Privacy & Cookie Policy

1. Overview & Data Controller

Softzia (“we”, “us”, or “our”) operates the software directory and download gateway at https://softzia.com/. We respect your fundamental right to privacy and adhere to the principle of data minimization: we only collect the minimum personal data necessary to deliver secure directory services, prevent abusive bandwidth exhaustion, and report verified download telemetry to software authors.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in two ways:

3. Outbound Download Telemetry Gateway

When you click a download button on Softzia, your browser connects to our gateway endpoint (/download?product=...&version=...&mirror=... or canonical /download/{slug}). This gateway accomplishes three vital tasks:

1. It checks mirror health and automatically falls back to secondary vendor mirrors if a primary mirror fails.
2. It protects vendor bandwidth against abusive download floods through intelligent rate limiting.
3. It increments aggregate statistical counters so that publishers and visitors can see authentic package popularity metrics.

4. Cookie & Tracking Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device to maintain session integrity. We categorize our cookies as follows:

Softzia does not deploy invasive cross-site tracking pixels or keystroke loggers. If third-party advertising slots (e.g. Google AdSense) are active, those third parties may set cookies subject to their own respective privacy policies. You can manage or block cookies through your browser settings at any time.

5. Data Retention & Automated 90-Day Purge

In strict compliance with storage limitation principles (GDPR Article 5(1)(e)), detailed download click telemetry logs in tb_download_logs are automatically purged after 90 days via our scheduled maintenance engine. Aggregated non-personal count totals (e.g. lifetime download counter for an application) are preserved without personal identifiers.

Account data for registered users is retained for as long as your account remains active. If you request account closure, your credentials and personal bookmarks are permanently deleted.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR & CCPA/CPRA

Regardless of your geographic location, Softzia affords all users the following fundamental privacy rights:

• Right of Access & Portability: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold regarding your account.
• Right to Rectification: You may update or correct inaccurate profile information at any time via your user dashboard.
• Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You may request permanent deletion of your account and associated review data.
• Right to Restrict or Object to Processing: You may object to the processing of your personal information for analytics or marketing.
• Non-Discrimination: Softzia will never deny service, charge different prices, or provide a lower quality of service to users who exercise their privacy rights.

7. Information Security Measures

We employ industry-standard administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect your personal data, including:

• Full-site TLS/SSL encryption with strict HTTPS redirection and HSTS headers.
• Bcrypt / Argon2 password hashing with automated salting.
• PDO parameterized SQL queries across all application portals to prevent SQL injection.
• Automated CSRF token validation on every state-altering form submission.

8. External Links & Software Vendor Privacy

Softzia provides direct links and redirects to third-party vendor websites and external download repositories. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any external software provider before downloading their application.