few seconds of it in memory. This is the service you signed up for (contract). Each session also goes into the activity log (section 4.2).
2.5 The catalog
If you publish an extension or a preset, we store the file with its name and description. We also store your account, and your handle and display name as they were when you published it. This lets other users get it (contract). Presets can contain a callsign and a location, so check them before you publish.
2.6 Reports
A report can come from the app, the form at simtx.net/report or email. Each one records what you tell us: the category, your description, the callsign, station or frequency, and the time. A report from the app also records the mode, your account and, if you choose, your receiving location. A report about a frequency also lists the stations that were transmitting near it, with their callsign, handle and signal details. A report about a profile keeps a copy of the profile as it was then.
The form also records your good-faith statement and the IP address the notice came from. If you're signed in, it records your account instead of a name and email address, and you see the outcome in your list of reports. If you're not, and you give your name and email address, it records those. We use the email address, or your account's, only to tell you what we decided. We use the IP address only to stop abuse of the form.
We handle reports to enforce the rules and keep people safe (legitimate interests). For illegal content, the Digital Services Act also requires it (legal obligation).
We don't tell the person you reported who you are, unless the law requires it. The formal copyright procedure on the report page is one such case. If you're the one reported, we may wait before telling you, if telling you would seriously harm the investigation.
2.7 Running the website and servers
Cloudflare passes requests to simtx.net on to our server. Our server logs your IP address shortened to its network, with your browser, the page and the time. Our servers' other logs can contain callsigns, IP addresses and error details. We also back up our databases. We do this to keep the service working and secure, and to find and fix faults (legitimate interests).
2.8 The desktop app
This part also covers the app's command-line tool. Each time the app starts, it checks manifest.simtx.net for updates. This sends that server your IP address and the app version. The check is required, and the app won't start without it. We need it to keep the app working and secure (legitimate interests).
Discord Rich Presence is off until you turn it on. It shows your Discord contacts details of your session, such as your callsign, frequency and time on the air.
When you run the command-line receiver signed in with --server-id, the IP address of each SDR program that connects to it reaches our servers and the activity log. So tell anyone you let connect. Everything else the app sends is needed to give you the service (contract).
2.9 The wiki
The wiki at wiki.simtx.net has its own accounts. It stores your wiki username, your preferences and your password as a hash. If you add an email address, it stores that too, for password resets. The wiki sends those emails through an email delivery service. Your edits are public under your username. We need this to run your wiki account (contract), and to protect the wiki against vandalism and spam (legitimate interests).
2.10 Discord
Discord runs our Discord server, and Discord's privacy policy covers what you do there. When you use a SimTX bot command, Discord sends the bot your user ID, your name and what you typed. The bot stores none of it. But /tropo, /weather and the sounding command take a location, and the bot posts their replies in the channel for everyone, location included. The sounding command also starts a simulated transmission, which is logged like any other session.
We do this to run the community and improve SimTX (legitimate interests).
2.11 Messages you send us
If you email us or message us on Discord, we keep your address or Discord name, what you wrote and our replies. We need them to answer you and to keep track of what was agreed (legitimate interests). For privacy requests and notices under the Digital Services Act, the law also requires it (legal obligation).
2.12 Legal duties
Some laws require us to use the data described here (legal obligation). We have to:
- handle notices of illegal content and give statements of reasons (Digital Services Act)
- answer orders from courts and authorities
- tell the police about threats to someone's life or safety
- handle copyright notices under Hungarian law
- answer privacy requests
- record data breaches
For each duty, we use only what it needs. We keep it as long as the record it comes from.
2.13 Usage counts
From the data above, we count things like sign-ups, active users and listening time. We use the counts to plan how much server capacity we need (legitimate interests). We also need them because, under the Digital Services Act, an authority can ask us how many people use SimTX. We keep only totals.
