Privacy
What we collect, and what we do with it
Last updated August 10, 2026
BuffStampede is run by Authentic Media LLC, a Colorado company. This page describes what the site collects, who else handles it, and what you can ask us to delete. It is written to be read, not to be survived.
The short version
- We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for advertising.
- No advertising or tracking scripts run on this site. If that changes, this page will say so before it happens.
- You can read every story without an account.
- Your real name is never sent to The Board. Members see the handle you chose.
What you give us
An account
Creating an account means giving an email address, a password, and a handle. Accounts are run by Clerk, and the password is held by Clerk rather than by us. You do not need an account to read.
Support
If you contribute, Stripe processes the payment. Card numbers go to Stripe and never reach us. We can see that a contribution happened, its amount, and the email attached to it.
The newsletter
Subscribing gives us your email address. Beehiiv sends the newsletter and records whether an issue was opened. Every issue has an unsubscribe link, and it works immediately.
The Board
Posts on The Board are public. Anyone can read them, including people without an account, and search engines can index them. What is shown is your handle and your avatar. Your real name is not sent to the forum at all, which is a deliberate decision about how the two parts of the site fit together. The forum software does record the IP address a post came from, which is how spam and abuse get dealt with.
Anything you write to us
Email, a contact form, a tip. We keep it as long as it is useful and no longer.
What gets collected without you typing anything
Two analytics tools run on the site: Google Analytics, which is where reports are read, and Vercel Analytics, which comes with the hosting. Both record which pages are visited, roughly where in the world a visit came from, and what kind of device it was on. Google Analytics sets cookies to do that. Neither is used to build a profile of you, and neither feeds an advertiser.
The servers also keep short-lived logs, which include IP addresses. Those exist to find and fix breakage.
Cookies
There are two kinds here. Signing in sets a cookie so you stay signed in, which the site cannot work without. Google Analytics sets cookies to count visits. If you block them, everything except staying signed in still works.
Who else handles your information
These are the services the site actually uses. Each one has its own policy, and each link goes to it.
| Service | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clerk | Runs accounts and sign in. Holds your email address, your password, and your name if you gave one. |
| Stripe | Handles payments. Card numbers go to Stripe and never reach us. |
| Beehiiv | Sends the newsletter. Holds your email address and whether you opened an issue. |
| Discourse | Runs The Board. Holds your posts, your handle, your avatar, and the IP address you posted from. |
| Vercel | Hosts the site and keeps short-lived server logs. Also provides one of the two analytics tools. |
| Google Analytics | Reports which pages are read and roughly where readers are. Sets cookies to do it. |
| Sanity | Stores the stories themselves. Holds nothing about readers. |
What we do not do
- We do not sell or rent your information.
- We do not share it with advertisers or ad networks.
- We do not run advertising or tracking scripts on the site.
- We do not use anything you post to train an AI system.
The third one is a fact about today rather than a promise about the business. Advertising and sponsorships are part of how this is paid for, and a network may be added at some point. If it is, this page will be updated before it goes live, not after.
Your choices
- Leave the newsletter. Use the unsubscribe link in any issue.
- Stop recurring support. One click in the billing portal on your account page.
- Change your handle or avatar. Both are yours to change on The Board.
- Delete your account. Email us and we will delete it, along with your newsletter subscription. Posts you have already made on The Board can be deleted too, though replies quoting them may keep the quoted text.
- Ask what we hold. Email us and we will tell you, and send you a copy.
- Turn off analytics. Browser settings and tracking-protection extensions both work here, and nothing on the site fights them.
How long things are kept
Accounts and posts stay until you ask for them to go. Newsletter records stay until you unsubscribe. Payment records are kept as long as tax and accounting rules require, which is a matter of law rather than preference. Server logs are short-lived.
Age
Accounts are for readers 16 and over. If you believe someone younger has created one, email us and we will remove it.
Colorado and California readers
If you live in Colorado, California, or another state with a privacy law of its own, you have the right to know what is held about you, to get a copy, to correct it, to have it deleted, and to opt out of it being sold or used for targeted advertising. That last right is straightforward here, because neither of those things happens.
Exercising any of these takes one email. We will not ask you to create an account to make a request, and we will not treat you differently for making one.
Changes to this page
When something material changes, the date at the top changes and the change is described here. Anything that affects what is collected or who sees it will be posted before it takes effect.
Getting in touch
Email theboard@buffstampede.com with any question about this page, or any request about your own information. A real person reads it.
Authentic Media LLC
PO Box 213
Johnstown, CO 80534
United States
Related: Terms of use and how we work.