damned.wtf  /  legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 23, 2026

This Privacy Policy and Legal Notice applies to all websites and pages operated under the Operator's domain, including damned.wtf and all its subpaths — /lol, /infosec, /tos, /privacy — and any related static pages the Operator may host. By accessing or using any part of the Site, you agree to the terms set out below. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site. This Privacy Policy, together with the Operator's Terms of Service, governs your relationship with the Operator of damned.wtf — a single private individual — regarding your use of the Site.

Definitions

The same definitions from the Terms of Service §00 apply throughout this Privacy Policy. In particular:

  • "Operator" — the private individual who owns and controls the damned.wtf domain. This is a personal, non-commercial project with no registered legal entity.
  • "Site" — damned.wtf and all its subpaths, including but not limited to /infosec, /lol, /tos, /privacy, and any other static or client-side pages hosted under the same domain.
  • "Third-Party Service" — any external website, API, tool, or resource not owned or controlled by the Operator, including but not limited to Mullvad, Bitwarden, haveibeenpwned.com, VirusTotal, and Cloudflare.
  • "Educational Purpose" — personal, non-commercial study and general awareness-raising. Using any tool or technique described here to gain unauthorised access to systems, conduct surveillance, or perform any illegal act is expressly excluded from this definition and constitutes a violation of the Terms regardless of any claimed educational intent.

Nature of This Site

The pages on damned.wtf are static, client-side educational resources. Access to the Site is gated by a one-time human-verification check (Cloudflare Turnstile); this is the only server-side processing performed by the Operator, implemented as lightweight edge functions solely to confirm you are not an automated bot. There is no database, no user accounts, no usernames or passwords, no persistent data storage, and no analytics or tracking implemented or controlled by the Operator.

The sole purpose of the Site is to educate visitors about browser security, privacy concepts, and related technical topics. Nothing here is intended as a commercial service.

Information Collected

no accounts · no analytics · no ads
  • The Operator does not create user accounts, request names or contact details, operate analytics, sell personal data, use advertising trackers, or maintain visitor profiles.
  • The Site's content is static, served directly to your browser. The only data the Operator's edge functions handle is what the human-verification check requires: the Turnstile token your browser submits and your IP address, passed to Cloudflare to confirm the check. The Operator keeps no database, no user profiles, and no record of your browsing.
  • Limited technical data may be processed by infrastructure providers, including Cloudflare, for site delivery, caching, security, DDoS protection, and human-verification. Under GDPR-style regimes this technical data (IP address, user agent, cookie data, bot-detection signals) can still constitute personal data even though the Operator does not inspect or retain it.
Your browser or network will send standard HTTP headers (IP address, user agent, referrer, etc.) to the Operator's hosting provider or CDN (e.g., Cloudflare) for basic delivery, caching, and DDoS protection. This is standard web infrastructure behaviour entirely outside the Operator's direct control — refer to your hosting/CDN provider's privacy policy for their logging and data retention practices.

The Operator sets a single strictly-necessary cookie (__Host-human_verified) after you pass the verification check, so you are not asked to verify again on every page. It contains only a signed, time-limited token — no personal data, no identifier that follows you across sites, and nothing used for tracking, advertising, or analytics. The Operator does not use pixels, beacons, localStorage, or any other persistent identifier.

How Information Is Used

The Operator retains no information about you. The verification token and IP address used for the bot check are processed only momentarily to confirm the check with Cloudflare and are not stored by the Operator. The purpose of the Site is purely educational — to demonstrate concepts in a transparent, privacy-respecting way.

Cookies & Similar Technologies

The Operator sets one strictly-necessary cookie, __Host-human_verified, once you pass the human-verification check. It exists solely to remember that your browser cleared the bot check so you are not re-prompted on every page. It stores only a signed, time-limited token, holds no personal data, and is never used for tracking, profiling, advertising, or analytics. Because it is essential to providing the Site you requested, no consent banner is required for it under the ePrivacy Directive / GDPR. No other cookies or tracking technologies are set by the Operator.

Data Sharing & Third Parties

The Operator does not sell, rent, trade, or disclose visitor information for advertising or profiling. Limited technical data may be transmitted to infrastructure providers (currently Cloudflare for hosting, CDN, security, and human-verification) as necessary to deliver, cache, secure, and protect the Site, governed by those providers' own policies. Third-party requests you initiate by clicking external links are made directly by your browser and are not proxied, intercepted, or logged by the Operator.

