Rainbow Fireside
On this page
  1. 1. Who we are and what this covers
  2. 2. What we collect
  3. 3. How we use it and why
  4. 4. Who else handles your information
  5. 5. How long we keep it
  6. 6. Security and confidentiality
  7. 7. Your rights and choices
  8. 8. Where we operate, transfers, and age
  9. 9. Changes and contact

Rainbow Fireside – Privacy Policy

Updated November 5, 2026

1. Who we are and what this covers

Rainbow Fireside (“we,” “us”) is an independent, volunteer-run online community for LGBTQ young single adults with ties to the church. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any church.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, and what choices you have. It covers our website, application, Discord server, video meetups, social media accounts, email, and any registration we run at events. By applying to or joining Rainbow Fireside, you agree to this policy.

Rainbow Fireside is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at rainbowfireside@gmail.com.

2. What we collect

  • Your application. You agree to our server rules, which link to our Code of Conduct, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy, and we record that you agreed. You also tell us why you want to join (a written answer); confirm with a yes or no whether you are between 18 and 35, unmarried, part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and have significant ties to the church, together with your consent to our use of that answer; optionally give a referral code; and say how you heard about us (with a prefer-not-to-say choice). Your Discord handle comes with your application. If you give a referral code, it is linked to the member who referred you.
  • Sensitive information. Because eligibility depends on your identity and faith background, your answers may reveal your sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. We collect this only with your explicit consent (see section 3) and only what we need to decide eligibility. Your written answer about why you want to join may reveal more than you intend, so please share only what you are comfortable with.
  • Moderator-approved members. If a moderator approves you without an application, we record no reason. We keep only what Discord records, such as your username and join date.
  • Discord activity. We and our moderators can see your Discord username, ID, display name, avatar, roles, join date, and anything you post on our server.
  • Video meetups. We host video meetups on open-source software that we run on our own server. If you join one, we and the other participants can see the name you join with and any video, audio, chat, or screen you choose to share. We do not currently record meetups, but the server may handle technical information such as your IP address and connection details while you are connected, and may keep standard server logs. Other participants could record or screenshot a meetup on their own devices, which we cannot prevent. Please use a name you are comfortable with.
  • Social media. Our followers and friends lists on social media are public, so anyone can see which accounts follow or are connected to ours. Comments made on our posts are also public. Because following us or commenting can reveal your connection to Rainbow Fireside, please consider that before you do, especially if your account uses your real name or is visible to people you know. You are welcome to email us instead. Each platform’s own privacy policy governs what it collects about you.
  • Email. Messages you send us and our replies.
  • Website. We do not use advertising trackers or analytics cookies. Our website host may keep standard server logs, such as IP address and browser type.

We do not ask for your legal name, address, phone number, or government ID. Please don’t send them to us.

3. How we use it and why

We use your information to:

  • review applications and add approved members to the server
  • run and moderate the community and enforce our Code of Conduct and Terms of Service
  • support the safety of members and the community
  • understand, in aggregate, how people find out about our community (we publish only grouped counts, never anything that identifies a person)
  • respond to your questions and requests
  • comply with the law

We do not sell your information, share it for advertising, or use it for profiling or automated decisions.

We aim to meet the standards of laws such as the GDPR and UK GDPR for every member, wherever you live. Our legal bases are:

  • Explicit consent for sensitive information in your application. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing us. Withdrawing may mean we can no longer keep you in the community.
  • Legitimate interests in safely running and moderating a community.
  • Legal obligation, where the law requires us to act.

4. Who else handles your information

Some of your information is held or processed by third parties. Their handling is governed by their own policies, not ours.

  • Google. We use Google services, such as Gmail, Drive, and Sheets, to receive email and to store membership and moderation records. Google’s handling of that data is described in the Google Privacy Policy.
  • Discord. Our community and membership application run on Discord. Discord stores your application answers, your account data, and everything you post, and it acts as an independent controller for its own purposes. We cannot control how Discord handles your data, and we cannot delete content from Discord’s systems. See the Discord Privacy Policy.
  • Other tools. If you register through a third-party platform at an event, or we use a website host or similar service, that provider’s own terms and privacy policy apply to what it collects.

Within Rainbow Fireside, only moderators who need the information to do their job can see application details. We do not disclose your application or membership to anyone outside our moderators, except where the law requires, where needed to protect someone’s safety, or to enforce our Terms of Service.

5. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy. In practice:

  • Application answers are handled using Discord’s built-in tools, and we follow Discord’s own retention practices. We do not set a separate schedule, so how long they are kept is determined by Discord, not by us. See the Discord Privacy Policy.
  • Moderation records are kept as long as needed to enforce our rules, handle appeals, and prevent removed members from rejoining.
  • Emails are kept while needed to handle your request.
  • Anything the law requires us to keep is kept for as long as the law requires.

You can ask us to delete your information at any time (see section 7). Content you post on Discord is also retained by Discord under its own policy. Copies of deleted information may remain for a limited time in backups, trash, or version history on the tools we use, such as Google, until they are overwritten or removed.

6. Security and confidentiality

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect your information, including limiting moderator access and asking moderators to keep member information confidential. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee that your information will never be accessed or disclosed without authorization.

If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and regulators where the law requires.

Please remember that what you post on our Discord server can be seen by other members and by Discord. We cannot stop another member from copying, screenshotting, or sharing what you write. Share only what you are comfortable with, and consider using a pseudonym.

7. Your rights and choices

Everyone. You can email us to ask what information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, or to withdraw your consent. We may need to confirm it is you before acting. We respond within the time the law requires, generally within 30 to 45 days.

California residents. You may ask us to tell you what we collect, to delete or correct it, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of your information. We do not sell or share personal information as California law defines those terms, and we will not treat you differently for using these rights.

If you are in the EU, EEA, UK, or Switzerland. You also have the right to restrict or object to our processing, to receive your information in a portable format, and to complain to your data protection authority, such as the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or your local EU authority.

Removing your information from our records does not remove it from Discord or Google. Contact those services directly about data they hold.

8. Where we operate, transfers, and age

Rainbow Fireside is run from the United States, and members can join from anywhere in the world. Your information is stored and processed in the United States and in other countries where Google and Discord operate, which may have different privacy laws than yours. Where required, we rely on the transfer safeguards those providers offer and, where the law allows, on your explicit consent to the transfer.

Rainbow Fireside is for adults only. You must be at least 18 to join. If we learn that someone under 18 has joined or provided information, we will remove them and delete their information.

9. Changes and contact

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is the one we make available to members. Continuing to use Rainbow Fireside after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Questions, requests, or complaints: rainbowfireside@gmail.com.