Privacy Policy.

This policy explains how the Sift Discord bot ("Sift", "we", "us") handles information. It applies to everyone in a Discord server where Sift is installed, and to server owners and moderators who configure it.

1. What Sift processes

Messages checked but not flagged

To moderate a server, Sift reads new and edited messages in the channels it can see, including forwarded messages, poll text, image descriptions (alt text), file names and thread titles. If a message passes, it is not saved. A short-lived copy is held in memory only:

• for up to 10 minutes, so an identical repeated message doesn't need to be checked again;
• for a few seconds to a minute, to spot spam and words split across several messages.

Sift does not see images, audio or video themselves, only their text descriptions.

Moderation cases

When a message or name is flagged, Sift creates a case so the server's moderators can review it. A case contains:

• the Discord IDs of the server, channel, message and member involved;
• the flagged text (the message, display name or nickname);
• the reason it was flagged, scores and any extra detail (for example, which fake domain matched);
• what was done about it, which moderator resolved it, and when.

Cases are shown to the server's moderators in their log channel and through Sift's moderator commands.

Other moderation records

• Strike points: the points a member has in a server, with the date and case of each.
• Appeals: the member's ID, the case being appealed, its status, and any ticket channel created for it.
• Rejoin records: if a server turns this on, the roles and timeout a member had when they left, so they can be re-applied if they rejoin.
• Name checks: new members' display names and nickname changes are checked. As with messages, only flagged names are saved.

Server settings and usage

Each server's configuration (log channels, moderator role, thresholds, blocklist and allowlist, and so on), a monthly count of how many smart checks the server used, and which plan it has (Free, Premium or Sift Max).

Sift Max features

• Custom rules: the text of any rules a server's moderators write, who added them and when. Rule text is sent to our AI provider with each message checked in that server.
• Server networks: which servers are linked and who owns them. Servers can only be linked by an owner of every one of them.
• Weekly reports and exports: built from the server's existing case records. They are posted to that server's log channel or sent privately to the moderator who asked for them. Once downloaded, an export is the server's responsibility.

Payments

Premium and Sift Max are sold through Discord. Discord handles all payment details. We only receive whether a server has an active subscription.

2. Why we process it

• To provide moderation: detecting rule-breaking content and letting a server's moderators act on it.
• To keep records moderators need: case history, strikes and appeals.
• To run the service: preventing abuse of Sift itself, enforcing free-plan limits, and fixing problems.

Where laws like the GDPR apply, we rely on the legitimate interest of servers (and their members) in keeping communities safe, and on performing our agreement with servers that use Sift.

3. Who we share it with

• The server's moderators see cases, strikes and appeals for their own server only.
• Linked servers: in a Sift Max network, when a member is banned in one server, their Discord ID, the ban and the name of the server it came from are shared with the other linked servers, which all have the same owner. Blocklist phrases are shared the same way.
• Our AI moderation provider (TypeSafe AI) receives the text of messages and names that Sift checks, with some recent channel messages when context is needed, in order to classify them. It acts as our service provider.
• Discord, since Sift runs on Discord's platform, subject to Discord's Privacy Policy.
• Authorities, only if we're legally required to.

We do not sell personal information and do not use it for advertising.

4. How long we keep it

Server moderators can clear their server's entire case history at any time with /cases clear.

5. Your choices and rights

• Members can see their own warnings with /warnings and appeal eligible actions with /appeal.
• Server owners can choose which checks run, exempt channels and roles, and remove Sift at any time.
• Anyone can ask us for a copy of the data we hold about them, or ask us to correct or delete it, by contacting us below. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights under local law, including the right to complain to a data-protection authority.

Because moderation records help keep a community safe, we may keep the minimum needed where a server has an open safety concern, or where the law requires us to.

6. Security

Data is stored on servers we control, access is limited to people who run Sift, and connections to Discord and our AI provider are encrypted. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect what we hold and to keep as little as possible.

7. Children

Sift is available only on Discord, which requires users to meet its minimum age. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone below that age beyond what's needed to moderate the servers they're in.

8. Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. For significant changes, we'll give notice in Sift's support server.

9. Contact

Questions or requests: [your contact email].