2.14 Website analytics
When you visit simtx.net, our own analytics server (Umami) counts the page you opened, the link you came from, your country, browser, operating system and screen size, and a few clicks and results, such as which download you chose, how you signed in (not who), and the speed band of a connection test. We use this to see which parts of SimTX people use and where they get stuck (legitimate interests). It sets no cookie and stores nothing on your device. It tells visits apart with a code made from your IP address and browser details that changes every month and that we can't turn back into either; we don't keep your IP address in analytics. Usernames, callsigns, email addresses, search terms and the addresses of your stations and profiles never go to it, and moderation pages aren't measured at all. It respects your browser's Do Not Track setting. You can also object under section 5, or block umami.knijn.one in your browser.
3. What other people can see
Do it yourself Choose whether you're in the people directory on your Profile page
Anyone, with or without an account, can see:
- your profile (handle, display name, join date, badges and awards, and any bio, QTH, pronouns and links you add), if they know your handle
- your public stations on your profile, with their name, callsign and type but no location
- your listing in the people directory, unless you've switched it off
- your public satellites, with their name, callsign, owner handle and orbit
- your catalog items, with the handle and display name you had when you published them
Your profile is shown only while your account is active.
Anyone connected to a SimTX server, with or without an account, can see:
- public stations, with their callsign, name, owner handle and location, and their frequency, mode and power while on the air
- unlisted stations, with their callsign and frequency but no location
- other sessions, including receivers, with their callsign and location
- who is transmitting and who is listening, by callsign
Anyone tuned to your frequency can hear what you transmit and record it with their own software. We can't recall or delete copies other people make. You don't have to give your real location. A nearby town will do.
4. Moderation
Volunteer moderators help run the community. They act on our instructions and must keep what they see confidential. Only moderators and administrators can see moderation data. We log their actions, including exports.
4.1 Listening in
Moderators with the right permission can listen to any live transmission. They do this to check reports and to stop abuse while it's happening. Each time they listen through our moderation tools, we log which moderator listened to which transmission, when, and for how long. A moderator can also tune in like any other listener. That isn't logged separately.
4.2 The activity log and linked accounts
The activity log records sign-ins, connections, transmissions and receptions. For each one, it keeps:
- the account, callsign and station
- the frequency, mode, power and location
- the server and app
- the IP address and network range
- for web sign-ins, the browser
For moderators' actions, it records the moderator, and the account and IP address they used.
When accounts have used the same IP address, network range or callsign, our system links them. Some addresses are shared by many people, such as private, carrier-grade NAT and busy shared addresses. These don't raise ban-evasion flags. A link is a signal, not proof. A moderator decides what it means.
4.3 Automated checks
Our systems flag patterns for moderators. Examples are an account sharing an IP address with a restricted account, a callsign used from several accounts, or a burst of transmissions. A flag changes nothing on its own. A moderator looks at it and decides.
One step is automatic. Sometimes an account is deleted while it's suspended, banned, or restricted from connecting or transmitting. We then keep a keyed hash of its Discord user ID and of its email address, and the kind of restriction. If the same Discord account or email address signs up again before that restriction would have ended, the new account gets the restriction automatically. You then receive a statement of reasons that says so. A person made the original decision, and you can ask a person to look at it again. Apart from this, we don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
4.4 Measures and records
Moderators can take the measures listed in the terms, section 7, from a warning to a ban or an IP block. We keep:
- moderators' notes
- watchlist entries (accounts, addresses or callsigns to keep an eye on)
- restrictions and bans, with their reasons
- the statements of reasons we give for warnings, restrictions, suspensions, disconnects and content removals
We need these records to enforce the rules, look into reports, protect users from abuse and keep banned users out (legitimate interests). The Digital Services Act also requires us to handle notices of illegal content and to give statements of reasons (legal obligation).
5. Your right to object
You can object at any time to any use of your data that we base on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. This covers the activity log, linked accounts, security records, logs and usage counts. Write to [email protected] and tell us what you object to and why.
