Privacy Policy
1. Who We Are
145 Alive operates the website at 145alive.com, a free community platform for licensed amateur radio operators. The site is run on a non-commercial basis and does not generate revenue, accept donations, or sell goods or services. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how it is used, and your rights in relation to it.
2. What Data We Hold
Account Data
When you register, we collect your name, email address, and amateur radio callsign. Your name is displayed on your profile page and associated with any nets you control or participate in. Your email address is used only to send password reset links and essential account security emails. It is never displayed publicly, shared with any third party, or used for marketing.
Radio and Location Data
You may optionally provide your Maidenhead grid square. This six-character reference identifies a geographic area of approximately 12km x 20km. It is used to place your net as a marker on event and landing page maps powered by Mapbox. It is visible to other site users on net detail pages.
Net and Event Participation Data
When you check in to a net as a controller or participant, we record your callsign, your role, the net name, frequency, mode, grid square, and the date and time of participation. This data is displayed publicly on net and event pages and forms part of the site's historical record of amateur radio activity. Participation counts are displayed to all visitors without requiring login.
Sponsor Ad Impressions
The site displays adverts from sponsors in the site sidebar. When a sponsor advert scrolls into view in your browser, an impression is recorded server-side against that advert. This record contains only the sponsor advert ID and a timestamp. No information about you, your account, your IP address, or your browser is stored as part of impression tracking.
Media
Photos you upload are stored on the server and displayed publicly on the associated net or event page. Photos are linked to your account and will be removed upon account deletion.
Technical and Security Data
Server access logs retain IP addresses and browser user-agent strings for a limited period for security and abuse prevention purposes. Administrative actions taken by site administrators are recorded in an audit log storing the action type, affected record, and the administrator's account - not visitor data.
3. What We Do Not Collect
We do not collect payment information of any kind.
4. How We Use Your Data
Your data is used solely to operate the 145 Alive community platform:
• Your name and callsign are displayed on your profile, on nets you have created or controlled, and on event participation records.
• Your email address is used exclusively to send password reset links when requested. It is never shown to other users.
• Your grid square is converted to a latitude and longitude coordinate and sent to Mapbox to render a map marker on event and landing pages.
• Your net participation records are stored permanently as part of the historical log of amateur radio activity on the site and are visible to all visitors.
• Your uploaded photos are stored on the server and displayed on the net or event page they were uploaded to.
• Your session cookie is used to keep you logged in between page requests. It is deleted when you log out or close your browser.
5. Data Shared via Third-Party APIs
145 Alive passes limited data to external services solely for the purpose of displaying and promoting amateur radio events. This data consists only of net-specific information such as callsigns, grid squares, frequencies, and event details. It does not include your full name, email address, or any other personally identifiable information.
• Mapbox - net and event grid squares are converted to coordinates and used to place markers on interactive maps. Mapbox processes map tile requests subject to their privacy policy at mapbox.com/legal/privacy.
• YouTube (Google) - net and event video content is embedded from YouTube. When you play a video, YouTube may collect data subject to Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy. We do not pass any account or user data to YouTube.
• Font Awesome CDN - your browser requests icon and font files from the Font Awesome CDN. No personal data is passed in these requests.
We do not share any data with data brokers, advertisers, marketing platforms, analytics services, or any government body other than where legally required.
6. Public Nature of Amateur Radio Activity
Amateur radio callsigns are issued by national licensing authorities, are publicly registered, and are broadcast openly during radio transmissions. Participation in a net is an activity conducted on publicly accessible radio spectrum. The recording and publication of callsigns, frequencies, and participation records on this site is consistent with the open and public nature of amateur radio operation. If you do not wish this information to be published, please do not participate in nets via the site.
7. Cookies
We use a single session cookie named after the application to maintain your login state. This cookie contains only an encrypted session identifier and holds no personal data itself. It is set when you log in and deleted when you log out or close your browser. We do not use advertising, tracking, or analytics cookies of any kind.
8. Data Retention
Your name, email address, and password hash are deleted within 30 days of a verified account deletion request. Net and event participation records, callsigns, and grid squares are retained as part of the site's permanent historical record of amateur radio activity, as this information reflects publicly conducted radio operations. Photos you have uploaded will be deleted along with your account. Server access logs are rotated automatically after a short period.
9. Security
Passwords are stored using bcrypt hashing and are never stored or transmitted in plain text. All forms on the site use CSRF tokens to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks. Login forms use a timed token injection mechanism as an additional measure against automated submissions. The site is served exclusively over HTTPS. Administrative functions are access-controlled and all admin actions are audit-logged.
10. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to:
• Access - request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification - request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure - request deletion of your personal data
• Restriction - request that we limit processing of your data
• Portability - request your data in a machine-readable format
• Objection - object to our processing of your data
To exercise any of these rights, contact us via the contact form on the site. We will acknowledge your request within 72 hours and respond fully within 30 days.
11. Legal Basis for Processing
Your name, email, callsign, grid square, and uploaded media are processed on the basis of your consent given at registration. Net participation records are processed on the basis of legitimate interests in maintaining an accurate historical log of amateur radio activity, consistent with the public nature of that activity. Session data and security logs are processed on the basis of legitimate interests in operating a secure website.
12. Children
145 Alive is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with their data, please contact us via the site and we will delete it promptly.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be published on this page with an updated date at the top. Continued use of the site following publication of changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
14. Contact and Complaints
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please use the contact form on the site.
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
E&OE