Privacy Policy
Last updated: 15 October 2026
Citrus.Expert is a community dedicated to citrus cultivation, gardening and sharing practical experience. This policy explains how personal information is handled when you browse the forum, create an account or participate in the community.
For questions about privacy or your personal information, contact support@citrus.expert.
1. Information we collect
Depending on how you use the forum and which features are available, we process:
Account information: your display name, email address, authentication information and account preferences.
Profile information: optional details you provide, such as an avatar, location, biography or gardening interests.
Community content: topics, replies, photographs, attachments, reactions and other contributions.
Communications: messages sent to the community team and private messages where that feature is enabled.
Technical information: IP addresses, browser and device information, access times, session information and technical logs.
Moderation information: reports, relevant content and records of moderation decisions.
Information required during registration is necessary to create and operate your account. Optional profile fields can be left blank.
Please avoid sharing sensitive personal information or other people’s private details in your posts and attachments.
2. Why we use your information
We process personal information to:
Create and manage accounts.
Provide forum features and display contributions to their intended audience.
Send account verification, password recovery and essential service messages.
Deliver notifications according to your settings.
Respond to questions and support requests.
Maintain security, prevent abuse and investigate technical problems.
Apply community rules and handle reports.
Respond to privacy requests and meet applicable legal obligations.
Where necessary to provide the community services you request, processing is based on performance of our agreement with you.
Security, troubleshooting and proportionate moderation are based on legitimate interests in maintaining a safe and functional community. These interests must be balanced against your rights and reasonable expectations.
Where processing requires consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before that point. Information may also be processed where necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
3. Public content and visibility
Posts and profile details published in public areas may be visible to anyone, including visitors who do not have an account. Search engines may index this information.
Your display name and public profile information may appear alongside your contributions. Access to restricted areas depends on the permissions assigned to those areas.
Your registration email address is not intended for public display unless you choose to disclose it.
Public content can be copied, quoted or stored by others. Removing information from Citrus.Expert does not automatically remove copies held by search engines or other third parties.
4. Private communications
Private messages, where enabled, are stored as part of the forum service and are not public posts. They should not be treated as an end-to-end encrypted communication channel.
Access to non-public information is limited to authorised purposes, such as providing necessary technical support, investigating reported abuse or complying with legal obligations.
Recipients may retain or share messages you send them. Please consider this before sharing confidential information.
5. Cookies and similar technologies
The forum uses cookies and similar technologies for functions such as maintaining sessions, signing in, protecting accounts and remembering preferences.
Strictly necessary technologies support the operation of services you request. Where consent is required for optional technologies, it must be obtained before they are used.
You can manage or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking necessary cookies may prevent sign-in or other forum functions from working correctly.
6. Who may receive information
Personal information may be accessible to:
Authorised administrators and moderators, where necessary for their responsibilities.
Providers supporting website hosting, email delivery, storage, backups or technical maintenance.
Authorities or other recipients where disclosure is legally required.
Parties involved in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims, where disclosure is necessary and lawful.
Public contributions are also accessible to the audiences described in this policy.
Using forum software does not, by itself, mean that every software provider receives member information. Any external service must be assessed according to its actual configuration and processing.
If a service involves transferring personal information outside the European Economic Area, applicable transfer requirements must be met, and information about the relevant safeguards must be made available. You can contact us for details about providers handling your information and any applicable international transfers.
7. How long information is kept
Information is retained according to its purpose:
Account information is kept while needed to operate your account, subject to deletion requests and any lawful reason for further retention.
Community contributions may be retained while they remain relevant to discussions, subject to applicable privacy rights.
Private messages are retained as needed to provide the messaging service, taking account of participants’ records and applicable deletion requests.
Technical logs are retained for the period necessary to maintain security, diagnose problems and investigate incidents.
Moderation and support records are retained according to the nature of the matter, the need to address recurring abuse and any relevant dispute or legal claim.
Backups are retained for recovery purposes and expire according to the applicable backup cycle.
Where longer retention is necessary, it must be limited to a specific lawful purpose. You may contact us for information about the retention applicable to your data.
8. Account closure and deletion
To request account closure or deletion of personal information, contact support@citrus.expert.
Account closure does not necessarily require every contribution to be removed. Depending on the circumstances, content may be deleted, anonymised or retained where a lawful justification exists.
Maintaining coherent discussions does not override your applicable data protection rights. We will explain any relevant limitations when responding to your request.
Deleted information may remain temporarily in restricted backup copies until those copies expire.
9. Your rights
Subject to applicable conditions and exceptions, you may have the right to:
Access your personal information and receive a copy.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Request deletion.
Request restriction of processing.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Receive eligible information in a portable format.
Withdraw consent where processing relies on it.
Obtain the protections applicable to solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
Send requests to support@citrus.expert. We may request proportionate information to verify your identity.
We normally respond within one month. If a legally permitted extension is necessary, we will explain the reason within that initial period.
You may lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority at dataprotectionauthority.be, or with another competent supervisory authority, including in the country where you habitually reside or work.
10. Security
We aim to protect personal information through appropriate technical and organisational measures, including limiting access to authorised purposes.
No online service can guarantee absolute security. Use a strong, unique password and contact us if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.
11. External links
Members may share links to other websites. Those websites operate under their own privacy policies and practices.
Following an external link may disclose technical information to the destination website. Please review its privacy information before providing personal details.
12. Changes to this policy
This policy will be updated when our processing practices change. The date at the top identifies the latest revision.
Material changes will be communicated appropriately. Where new processing requires consent, that consent will be requested before the processing begins.
13. Contact
For privacy questions, account enquiries or requests concerning your personal information:
Third Parties
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google utilizes the Data collected to track and examine the use of this website, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services.
Google Analytics Privacy Policy
Spam Defense
The IPS Spam Defense Service passes the email address and IP address of the registering member to the service to determine the likelihood a registering account is a spam source.