We'll stop, with two exceptions. We can carry on if we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms. We can also carry on if we need the data for legal claims.
How we weigh moderation records
Everyone on SimTX shares one band. So when one person harasses others, overdoes it on the air or comes back after a ban, it affects everyone. Transmissions aren't recorded. A short record of who was on the air, and from which address, is the least intrusive way to deal with this. Most of it goes after 180 days. Shared addresses don't raise ban-evasion flags, and a person reviews every flag. We also take into account that some users are teenagers. For these records, our reasons will often outweigh an objection, but we look at each one. You can ask us for a summary of our assessment.
6. Who we share data with
These providers handle data for us, and their contracts with us require them to follow our instructions:
- Layer7 Networks GmbH, Germany: our main server, with the game servers, accounts, databases, backups and logs
- Datalix, Germany: the update server, manifest.simtx.net
- Our analytics server (Umami), which we run ourselves at umami.knijn.one: receives the counts described in section 2.14
- Cloudflare, Inc., USA: delivers and protects simtx.net, auth.simtx.net and wiki.simtx.net, so it sees IP addresses and request data. It also forwards email sent to our simtx.net addresses, and runs the bot check on the email sign-in form
- Google (Gmail): the mailbox that email to our simtx.net addresses arrives in
- Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc.), USA: sends our emails, so it handles your email address and what each email says
Discord handles sign-in and runs our Discord server under its own privacy policy. That's Discord Netherlands B.V. for users in Europe, and Discord Inc. elsewhere.
Maps on the portal's Stations page and in the app load directly from Esri and Amazon Web Services, and in the app also from CARTO. These providers see your IP address and the area you're viewing.
We hand data to authorities only when the law requires it. For example, we do it under a court order, or when we report a threat to someone's life or safety to the police. The Hungarian copyright procedure can also require us to pass a user's objection, with the contact details in it, to the rights holder.
7. Transfers outside the EU
We handle most data in the European Union, on servers hosted in Germany and on our own hardware in Hungary. These recipients are outside it:
| Recipient | Country | Safeguard |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. | USA | Certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, with the Standard Contractual Clauses in Cloudflare's data processing agreement as a fallback |
| Google (Gmail) | USA and elsewhere | Certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework |
| Resend | USA | Standard Contractual Clauses in Resend's data processing agreement |
| Discord | USA | Discord decides for itself how it uses the data, and says it relies on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses |
| Map providers (section 6) | USA and elsewhere | Your device contacts them directly, so we don't transfer your data to them |
Only moderators in the European Economic Area can see moderation data.
For a copy of these safeguards, write to [email protected].
8. How long we keep data
| Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Your account, profile and terms acceptance | Until your account is deleted |
| Your email address and which emails you get | Until you remove it or your account is deleted |
| Sign-in links and codes sent by email, and addresses waiting to be confirmed | 1 day after they expire. They expire after 15 minutes. |
| Emails waiting to be sent | Until they're sent, at most a day. We don't keep copies of sent emails; Resend keeps its own delivery records for a limited time. |
| An account that never accepts the terms | 30 days after it's created, or after this policy was first published if the account is older |
| A handle you've stopped using | 90 days, reserved for you and kept in your handle history, then released |
| Stations and satellites | Until you delete them. A deleted satellite keeps only its orbit, without your name or callsign, until your account is deleted. |
| Catalog items | Until you remove them. If you delete your account, they stay up without your name. |
| Browser sessions, app devices and personal access tokens | 90 days after they end |
| Expired app sign-ins | 30 days after they expire |
| Sign-in codes, game passes and short-lived app credentials | 7 days after they expire |
| Records of a Discord sign-in step | 1 day |
| Activity log, including IP addresses and moderators' listening sessions | 180 days |
| Addresses, network ranges and callsigns linked to your account | 180 days after they were last used |
| Flags for moderators | 180 days after they're resolved, or after they were last raised if nobody acted on them |
