Your privacy in the community
Alcohol Scotland’s community is public to read. Your account email and password are not displayed beside your posts. Using a username gives you a choice about what you reveal; it cannot guarantee that nobody will recognise your circumstances.
What other people can see
Your username, conversation titles, posts, replies and dates are public. People can read them without an account, and search engines may find them. Edits are marked. Other readers can copy or share public content outside this site.
Keep names, addresses, workplaces, contact details and identifying information about other people out of your posts. Think carefully before including details about your health, treatment or family circumstances. You can participate without giving your real name or a detailed personal history.
What your account stores
The community stores your username, email address, a protected password hash, when you joined, confirmation status, account status and recent account activity. It also records which account created or edited a post.
Your email is used to confirm your account and send password reset links. Passwords are stored as hashes rather than readable passwords. Confirmation and reset links expire; their secret tokens are stored as hashes too.
Account information is used to run membership, keep your username consistent, protect access and manage the community.
Reports and moderation
A report records the reporting member’s username, the reported item, the explanation and the report date. These details are available to the administrator, not other members. A report is not sent to the person whose post you report.
The administrator can review account information and community content to operate the service and deal with problems. Hiding a post removes it from public view but retains it for administrator review. Marking a report reviewed does not delete it.
Cookies and technical information
The community uses a session cookie for signing in, keeping forms secure and remembering your session. Signing out ends your signed-in access in that session. Password resets invalidate earlier signed-in sessions for that account.
Security checks count repeated sign-in, registration, recovery, posting and reporting attempts. The counters use hashed identifiers based on account details or connection addresses. A hash does not make these records completely anonymous.
Google Analytics is not loaded on community pages. The main information website and AS Help Now have separate analytics settings.
Hosting and email services process information needed to deliver the website and account emails. Hosting systems can also keep connection logs and backups. These records are separate from the public conversation pages.
Changing or removing information
You can edit your own visible messages while a conversation is open. If identifying details need removing from a closed or hidden conversation, contact the administrator.
To ask for a copy or correction of your account information, removal of a post, or closure of your account, email editor@alcoholscotland.co.uk. Use your registered email address and include your username. We may need to verify that the account belongs to you; do not send your password.
Account records and messages do not currently expire automatically. Removal requests are handled by the administrator. Some security or moderation records may need to be retained to resolve abuse, disputes or legal obligations; the administrator will explain any information that cannot be removed.
Removing information from the live site cannot remove copies made by other people or immediately clear search-engine caches. Backup copies may remain until the hosting provider’s backup cycle replaces them. Contact the administrator for questions about retention or a particular removal request.
Questions
The contact for Alcohol Scotland community privacy is editor@alcoholscotland.co.uk. You can also read the community guidelines.
Updated 22 October 2026.