EU / UK GDPR — Transparency & Legal Basis

For visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom subject to the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation, the following Article 13 transparency notice applies to the limited technical data processed to deliver and protect the Site:

  • Controller: the Operator of damned.wtf — a single private individual. This is a personal, non-commercial journal, not a public service; the Operator does not maintain a contact channel and does not collect or hold identifiable user data. Any records relating to your visit are held only by the infrastructure providers below and should be requested from them directly.
  • Categories of data: technical request data — such as IP address, user agent, referrer, Turnstile token, verification-cookie data, and security/CDN logs — where processed by infrastructure providers.
  • Purposes: site delivery, caching, abuse prevention, bot detection, DDoS protection, and security.
  • Legal basis: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) in operating, securing, and protecting a free public website.
  • Recipients: hosting/CDN/security providers — currently Cloudflare — and any other infrastructure providers used to deliver the Site.
  • Retention: the Operator maintains no application-level logs or user profiles. Infrastructure logs, if any, are retained per the relevant provider's policy.
  • Transfers: infrastructure providers may process data internationally under their own transfer mechanisms.
  • Your rights: where applicable, you retain the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, and the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. Because the Operator holds no identifiable records and operates no contact channel, the Operator has nothing to act on and cannot identify you; any data that exists is held by the infrastructure providers above and rights requests should be directed to them under their own policies.

The Operator does not profile visitors, build audiences, or engage in automated decision-making. No Data Protection Officer is appointed, as the Operator does not carry out large-scale or systematic monitoring nor process special-category data.

EU Digital Services Act (DSA)

The Site does not host user-generated content, provide user accounts, operate a marketplace, or offer a public content-sharing platform. It is a personal, non-commercial journal with no contact channel. To the extent any digital-services rules apply, the Operator will respond to valid legal process as required by applicable law. As baseline principles:

  • The Operator does not use manipulative design patterns or dark patterns intended to deceive visitors.
  • The Site hosts no user-generated content, so the notice-and-action duties aimed at hosting providers (e.g. DSA Art. 16) are not engaged.
  • Content is presented transparently.
  • This policy and the Terms of Service constitute the transparency documentation available to users.

US State Privacy Laws

As of 2026, comprehensive privacy laws are in effect across numerous US states including California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (CDPA), Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee, Nebraska, Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, and Rhode Island, among others.

The Operator does not believe the Site falls within comprehensive US state privacy-law thresholds because it is personal, non-commercial, does not sell or share personal information, does not engage in targeted advertising, and does not intentionally collect personal information at scale. Those laws generally impose obligations only on for-profit businesses meeting revenue or volume thresholds (for example, CCPA applies to businesses with annual gross revenue above roughly $26.6M, or that buy/sell/share the personal information of 100,000+ California residents, or derive 50%+ of revenue from selling/sharing personal information).

The Operator does not sell, share, rent, or trade personal information, does not process sensitive personal data, and does not engage in targeted advertising. If the Site's operation, ownership, traffic, or monetisation changes such that these laws apply, this policy will be updated.

Acceptable Use

All content on the Site is provided strictly for personal, educational, and informational purposes.

Prohibited uses include, without limitation:

  • Applying any technique described here against systems, networks, or devices without the owner's explicit consent.
  • Applying content from the Site for any unlawful purpose, including but not limited to unauthorised computer access, surveillance, or circumventing security controls you are not permitted to circumvent.
  • Misrepresenting the content here as your own work or as professional security advice.
Violation of acceptable use may constitute a criminal offence under applicable laws including but not limited to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, US), the Computer Misuse Act (UK), and equivalent legislation in other jurisdictions. You are solely responsible for ensuring your use complies with all applicable local laws.

Disclaimer of Warranties & Liability

The Site and all content are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Operator of damned.wtf — a single private individual operating a personal, non-commercial educational site with no registered legal entity — shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Site, including reliance on any information presented here.

You use this Site entirely at your own risk, and the Operator owes you nothing for it. The Site has always been free — no payment, subscription, fee, or consideration of any kind is required or solicited — and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Operator excludes all liability for any loss, damage, or consequence arising from your use of or reliance on the Site, regardless of the theory of liability and regardless of whether the Operator was warned such loss was possible. The only liability not excluded is liability that cannot lawfully be excluded — such as for fraud, wilful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by negligence — because no document can waive those.

Content on the Site is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute professional security, legal, or technical advice. Do not rely on it as a substitute for professional consultation.

Intellectual Property

All original content, code, and design on damned.wtf is the property of the Operator unless otherwise noted. You may view and reference content for personal and educational use. Reproduction, redistribution, or commercial use without explicit permission is prohibited.

Third-party libraries, fonts, or services used on the Site retain their respective licenses and ownership.

Children's Privacy (COPPA 2025)

The Site is not directed to children under 13 (under US COPPA), or under 16 where applicable under GDPR, and the Operator does not knowingly collect personal information from children. If the Operator becomes aware that personal information from a child has been collected or retained, the Operator will take reasonable steps to delete it where within the Operator's control. The FTC's amended COPPA Rule had an effective date of June 23, 2025, with a compliance deadline of April 22, 2026 for regulated entities.