| Reports and their evidence | 180 days after they're resolved. Unresolved ones are closed after 180 days without activity and deleted 180 days later. |
| IP address a notice was sent from | 30 days |
| Moderator notes | 2 years after they're written, or 30 days after they're deleted |
| Watchlist entries, restrictions, suspensions, bans and IP blocks | While they last, then 2 years after they end |
| Statements of reasons | 2 years after the measure ends. For warnings, disconnects and content removals, 2 years after they're issued. |
| Bans of deleted accounts | A keyed hash of the Discord user ID and of the email address, until the ban would have ended and at most 2 years |
| Audit log of changes to accounts and their limits, and of staff actions, without IP addresses | 2 years |
| Server logs and messages between our own services | 30 days. The game servers' event log is kept 90 days. Some container logs are kept until they're overwritten or the server restarts. |
| Web access logs and update-check logs | 14 days |
| Database backups | 30 days, encrypted |
| Messages you send us | 12 months after the conversation ends |
| Wiki account and edits | Until you ask us to close the account. Edits stay in the public history under a new name. |
| Usage counts | Totals only |
| Data the app or website stores on your device | Until you sign out or delete it (section 11) |
9. Deleting your account
Do it yourself Delete your account on the Account page
You can delete your account from the Account page in the portal (simtx.net/app/account). This works even if your account is suspended or banned, or you haven't accepted the current terms. You sign in again to confirm.
As soon as you confirm, we sign you out everywhere, end your live sessions, hide your profile and take your satellites off public lists. For 30 days you can change your mind by signing in again and cancelling. After 30 days we delete your account and everything tied to it, except the things below.
Some moderation records about you can stay for their normal periods: activity log entries, flags, notes and watchlist entries. They stay only if, when the deletion completes, one of these is true:
- your account is suspended
- your account has a restriction that still applies, or that ended in the last 180 days
- your account is the subject of an open report or ban-evasion flag
If your account was suspended, banned, or restricted from connecting or transmitting, we keep the keyed hash described in section 4.3. Then the restriction applies again if you sign up with the same Discord account or email address.
If your account has an email address, we send one last email when the deletion completes, then delete the address. Reports you filed stay, without your name or location. Audit log entries that moderators or administrators made about your account stay for 2 years, and your last handle stays reserved for 90 days. Catalog items you published stay available without your name. If one contains information about you, ask us and we'll remove it. Logs and backups that contain your data are deleted within 30 days, except the server logs that section 8 says are kept longer.
If you can't sign in, for example because you've lost access to your email and your Discord account, write to [email protected]. Once we've checked that the account is yours, an administrator can delete it. Deleting your SimTX account doesn't close your wiki account, so ask us separately for that. It also doesn't remove what you posted on Discord, or touch data stored on your own device (section 11).
10. Your rights
Do it yourself Download your data on the Account page
You have the right to:
- get a copy of your data
- have wrong data corrected
- have your data deleted
- have us restrict how we use it
- receive the data you gave us in a machine-readable format
- object to uses based on our legitimate interests (section 5)
The quickest way to get a copy is the download on the Account page in the portal. It works whether or not you've accepted the current terms. It includes the moderation records and statements of reasons about you. The download leaves out:
- data that can concern other people, such as who reported you, or notes about an IP address or callsign
- your catalog items, logs and backups
- data held elsewhere, such as your emails to us and your wiki account
Ask us for your catalog items, or for what the logs still hold about you.
To use any of these rights, write to [email protected]. To check that a request is really from you, we may ask you to sign in, to write from the email address on your account, or to message us from the Discord account linked to it. We answer within one month. A complex request can take up to two months longer. If it does, we'll tell you why within the first month. It costs nothing. But if a request is clearly unfounded or excessive, for example because it's repeated, we can refuse it or charge a reasonable fee.
