A few of you asked how long we hold onto mesh data, and what would happen if anyone ever came asking for it. Fair question. We looked at everything we keep and cut it down to what the analyzer actually needs.
Before and after
| What | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Packets, including public and hashtag channel messages | 30 days | 7 days |
| Nodes that haven't been heard marked inactive after | 14 days | 7 days |
| Nightly backups | 7 days | 3 days |
| Live map snapshots | 7 days | 3 days |
| MeshTexasBot path and advert stats | 90 days | 7 days |
| Oldest data we could have, counting backups | about 37 days | about 10 days |
Backups made before the change finish aging out over the next few days. After that, the 10-day limit applies to everything. Deletion runs automatically every day.
Why we did it
- Less to hand over, leak, or lose. Data we don't have can't be requested, breached, or misused. That's a better protection than any promise we could make.
- It has to be automatic to count. Once someone formally asks a service to preserve data, it isn't allowed to delete it. A short limit that's already running every day is what actually protects people, not a cleanup after the fact.
- We weren't using most of it. The live map and most stats only ever looked at the last 48 hours, and node pages default to 7 days. The other three weeks mostly sat there.
What's now limited
- Node history: the 30- and 90-day ranges on node pages (battery, reach, analytics) now only have a week of data behind them. The default 7-day view is unchanged.
- Old packets: you can't look up a specific packet, path, or channel message from more than a week ago.
- Region filters: they show fewer nodes, about 20% fewer for SAT and AUS. Nodes not heard in a week drop out of their region until they advertise again. They still show under All Regions.
- Quiet nodes: a repeater that only advertises every day or two still places fine. One that's silent for a week goes inactive sooner than before.
- Not affected: the live map, the packets page, most analyzer stats, and the bot's commands all work the same.
What we have, and what we don't
- We don't have IP addresses or identities for people using radios. We only see what your radio broadcasts: its name, its public key, any location you chose to share, and messages on public channels.
- Direct messages and private channels are stored encrypted, and we don't have the keys.
- Want your node off our maps? Start its name with 🚫 and send an advert, and our analyzer and live map will stop showing it. We just turned this on. You can also email us to hide it from the analyzer. Either way, its packets are still received and deleted after 7 days like everything else.
- Analyzer accounts, article comments, and repeater host details are kept until you ask us to delete them. Email [email protected] and we'll take care of it.
The full list of what we collect, from the mesh and from the website, is on our new Privacy & Data Retention page. We'll keep that page up to date as things change.
One heads up: anything sent on a public channel can be read by anyone with a radio, and other sites archive it too. Treat public channels as public.
Questions? Ask in the Discord or leave a comment below.