The content on the Site is technical and educational in nature, intended for users with a baseline understanding of web and browser technologies. If you are under the applicable age in your jurisdiction, please use the Site only with parental or guardian supervision.

AI-Generated Content

The Site does not itself provide an AI system, make automated decisions about users, or profile visitors. Where content is substantially assisted by or generated with AI tools, the Operator may label it as a transparency practice; this is a best-effort commitment and does not create an enforceable obligation. The EU AI Act entered into force on August 1, 2024 and is generally applicable from August 2, 2026, with exceptions. The Operator does not intend the Site's current static content to trigger AI Act obligations, but this may be reassessed if the Site's functionality changes.

The /infosec Guide — Privacy Clarifications

The page at damned.wtf/infosec is a static cybersecurity education guide. The following privacy-specific clarifications apply:

  • Optional audio: The page includes an optional background audio track that is off by default and requires explicit user interaction to enable. No audio data is recorded, captured, or transmitted.
  • Third-party links: The guide links to external tools and services (e.g. Mullvad, Bitwarden, haveibeenpwned.com, VirusTotal) for educational purposes only. Clicking those links takes you to third-party sites governed by their own privacy policies — the Operator has no affiliation with or control over them.

Security

The Operator keeps no user database, accounts, or stored user records, so there are no such records that could be breached from the Operator's side; the only backend is the stateless human-verification check, which retains nothing about you. The Site is served over HTTPS. Security of your own device, network, and browser is your responsibility.

Governing Law & Jurisdiction

This policy is governed by and construed in accordance with applicable law. As this is a personal, non-commercial educational site with no established legal entity, no single jurisdiction is designated; however, you agree that your use of the Site complies with the laws of your own jurisdiction. Nothing in this policy limits rights you may have under applicable mandatory consumer protection or data protection laws in your country of residence.

Changes to This Policy

The Operator may revise this policy at any time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Non-material changes (e.g. wording clarifications) take effect immediately upon posting — continued use constitutes acceptance. If a material change is ever made to data collection practices (currently: none collected), that change will be made clearly visible on this page. Checking this page periodically is your responsibility.

No Anonymity & No Security Guarantee

The Site does not provide anonymity. It does not protect your privacy. It is not a security tool. Nothing here will make you harder to track, safer online, or less identifiable to any third party.

  • The infosec guide at /infosec provides general awareness only — reading it does not protect you.
  • The Site is not a VPN, proxy, ad blocker, tracker blocker, or any form of privacy-enhancing technology.
  • The Operator makes no representation that any technique or recommendation described here will be effective against any specific threat or tracking method.

You are solely responsible for your own security and privacy posture.

Law Enforcement & Legal Process

The Operator does not maintain user accounts, application-level user logs, or visitor profiles. The verification cookie is a stateless signed token kept only in your own browser, of which the Operator retains no copy. The Operator can only produce records that are actually within the Operator's possession, custody, or control, and will respond to valid legal process as required by applicable law.

In the event of any law enforcement request or legal process:

  • Infrastructure providers (e.g. Cloudflare hosting/CDN/security) may hold their own technical logs and should be contacted directly for records they control, governed by their own policies.
  • Requests relating to third-party services (e.g. Mullvad) should be directed to those parties directly.
  • The Operator does not keep server-side databases, analytics, or browsing histories about users, so no such application-level records exist to produce.
  • Any misuse of the Site by a user is solely that user's responsibility — the Operator is the publisher of educational material and is not responsible for how users independently apply that material.
Important

By accessing the Site, users acknowledge and agree to the full Terms of Service — including the Release of Claims, Assumption of Risk, and Law Enforcement clauses. Those terms remain binding.

Legal Terms

This Privacy Policy explains the Site's data practices only. The legal terms governing use of the Site — including warranties, limitation of liability, assumption of risk, indemnification, and law-enforcement provisions — are set out separately in the Terms of Service.

This material is provided strictly for educational purposes only.
Some information may be outdated or contain mistakes — the Operator is not responsible for inaccuracies.
The Operator does not encourage or condone illegal activity of any kind and is not responsible for how you use this information.

Always abide by the laws of your jurisdiction. If you believe you are a victim of cybercrime or encounter a situation beyond your control, seek help from the appropriate authorities immediately.
By visiting or using any page on damned.wtf, you acknowledge that the Site provides educational content only, that the Operator runs no accounts, analytics, or tracking and keeps no user records beyond the human-verification check described above, and that you accept responsibility for ensuring your use complies with all applicable laws.