If you sign up with a password: a one-way hash of your password (never the password itself).
If you sign up with Google: your Google account's ID, email address and name (see Signing in with Google).
What you add to your profile
Optional display name, in-game name and gang tag (labelled "self-reported" unless a moderator verifies them), bio, avatar image and time zone.
Your notification preferences, saved listings, saved searches, watched items and price alerts.
What you do on the site
Listings you post (items, quantities, prices, descriptions, preferred server).
Messages you send, offers and counteroffers, and deals — including meeting times and places you agree on, confirmations, cancellations, and deal issues you report (with optional screenshot evidence).
Reviews you write and responses to reviews about you.
Reports you file about content or users, appeals, and blocks.
Price reports you submit, including any counterparty name you type and optional screenshot evidence.
Trade comparisons you choose to share as a link.
Collected automatically
A session record when you sign in (a hashed random token, its expiry, when it was last used, and your browser's user-agent string so you can recognise your sessions).
When your account was created and last active.
A salted hash of your IP address, used only to rate-limit abuse (for example, too many sign-in attempts). We never store your raw IP address in our database; the hashed counters expire after a short time.
Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (which can include IP addresses) for operating and securing the service.
We do not ask for, and never want, your game password. Nobody here needs it to trade with you.
Why we use it
To run the service: sign you in, show your listings, deliver messages and notifications, and record deals and reviews.
To build trust: reputation is calculated from completed deals and published reviews. Community price estimates are calculated from price reports and confirmed deals.
To keep the community safe: rate limits, spam and manipulation checks, and moderation of reported content.
To contact you about your account, when needed. The only automatic emails are about your account's security: a password-reset link when you ask for one, and a notice when your password is changed that way. The site doesn't send marketing email.
We don't sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we don't use it for advertising.
Who can see what
Everyone, including visitors: your username, display name, avatar, bio, in-game name and gang (with their verified/self-reported label), member-since date, reputation summary, published reviews about you and your responses, and your listings (including sold or expired ones, until you delete them).
Only the people in a conversation: private messages, offers and deal details (meeting times and places, confirmations, issues). Moderators can see private messages only when one has been reported (they see the reported message and the messages around it, for context), and a deal's details only when an issue has been reported on it. Every time a moderator opens reported private content, it is recorded in an audit log.
Reviews stay hidden until both people have reviewed each other, or the review window ends — so neither side can retaliate after reading the other's review.
Screenshot evidence is never public: only the person who uploaded it and moderators can open it, and moderator views are audited.
Price reports feed the public price estimates as anonymous numbers; your name isn't shown next to them.
Shared trade comparisons are visible to anyone who has the link.
Only you (and staff when needed): your email address, saved items, saved searches, alerts, notifications and blocks. Moderators and admins can see account details such as your email address to handle reports and appeals.
Signing in with Google
If you choose "Continue with Google", Google asks your permission to share your basic profile with us (the openid, email and profile permissions). We receive your Google account ID, email address, whether Google has verified it, and your name. We use them only to sign you in, to link the Google account to your Trochus Exchange account, and to pre-fill sign-up. We never receive your Google password, and we don't access your contacts, files, or anything else in your Google account.
Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. You can disconnect Google from your account settings, and remove our access at any time from your Google Account's security settings.
Cookies & tracking
We use only cookies that are strictly necessary for signing in:
Session cookie — keeps you signed in. It holds a random token (we store only its hash) and expires after 30 days or when you sign out.
Google sign-in cookies — two short-lived cookies (10–15 minutes) used only while a Google sign-in or sign-up is in progress, to protect it against forgery.
The marketplace also remembers your scroll position in your browser's session storage so the Back button returns you to the same place; it never leaves your browser. There are no advertising, analytics or social-media cookies, and no third-party content loads on our pages, so no one else can track you through Trochus Exchange.
Service providers
Hosting: the site, its database and uploaded files run on our hosting provider's servers, which process the data on our behalf.
Google — only if you use Google sign-in (Google's own privacy policy applies to your Google account).
Email: if you write to us, your message is handled by our email provider.
Email delivery: account emails (password-reset links and password-change notices) are sent through a transactional email provider (currently Resend). It receives your email address, your username and the message, only to deliver it.
We may disclose information if required by law, or when necessary to protect people from fraud, abuse or harm.
How long we keep data
Account data is kept while your account exists.
Sessions are removed after they expire; sign-in cookies last minutes; rate-limit counters are deleted after their time window; password-reset links expire after 30 minutes and are then deleted.
Listings, messages, deals and reviews are kept so that trade history and reputations stay accurate for both people involved.
Moderation audit logs are kept to make sure staff actions can be reviewed, and may outlive the content they refer to.
Database backups are kept privately for a limited time and then replaced by newer ones, so deleted data can remain in a backup until that backup is replaced.
Your choices & requests
You can edit your profile, notification preferences and listings at any time, and delete listings you posted (a deleted listing disappears from the site; a copy is kept only so conversations and deals that refer to it still make sense). To ask for a copy of your data, a correction, or deletion of your account, email support@trochusexchange.com from the address on your account (or tell us your username and we'll verify it's you). We aim to respond within 30 days.
When we delete an account, we remove or anonymise your personal information. We may keep the minimum needed for the other side of your deals and reviews to stay intact, to enforce a suspension or ban, or where the law requires it. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights (for example under the GDPR or California law), including the right to complain to a data-protection authority.
Children
Trochus Exchange is not directed at children under 13, and children under 13 may not create an account. If you are under the age of digital consent where you live (which can be up to 16), you need a parent or guardian's permission to use the site. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact support@trochusexchange.com and we'll delete it.
Security
Passwords are hashed, session tokens are stored only as hashes, connections use HTTPS, private files are served only after an access check, and staff access to private content is logged. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that affects you, we'll tell you as required by law.