PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: August 11, 2026
Last Updated: August 11, 2026
Brotherhood Institute respects your privacy. Because some of the tools available through this website may be used to record personal or sensitive experiences, we believe you should understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and what happens to it.
Our approach is simple: collect only what we reasonably need, protect private information, and give users meaningful control over their data.
Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on how you use Brotherhood Institute.
Account Information
Creating a Brotherhood HQ account currently requires:
- A username
- An email address
- A password
Passwords are handled through the website's authentication system and are not displayed to Brotherhood Institute administrators as readable passwords.
We encourage users to choose a username that does not personally identify them if anonymity is important to them.
Abuse Log Information
If you choose to use the Abuse Log, we store the information you voluntarily enter into the tool, including information about incidents and related details you choose to document.
Abuse Log content is encrypted when stored.
Other Brotherhood Institute users cannot access your Abuse Log. Website administrators may have access to limited system information necessary to operate and maintain the service, but cannot read the contents of your encrypted Abuse Log entries through the website.
The Abuse Log does not collect your IP address as part of an Abuse Log entry.
Attachments such as photographs, audio recordings, videos, and other evidence are not stored by the Abuse Log.
Break the Silence
If you use Break the Silence, the tool may store information you voluntarily provide about a subject or experience you want to discuss.
You decide what information to provide. The tool does not require you to provide detailed information about abuse unless you choose to include it.
Guided Quizzes
Brotherhood Institute's Guided Quizzes do not save your individual quiz answers or results to your Brotherhood HQ account.
Abuse Tracker
The Abuse Tracker primarily presents information derived from your existing Abuse Log records and does not require a separate collection of the same incident information.
Contact Forms
If you contact Brotherhood Institute through a contact form, we may collect your name, email address, reason for contacting us, and any additional information you voluntarily include in your message.
This information is used to receive and respond to your communication.
Please do not submit highly sensitive information through a general contact form.
Newsletter and Email Communications
If you voluntarily subscribe to Brotherhood Institute emails or newsletters, we collect the information necessary to manage your subscription and send those communications.
You may unsubscribe from non-essential email communications using the unsubscribe option provided with those messages.
Website and Analytics Information
Brotherhood Institute uses website analytics and related technologies to understand how visitors use the website and to improve its content and performance.
This may include information such as browser type, device type, pages visited, approximate location derived from technical information, referring pages, and interactions with the website.
We currently use services associated with Google for website analytics and search-performance measurement.
Additional information about cookies and similar technologies is available in our Cookie Policy.
How We Use Information
We may use information collected through Brotherhood Institute to:
- Provide and maintain website functionality.
- Create and manage Brotherhood HQ accounts.
- Provide requested tools and features.
- Protect accounts and website security.
- Respond to questions and contact requests.
- Send communications users have requested.
- Understand website usage and improve our content and services.
- Diagnose technical problems.
- Prevent abuse, fraud, or unauthorized use of the website.
- Comply with applicable legal obligations.
We do not use private Abuse Log content for advertising.
We do not provide Abuse Log content to AI models for training.
Secure Access Links
The Abuse Log allows users to intentionally create temporary Secure Access Links for selected records.
Creating a Secure Access Link is voluntary. The user decides whether to create and provide the link to another person.
Secure Access Links are intended to provide controlled, read-only access without giving the recipient access to the user's Brotherhood HQ account.
Users should only provide Secure Access Links to people they trust.
When a permanent Abuse Log or account deletion request is initiated, existing Secure Access Links are revoked immediately.
Data Sharing
Brotherhood Institute does not sell your personal information.
We may disclose limited information when reasonably necessary to operate the website through service providers that perform functions such as website hosting, email delivery, analytics, security, and technical infrastructure.
We may also disclose information if required by valid legal process or when reasonably necessary to protect the rights, security, or integrity of Brotherhood Institute, its users, or others.
Private Abuse Log records are not automatically sent to attorneys, law enforcement, advocates, therapists, advertisers, or other outside parties.
A user may independently choose to share information or records.
Third-Party Websites and Services
Brotherhood Institute may link to services operated by third parties, including donation platforms, affiliate retailers, informational resources, and other websites.
For example, donations may be handled through GoFundMe or Ko-fi, and some product links may participate in the Amazon Associates Program.
When you leave Brotherhood Institute and use another website or service, that service's own privacy practices and terms apply.
Brotherhood Institute does not control how independent third-party websites collect or process information.
Cookies
Brotherhood Institute and services used to operate or measure the website may use cookies or similar technologies.
Some cookies may be necessary for functions such as authentication and account sessions. Others may be used for analytics.
Where required or appropriate, visitors may be provided controls for non-essential cookies.
Please see our Cookie Policy for additional information.
Data Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards intended to protect information entrusted to Brotherhood Institute.
Abuse Log entries are encrypted when stored, and access controls restrict users from viewing records belonging to other accounts.
Sensitive account actions may require additional identity verification, including two-factor authentication.
No website, database, network, or electronic storage system can guarantee absolute security. Users should protect their login credentials, use strong passwords, enable available security features, and use devices and accounts that an abusive person cannot access whenever possible.
Closing Your Account
Users may close their Brotherhood HQ account without immediately deleting their stored data.
Closing an account pauses access to Brotherhood HQ tools while preserving the account's private information so access may be restored later after appropriate identity verification.
Permanent Abuse Log Deletion
Users may request permanent deletion of their Abuse Log.
A deletion request begins a 30-day protection period intended to reduce the risk of accidental or coerced destruction of records.
Secure Access Links are revoked when the deletion request is initiated.
During the protection period, the deletion request may be canceled. Previously revoked Secure Access Links are not automatically restored.
After the protection period expires, records remain stored until the user completes the required final identity verification and confirms permanent deletion.
Upon successful final confirmation, applicable Abuse Log records and Secure Access Link records are removed from the active Brotherhood HQ database.
Permanent Account Deletion
Users may also request permanent deletion of their Brotherhood HQ account and associated private Brotherhood HQ data.
Permanent account deletion follows a similar 30-day protection period and final identity-verification process.
Upon successful completion, applicable Brotherhood HQ private records—including Abuse Log information, Secure Access Link records, and Break the Silence information—are removed from the active system, and the associated WordPress user account is deleted.
Limited non-identifying audit information may be retained to record that a deletion occurred without preserving the deleted Abuse Log content.
Backups
Routine website or database backups may temporarily contain residual encrypted copies of information that has been removed from the active system.
Such information may remain until the applicable backup is overwritten or expires according to the backup system or hosting provider's normal retention schedule.
We do not restore deleted user information from backups for ordinary account use.
Your Choices
Depending on the feature involved, you may:
- Review information available through your account.
- Export information where the tool provides that functionality.
- Close your Brotherhood HQ account while preserving its data.
- Request permanent deletion of your Abuse Log.
- Request permanent deletion of your Brotherhood HQ account.
- Revoke Secure Access Links.
- Unsubscribe from optional email communications.
- Contact us with questions concerning your personal information.
Children's Privacy
Brotherhood Institute is intended primarily for adults and is not designed as a service for children.
We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information from children through Brotherhood HQ accounts or private tools.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when our website, tools, practices, or legal obligations change.
When material changes are made, the updated version will be posted here with a revised effective or update date.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to make a privacy-related request, or believe there is a security issue involving your information, please use our Contact Us page.