11. Cookies and storage on your device
simtx.net and the portal
The site stores something only when you sign in or choose a setting, never when you just visit. None of it is used for tracking or advertising. Our analytics (section 2.14) set no cookies and store nothing on your device.
| Name | Type | What it's for | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
simtx_session | Cookie | Keeps you signed in | 30 days, or until you sign out |
simtx_csrf | Cookie | Stops other sites from sending requests in your name | 30 days, or until you sign out |
simtx_oauth_nonce | Cookie | Protects the Discord sign-in step | 10 minutes |
simtx_email_attempt | Cookie | Ties the code in a sign-in or confirmation email to this browser | 15 minutes |
simtx.install | Local storage | A random ID for this browser, so you can see and end this session | Until you sign out, your session ends, or you ask to delete your account |
simtx.profile-draft | Session storage | Keeps unsaved edits to your profile if you leave the editor | Until you save or discard them, sign out, or close the tab |
simtx-theme | Local storage | Remembers your choice of light or dark mode | Until you switch back to the system setting |
simtx.email-nudge-dismissed | Local storage | Remembers that you put off the reminder to add an email | 30 days |
simtx.monitor.volume | Local storage | Remembers a moderator's listening volume | Until cleared |
If Cloudflare needs to check that a visitor isn't a bot, it sets a short-lived security cookie (__cf_bm or cf_clearance). We don't use it for anything else.
The wiki
The wiki sets session cookies when you sign in, and cookies for the display preferences you choose. It keeps its scripts, styles and any unfinished edit in your browser. It remembers your light or dark choice as simtx-theme. None of this is used for tracking.
The desktop app
The app keeps your sign-in credential in your operating system's keychain. Its settings, presets, extensions, form entries and unsaved drafts of stations and satellites are kept in its own folder and storage. So is its install ID, while you're signed in. Form entries can include callsigns, locations and audio file paths. A command-line credential file (--auth-file or SIMTX_AUTH_FILE) is plain text, so keep it private. None of this leaves your computer, except what the app sends when you sign in, connect or transmit. To remove it, sign out, uninstall the app and delete the SimTX folder.
12. Children and teenagers
You can have a SimTX account from 13. If you sign in with Discord, you also need to be old enough to use Discord where you live. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian has to agree to the terms. They can agree for you, or let you agree to them yourself. If you're under 14, they must accept them for you.
The short version, if you're under 18:
- Anyone tuned in can hear you and see your callsign and station. Don't say your real name, school or address on the air.
- Use a nearby town as your location, not your home.
- Moderators can listen to any transmission. We keep a record of who was on the air, and from which internet address, mostly for 180 days. Some moderation records are kept longer (section 8).
- You can download everything we hold about you, or delete your account, in the portal.
- If someone on SimTX upsets you or asks for your personal details, report it, and tell an adult you trust.
If we learn that an account belongs to someone below the minimum age, or a parent or guardian asks us to, we delete it. Parents and guardians can write to [email protected].
13. People without an account
If you email us or send a notice through the form, we keep it as section 8 says. Someone might report a transmission that mentions you or uses your real callsign. We keep that report the same way. Otherwise transmissions leave nothing about you, because they aren't recorded. If you edit the wiki, section 2.9 applies.
The public receiver sees your IP address while you're connected, but doesn't log it. If you connect SDR software to someone else's SimTX command-line receiver, your IP address can reach our servers and our activity log (section 2.8). Our IP blocks can then apply to you.
You have the same rights as users. Write to [email protected].
14. Security
We protect your data in ways that suit a small service. But no system is completely secure, so we can't promise that your data will never be exposed. The public receiver uses the plain, unencrypted rtl_tcp protocol.
15. Complaints
You can complain to a data protection authority at any time, for example the one in the country where you live or work, or where you think the problem happened. Ours is Hungary's National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH, naih.hu, 1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa utca 9–11). Elsewhere in the European Economic Area, you'll find yours at edpb.europa.eu. You can also go to court.
16. Changes to this policy
Every version of this policy is dated, and we keep earlier versions. We'll announce important changes on the website or in the app before they take effect.