Manage privacy and data handling
Control how Quackback stores, encrypts, and processes user data.
Quackback is self-hosted, so your feedback data stays on your infrastructure. You control storage, encryption, and what (if anything) leaves your network.
Data ownership
You own all data in your Quackback instance. Nothing is sent to external servers by default. Your database, your rules.
Tip: Self-hosting means you are both the data controller and data processor. This simplifies compliance because no third party touches your data.
The only exception is AI features. When enabled, specific data is sent to OpenAI for processing. See AI data handling below.
What Quackback stores
Category | Data stored |
|---|---|
Users | Email address, display name, avatar URL |
Posts | Title, content, board, status, tags |
Votes | User ID, post ID, timestamp |
Comments | Author, content, parent post |
Sessions | Session token, user ID, expiry |
Integrations | OAuth tokens, webhook URLs, channel mappings |
Encryption
Tokens and secrets
Integration OAuth tokens (Slack, Discord, GitHub, Linear) are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using your ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable.
Warning: Set a strong, unique
ENCRYPTION_KEYbefore connecting any integrations. Changing this key later invalidates all stored tokens.
Passwords
Team member passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Plain-text passwords are never stored or logged.
Sessions
Session tokens are cryptographically random. Sessions expire after 7 days of inactivity.
AI data handling
When you enable AI features, Quackback sends data to OpenAI for processing.
What is sent
Feature | Data sent to OpenAI |
|---|---|
Post summaries | Post title and content |
Comment summaries | Comment text for the target post |
Semantic search | Post content for embedding generation |
Auto-tagging | Post title and content |
What is not sent
User emails, passwords, session data, and integration tokens are never sent to OpenAI.
Disable AI features
Set the following environment variable to disable all AI functionality:
DISABLE_AI=trueNote: Disabling AI removes summary generation, semantic search, and auto-tagging. Existing embeddings remain in your database but are no longer used.
Telemetry
Quackback collects minimal anonymous telemetry to improve the product: instance ID, version number, and feature usage counts. No user data or feedback content is included.
Disable telemetry with:
DISABLE_TELEMETRY=trueUser data deletion
Delete a user and their associated data. Go to Admin → Settings → Users → select the user → Delete User.
Data | Behavior |
|---|---|
User record | Permanently deleted |
Posts | Attributed to "Deleted User" |
Votes | Removed and counts recalculated |
Comments | Attributed to "Deleted User" |
Sessions | Immediately invalidated |
Note: Posts and comments are preserved but anonymized. This maintains thread continuity and accurate vote history for your team.
Data retention
Data | Retention |
|---|---|
Active posts | Kept until manually deleted |
Soft-deleted posts | Permanently removed after 30 days |
Sessions | Expire after 7 days of inactivity |
Webhook failure logs | Cleared after 7 days |
Audit logs | Kept indefinitely |
GDPR considerations
As a self-hosted deployment, you are the data controller. Quackback is the software, not a data processor.
Your responsibilities include:
- Maintain a record of processing activities
- Respond to data subject access requests within 30 days
- Notify authorities of breaches within 72 hours
- Provide a lawful basis for processing feedback data
Use the user deletion flow to fulfill right-to-erasure requests. For data portability, export feedback via CSV from Admin → Settings → Boards → Export Data. See Import and export data for details.
Tip: For GDPR subject access requests, export board data as CSV and filter by the user's email address.
Security best practices
Protect your instance and your users' data:
- Use TLS — Run Quackback behind a reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy) with HTTPS enabled
- Rotate secrets — Change your
ENCRYPTION_KEYandSESSION_SECRETperiodically - Back up regularly — Schedule automated database backups
- Restrict access — Limit dashboard access to trusted team members
- Keep updated — Pull the latest Docker image for security patches
See Configure team security for authentication and sign-in settings.
Next steps
- Configure team security — Set up team authentication and sign-in methods
- Deploy with Docker — Run Quackback on your own infrastructure
- Import and export data — Back up or migrate your feedback data
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