What we collect
If you just browse Unseeded — read news, look at brackets, check odds — we don't collect anything about you beyond standard web server activity (Vercel, our hosting provider, may log request metadata like IP address and timestamp; we don't access this for tracking purposes).
If you create an account, we store:
- Username and email address — required to sign up and log in.
- Password — never stored in plain text; we store a one-way bcrypt hash that can't be reversed back into your password, not even by us.
- Avatar and bio — only if you choose to add them.
- Threads and posts — whatever you write in the Community forum.
Cookies
Unseeded sets one cookie: a session cookie that keeps you logged in. It's httpOnly (not readable by page scripts) and strictly necessary for the site to function — we don't use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies.
How we use your information
To run your account (log you in, show your avatar and bio, attribute your posts), to enforce our Terms of Service (moderation and account status), and to keep the site secure (like the login-attempt lockout on your account). We don't use your email to send marketing, and we don't sell or share your personal information with third parties.
Where things are stored
Account and forum data lives in a Postgres database hosted via Vercel/Neon. Uploaded avatars are stored in Vercel Blob storage and served over a public URL (so they can be shown in your posts) — the URL itself doesn't contain your username or email. Photos illustrating tournament cities are sourced from Unsplash and aren't related to your personal data.
Your rights
You can view and edit your username, avatar, and bio, and change your password, any time from your account settings. You can delete your account entirely from that same page — this removes your login credentials, avatar, and bio; your past posts remain visible (attributed to a generic "deleted user") so we don't erase other people's conversations, the same way most forums handle this.
To request a copy of your data, or ask a question about this policy, use our contact form.
Children's privacy
Unseeded is not directed at children, and accounts require you to be 18 or older per our Terms of Service. We don't knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the site changes. We'll update the "last updated" date above when we do.