Privacy Notice

Effective October 4, 2026.

Brenden Hudgins ("we") runs VideoCup. This notice says what we keep about you, why, who sees it and for how long. It is part of the Terms of Service.

What we keep

• Your account: your email address; your password, only as a one-way hash we cannot read back; whether your address is confirmed; when you made the account and last signed in; whether it is a viewer or creator account; and which version of the Terms you accepted, and when.
• Where you are signed in: for each browser, a short name for it (such as "Firefox on Windows"), its network (IP) address, and when it was last used. Sign-in codes are kept in memory for ten minutes.
• What the website saves for you: when you are signed in, the channels you follow and your settings for the website (light or dark, the folded sidebar), so they follow you to other devices.
• What you told us when you requested access: how you heard about VideoCup, if you said, and, if you are a creator, the kinds of videos you plan to post.
• If you are a creator: your channel's public key and name; the videos we host for you, until each one ends; reports about your videos; and our decisions about your account, the notes we keep about it, and your appeals.
• Records: a record of moderation decisions and account changes, which names your account only by an identifier and a shortened email address; and the reports viewers send about videos.
• Logs: our server's log notes sign-ins, changes and errors, with network addresses, to keep the service secure and enforce its limits.

Cookies. We use only the cookies needed to sign you in: a session cookie, and a short-lived one while you sign in. There are no advertising, analytics or tracking cookies, and no scripts from anyone else.

What the network sees

VideoCup is peer to peer. When you watch a video, your device and other viewers' devices exchange pieces of it directly, and so see each other's network addresses. The relay that introduces viewers to each other sees which videos and channels your device asks about. The playlist sees the network address of anyone who fetches it or sends a report.

How we use it

To run the service and your account; to send you sign-in codes and messages about your account; to keep the service safe, enforce its limits and the Terms, and handle reports, appeals and legal requests; and to meet our legal obligations.

Who we share it with

We do not share your personal information for advertising. We share it only with the companies that run parts of the service for us (hosting, and email delivery), and only as they need it to do that; when the law requires it, for example under a valid court order, or in a report of child sexual abuse material to NCMEC; and when it is needed to protect anyone's safety or our rights, as the law allows.

How long we keep it

• Videos: until their end time, at most seven days, or until they are removed sooner.
• Accounts: until you delete them. An account whose address nobody confirms is deleted after a week. Sign-ins last 30 days.
• When you delete your account, we delete it and everything saved with it. We keep the moderation record and reports, which name the account only by an identifier and a shortened address, and, if the account was suspended, a one-way hash of its email address and channel, so they cannot be used to return.
• Copies of account data made for backup are kept for 14 days.

Your choices

From your account page you can see where you are signed in and sign out, download everything we keep about your account, clear the follows and settings saved with it, and delete it. You can also write to us at legal@videocup.net. Depending on where you live, the law may give you other rights over your information; we will honor them as it requires.

Do Not Track

We do not track you across other websites, so there is nothing for a Do Not Track signal to turn off: every visitor is treated the same, whether or not their browser sends one.

Children

The service is not for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, write to us and we will delete it.

Security

Passwords, session cookies and the secrets in emailed links are kept only as one-way hashes, and every sign-in needs a code sent to your email. No system is perfectly secure.

Changes

When we change this notice, we change its effective date, and tell you about significant changes by email or on your account page.

Contact

Brenden Hudgins, legal@videocup.net.