ar33bshola If the Indian Government or any court requests an anonymous poster’s user data (email, username), will FreeFlarum provide that data without the forum admin/owner’s permission?
We do not disclose user data based on an informal request from any government or court. FreeFlarum operates outside of India and is not directly subject to Indian jurisdiction. An order from an Indian authority would generally need to be routed through MLAT or an equivalent channel and served on us through a competent authority in our jurisdiction before we would treat it as binding.
Even then, we would only disclose the specific data required by the order, if we have that data in the first place (see https://docs.freeflarum.com/en/legal/privacy-policy/)
ar33bshola Also, in case of a valid legal order (court order or subpoena), do you inform the forum owner/admin before or after sharing the data?
Our default is to notify the forum admin before disclosing anything, so you have the opportunity to challenge the order or seek legal advice. The only exception is if a gag order or similar legal restriction prohibits prior notice. In that case, we notify you as soon as we are legally allowed to.
With that said, keep in mind that FreeFlarum is a free, volunteer-run service with no legal budget. We cannot litigate orders on behalf of users. Moreover, we reserve the right to terminate forums that violate our Terms at our sole discretion. If this is a serious concern for you, a self-hosted setup would serve you much better.
