Privacy policy
Last updated: 26 October 2026
1. Who is responsible
Sked Chat is operated by [FULL NAME], SQ3SWG, [POSTAL ADDRESS], email adam@sq3swg.com (the “operator”, “we”). We are the data controller for the personal data described below.
2. What we collect and why
| Data | Purpose | Legal basis (GDPR) | Kept for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Callsign, name, Maidenhead locator, registration date, status message if you set one | Your account; shown to other users so they can contact you and compute distance/heading | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | Until your account is deleted; a status message 12 hours |
| Email address | Confirming your account, password reset, and security notices (email or password changed). Never shown to other users and never used for newsletters or marketing | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | Until your account is deleted; unconfirmed registrations are deleted after 24 hours |
| Password | Logging in. Stored only as a salted scrypt hash, never in readable form | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | Until your account is deleted |
| Login session (random token, stored hashed) | Keeping you logged in | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | 30 days or until you log out |
| Chat messages, including private messages, with your locator at the time of sending | Providing the chat and message history | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | 30 days, then deleted automatically |
| Skeds (stations, frequency, mode, time, note, status) | Arranging and tracking skeds | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | 90 days after the sked time, then deleted automatically |
| DX spots you post | Showing spots to other users | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | In memory only (last 200 per room), lost on server restart |
| Online status, rooms you are in, away flag | Showing who is online | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) | In memory only, while you are connected |
| Callsign verification: whether and when your callsign was verified; a one-time code (stored hashed) | Showing other users that the callsign belongs to you (✓) | Legitimate interest in preventing impersonation, Art. 6(1)(f) | Verification status until your account is deleted; the code 15 minutes |
| Moderation records: mutes and bans of a callsign, with reason, moderator and time; a log of moderator actions | Keeping the chat free of abuse; accountability of moderators | Legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) | Mutes and bans until lifted; the log of moderator actions 12 months, then deleted automatically |
| IP address | Limiting login/registration attempts and blocking addresses that repeatedly enter wrong passwords, to protect accounts | Legitimate interest in security, Art. 6(1)(f) | Attempt counters in memory, up to 15 minutes. Failed password attempts are written to the server log (IP address, callsign, time) and kept for 14 days; an address with 15 failures in 15 minutes is blocked for 1 hour. The web server keeps no access logs, and the IP address is not stored in the database. |
3. What other users can see
Other logged-in users see your callsign, name, locator, status message, online/away status, the rooms you are in, your public chat messages and the DX spots you post. A 6-character locator identifies an area of roughly 5 × 2.5 km, so it reveals your approximate location. Use a 4-character locator (about 100 × 200 km) if you prefer. Private messages and skeds are visible only to the two stations involved.
Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. They are encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and stored on our server, so the operator can technically access them, for example when handling abuse reports.
4. Cookies and local storage
We use one cookie, sid, to keep you logged in. It is strictly necessary for the service and
is not used for tracking. Your browser also stores your selected rooms, open tab, colour theme and language in local storage
(skeds.room, skeds.joined, skeds.view, skeds.theme,
skeds.lang). We use no analytics,
advertising or third-party cookies, so no consent banner is needed.
5. Third parties
- Hosting: OVH SAS (2 rue Kellermann, 59100 Roubaix, France) hosts the server in the EU and processes data on our behalf.
- Map tiles: when you open the map, your browser loads tiles from OpenStreetMap servers, which receive your IP address (OSMF privacy policy).
- QRZ.com: when you choose to verify your callsign, our server looks it up in the QRZ.com callbook and emails a one-time code to the address on your QRZ.com record. That address is used only for this email and is not stored. When you confirm your email address, we also look your callsign up there; if the two addresses match, your callsign is marked verified. Your browser contacts QRZ.com only if you click a “Look up on QRZ.com” link.
- Email delivery: confirmation, password reset and verification emails are sent through OVH SAS mail servers in the EU.
- Propagation data (hamqsl.com, prop.kc2g.com) and the DX cluster feed are fetched by our server. No data about you is sent to them, and spots you post on Sked Chat are not forwarded to the DX cluster.
We do not sell your data or share it with anyone else, except where required by law.
6. Your rights
You have the right to access, rectify and erase your data, to restrict or object to processing, and to data portability. In Profile you can change your name, locator, email address and password, download your data (“Download my data”, a JSON file) and delete your account with your messages and skeds (“Delete my account”). Mutes and bans of a callsign are kept after deletion so they can't be avoided by re-registering. For anything else, email adam@sq3swg.com; we answer within one month. You may also complain to a supervisory authority; in Poland this is the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO).
7. Age
You must be at least 16 years old to register.
8. Security
Connections use HTTPS, passwords and session tokens are stored hashed, and access to the server is restricted. The database is backed up daily, encrypted, to object storage in the EU; backups are deleted after 30 days, so data you delete disappears from them within 30 days. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data, we will inform you and the authority as required by law.
9. Changes
We will publish changes to this policy on this page and announce significant changes in the chat.