Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Kuqus ("we", "our", "us") cares about your privacy. This policy explains how we collect and use data from two types of users: unauthenticated visitors ("Netizens") and logged-in survey creators ("Casters") or Admins. Netizens interact without giving personal info, while Casters sign in using third-party OAuth (like Google), where we collect limited personal data. We've built Kuqus with privacy in mind for both. By using our site, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you sign up as a Caster, you’ll need to accept our Terms & Conditions and Cookie Policy. Please read this policy to understand how we handle your data.

2. What We Collect

2.1 Pseudonymous Visitors

For anonymous visitors ("Netizens"), we issue a unique pseudonymous identifier called X-Anonymous-ID.

The X-Anonymous-ID is a signed JWT consisting of:
- A UUID (unique sortable identifier)
- Your country ISO code, extracted in real-time from your IP address during issuance
Your IP address is never stored.
IP address is used only at the moment of X-Anonymous-ID issuance to:
- Determine your country ISO code (for appending to the token)
- Enforce a rate limit of one issuance per IP address per week to prevent abuse
After issuance, the IP is discarded immediately, and the X-Anonymous-ID is stored solely in your browser local storage.
This ensures pseudonymous, anonymous participation with minimal data exposure and no persistent IP data stored.

2.2 Authenticated Casters

If you choose to create surveys, you must authenticate as a "Caster" using a supported third-party OAuth provider (e.g., Google, X, Meta). When you do so, we collect limited PII:

Data collected:
- Your name as provided by the OAuth provider (which can be updated in our app).
- Email address, as provided by the OAuth provider (linked as the default email address, unless you unlink it and use another provider email).
Purpose:
- To authenticate you as a Caster, link your created surveys to your account, and enable platform features for creators.
Caster JWT:
- While authenticated, we use a separate JWT token for your Caster session, stored in your browser's cookies, to identify you as a logged-in user.

We do not collect any other PII from the OAuth provider or enrich this data with information from third parties.

2.3 Votes & Attempts

When you participate in a survey, we store the following pseudonymous data points in our "attempts" table:

Survey ID
X-Anonymous-ID which contains your UUID and country ISO code, stored indefinitely to maintain vote integrity

We do not store your IP address. IP addresses are used only temporarily during the issuance of the X-Anonymous-ID token for rate-limiting and country code determination, then discarded immediately.

This approach ensures voting integrity and abuse prevention while respecting your privacy by avoiding IP storage.

2.4 Result Aggregation

Survey results are stored in our "results" table and include:

Winner-result: Winner count by country
Favorability-result: Favorability/preference percentage by country

This data provides meaningful insights while preserving individual privacy by not being linked to your personal data.

3. Public vs Private Survey Behavior

Both Public and Private Surveys are created by Authenticated Casters. Your survey data is linked to your Caster identity.

3.1 Public Surveys

When you create a public survey as a Caster:

Results are publicly visible to anyone with the link or who finds them on your profile page.
You implicitly grant Kuqus permission to use public survey results for:
- Product research and improvement
- AI training and model development
- Analytics and trend identification
- Sharing with third parties for general and academic research purposes
Your survey may appear in public listings and search results.

3.2 Private Surveys

Private surveys offer enhanced privacy and control for Casters:

Bearer auth (password-protected) for voters, and results visible only to you (the Caster) and authorized Kuqus administrators.
During creation, you'll see an explicit opt-in checkbox:
- If checked, results can be repurposed by Kuqus.
- If not checked, private survey data and results will be permanently deleted upon survey or account deletion.
Private surveys do not appear in public listings.

4. Monetization

Our platform is supported through the following monetization methods:

Google AdSense is displayed on all surveys (both public and private).
One-time purchase cards are available for Casters by request.
Removing ads monetization options are available for Casters.

We strive to maintain a balance between providing a free service and ensuring a good user experience with minimal advertising intrusion.

5. Deletion and Suspension

5.1 Account Deletion

When you delete your account:

Your user account and personal data will be permanently removed.
Surveys you created will no longer be associated with your creator ID.
For private surveys:
- If you opted in to repurposing, the survey and its results will be archived with all personally identifiable data removed.
- If you did not opt in, the survey and its results will be permanently deleted.
For public surveys:
- The survey and results will be archived (unlisted from public views) but not deleted, as they contain no personal data.

5.2 Survey Deletion

You can only delete a survey by deleting your account, and only if:

The survey has not been suspended due to a terms violation.
The survey is not marked as repurposed=true (i.e., private surveys with repurposing consent cannot be deleted, only archived).

5.3 Suspended Accounts

If your account is suspended due to a violation:

You cannot manually delete the account.
Pseudonymized data may be retained temporarily for compliance or investigation purposes.
You may contact us to appeal the suspension.

6. Data Rights

We respect your rights regarding your data within the confines of our pseudonymous system:

You have the right to understand what types of pseudonymous data we collect (as outlined in section 2) and how it is used (as outlined in section 3).
You can request deletion of private survey results (subject to the conditions in section 5) or revoke consent for their repurposing at any time for future use.
You have the right to manage and delete the survey content you have created (subject to conditions in section 5).
Due to the pseudonymous nature of our data collection, we cannot link data back to a real-world identity, which affects the ability to provide a direct export of all data associated with a specific pseudonymous ID. Aggregated results and anonymous/pseudonymous voting data may persist even after deletion requests where unlinkable.
To exercise your rights related to content management or understand our data handling, please contact us using the information provided in section 10.

7. Cookies and Local Storage

Our platform uses cookies and local storage for essential functionality, linking to your pseudonymous identifier:

We store the pseudonymous identifier (X-Anonymous-ID, a HMAC-SHA512 JWT) in your browser's local storage.
Session cookies help maintain your session (Casters and Administrators) while navigating our website.
We use the pseudonymous data by collecting your country ISO code (from IP) and UUID combined inside the X-Anonymous-ID to prevent multiple submissions from the same user/device within a short time period and maintain survey integrity.
Google AdSense uses cookies for personalized advertising (with your consent via the cookie banner).

For more information about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

8. OAuth Account Security

We value your privacy and security. Our authentication system exclusively uses trusted third-party OAuth2 providers (Google, Facebook, and GitHub) — we do not store or manage passwords.

What We Store

When you sign in with an OAuth provider, we store only minimal identity information:

Your name (from your OAuth profile)
Your email address
Your provider-specific account ID (OAuth sub or OpenID identifier)
A username you define inside our app (not from OAuth)

Multi-Provider Account Linking

To protect your identity:

Each OAuth provider account (sub) can only be linked to one user account in our system.
We prevent account linking if the OAuth email is already used by another account.
Linking additional OAuth accounts (aliases) requires you to be logged in and verified first.
Users may update their primary email address only by selecting from verified email addresses associated with their linked OAuth provider accounts. The originally linked (primary) OAuth account cannot be removed from the user profile.
The primary email address is used as the official point of contact for identity verification and purchase validation purposes.

These policies are designed to:

Prevent silent account takeovers
Ensure account integrity even across multiple providers
Reduce attack vectors by eliminating password storage entirely

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: [email protected]

HQ: Bandung, Indonesia