2024-09-18T11:58:43Z

TheDragonFire123:

Occasionally, Freosan Studios must undergo a '''maintenance break''' in order to ensure reliability and software safety.

==Why we perform maintenance breaks==
We understand that maintenance breaks are inconvenient. However, there are vital tasks that must be done while the site is offline, including:
*Upgrading MediaWiki, Apache, PHP and MariaDB software. For the security of our users, network and our company, these software must be kept up-to-date as much as practical. It can only be upgraded while the server is offline, to prevent damage to our databases and servers.
*Database maintenance. To reduce the risk of data loss, we reserve certain database tasks to when our servers are offline.

==Schedule==
Every '''two months''', a maintenance break is scheduled.

'''Three to seven days''' before scheduled maintenance is due, we will announce the outage through a sitewide banner. (This may be how you were directed to this article.)

Maintenance breaks, like other disruptions to Freosan Studios services, are announced at the [[Service announcements]] article.

2024-08-24T06:53:57Z

TheDragonFire123:

When suspicious behaviour indicative of a password brute force attempt is detected, the Freosan Studios website can automatically lock down the affected account or lock out an IP address.

This is not the same as [[My account or IP address has been blocked from editing on a wiki|being blocked from editing on a wiki]].

==Lockout of IP addresses==
When too many failed attempts to log in are detected from an IP address, it will be locked out from further attempts for a time. When this occurs, all attempts to login to any account, regardless of whether the correct password and username is introduced or not, will silently fail.

We understand that IP addresses may well be shared across different, completely different users, and the conduct of one user, does not reflect another. If you have problems logging in due to an IP address lockout, please [[freosan:contact_us.php|contact us]].

==Lockdown of accounts==
Similarly, if too many failed attempts to log in to a given account are detected, it will be locked down. Any attempts to login to it, regardless of whether a password is correctly introduced or not, will fail. The registered account's email will also receive an email notifying them of the lockdown, and what they can do about it.

Lockdowns last for four hours by default, increasing exponentially to a maximum of three days. If the lockdown threshold is not tripped again, it will degrade down a level back to the default four hours.

==I suspect my IP address or account has been locked, what do I do?==
If you suspect that your IP address or account has been locked, please contact us. We'll be happy to enlighten you.

While you might be asked for some proof of identification, never give out your password even if someone asks.

TheDragonFire123:

Freosan Studios is committed to keeping user privacy. If we are made aware of personal information that has been unintentionally or maliciously revealed, we will remove it as soon as possible.

==What counts as personal information?==
The basics of what counts as personal information is gone over in our [[freosan:legal/privacy.php|Privacy Policy]]. To reiterate, here is what we consider personal information.

:;Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.

Here is a non-exhaustive list:
;Personal information of an individual
*Real name
*Gender
*Date of birth
*Home address
*Occupation

;Personal information of equipment
*Serial numbers
*Account passwords

==What is unauthorised or accidental disclosure of personal information?==
Freosan Studios is obliged to redact personal information if it has been disclosed in an unauthorised or accidental manner. Personal information is considered to have been disclosed in an unauthorised or accidental manner if it has been '''either''':
# Disclosed by a third party, without evidence of consent on your behalf, and you have objected to the disclosure of such information (for example, by [[wikipedia:doxxing|doxxing]]), or
# Have been disclosed in a manner that can be proven to be by mistake, by mishandling of website features, or by a software error. There must be no evidence of intent to disclose information.

==What do I do if my personal information has been disclosed against my wishes?==
You must inform us '''immediately'''. The quicker we are notified, the quicker we can remove personal information from the public, and prevent any malicious actors from abusing it.

To inform Freosan Studios of leaked personal information, [[freosan:contact_us.php|contact us by clicking this link]]. Select "I need help removing personal information" under the dropdown field, so that it can be correctly triaged. Freosan staff will assess your request, and if it is determined that:
# Personal information was disclosed based on the criteria above, and
# Such information was disclosed against the wishes of the owner (e.g. by accidental disclosure, malicious disclosure by a third party, or the subject, even if they previously intentonally disclosed it, now requests to no longer keep personal information public),
then it will be removed.

==Technological measures available to Freosan Studios to redact personal information==
*'''Deletion''': Normally, content can be removed from Freosan Studios sites; it will be securely destroyed, or otherwise made impossible for the public or users to access.
*'''Suppression''': MediaWiki supports a feature named [[mw:Manual:RevisionDelete|suppression]]. This allows certain parts of edits to be hidden from all public view, including administration staff of a wiki who would normally be able to view deleted content. For reference, this article has been rendered on a wiki using MediaWiki.

==Disclaimer==
While Freosan Studios will do all it can to prevent abuse of personal information, unfortunately, anyone who happens to view a page with involuntarily revealed personal information can immediately start abusing it, and it is infeasible to track exactly who is or was currently making use of it.

Freosan Studios, therefore, recommends that personal safety practices be followed at all times online; be careful about personal information and do not reveal it to a third party on the internet unless their integrity can be verified. This policy is intended as a '''last resort''', not as your only line of defence.

FAQ

2021-05-19T10:32:13Z

TheDragonFire123: