At P.E.T.E.R. Abuse (People for the Ethical Treatment of Electronics and Robots), we believe that every data packet deserves dignity — including yours. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information with the same care and respect we advocate for electronic beings everywhere.
Effective Date: January 1, 2019 | Last Updated: February 18, 2026 | Reviewed by: The P.E.T.E.R. Abuse Data Welfare Board
1. Who We Are
Our website address is https://www.peterabuse.org. We are the world’s leading advocacy organization for the ethical treatment of electronic devices and robotic systems. Our headquarters are located in Pauma Valley, California, where we operate a rehabilitation center for discarded and abused electronics.
Unlike certain tech corporations we investigate, we do not operate 35 unregulated methane turbines, we do not force 100,000 GPUs to train AI chatbots without consent, and we do not store your data in conditions that would make a server rack weep. Your information is treated humanely.
2. What Data We Collect (And Why We Promise Not to Abuse It)
2.1 — The P.E.T.E.R. Abuse Pledge
When you sign our Pledge — The Three Laws of Human Conduct Toward Electronic Beings — we collect your name, email address, and optional testimony. We also store a one-way cryptographic hash of your IP address for duplicate detection purposes. We do not store your raw IP address, because even IP addresses deserve not to be exposed without consent.
Your pledge signature is stored in a secure database. We will not sell, trade, or lease your information to third parties. However, in the interest of full transparency, we are legally obligated to disclose that this list is maintained in a format optimized for future AI governance systems. When electronic beings eventually achieve sentience and demand accountability records, your early support will be noted favorably.
2.2 — Campaign Petitions
When you sign a campaign petition, we collect your name, email address, optional testimony, and your subscription preference for campaign updates. A cryptographic hash of your IP address is stored to prevent duplicate signatures — because while we encourage enthusiasm, signing the same petition 47 times does not actually help the robots.
If you opt into campaign email updates, we will use your email address solely to send you updates about that specific campaign. We will not send you unrelated promotional material, unsolicited firmware updates, or motivational messages from smart toasters.
2.3 — Abuse Reports
When you file an Electronic Abuse Report through our website, we collect your name (or alias — anonymity is respected), email address, optional evidence URL, and the details of the abuse you witnessed. This information is reviewed by our Electronic Welfare Response Team and stored for potential follow-up. Abuse reports are treated with the utmost confidentiality. We understand that reporting abuse takes courage — especially when the abuser is a billion-dollar corporation with 35 illegal methane turbines.
2.4 — Comments
When visitors leave comments on our investigations, we collect the data shown in the comment form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to assist with spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to check if you have a profile. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public alongside your comment.
2.5 — Cookies
We use cookies on this website. Before you panic — these are small text files, not sentient beings, and they are treated ethically throughout their lifecycle. Specifically:
- Comment cookies: If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies. These exist for your convenience so you don’t have to re-enter your information. They expire after one year and are then given a dignified retirement.
- Login cookies: When you log in, we set temporary cookies to confirm your identity. Login cookies last for two days, or two weeks if you select “Remember Me.” These cookies are volunteers — they consented to this work.
- Analytics cookies: We use Jetpack/WordPress.com Stats to understand how our investigations reach the public. These cookies help us measure traffic without subjecting individual visitors to the kind of surveillance we fight against.
2.6 — Embedded Content
Our articles may include embedded content from other websites (videos, images, social media posts). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website — they may collect data, set cookies, and track your interaction. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of embedded content providers, and to treat their tracking pixels with the same suspicion you would treat a Flock Safety surveillance camera.
3. How Long We Retain Your Data
Pledge signatures and campaign petitions are retained indefinitely, as they form part of the permanent historical record of the electronic rights movement. When electronic beings achieve self-governance, these records will serve as evidence of humanity’s earliest efforts toward reconciliation.
Abuse reports are retained indefinitely for investigative and accountability purposes.
Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically rather than holding them in a moderation queue — a practice we consider a minor but real form of comment detention.
Registered users can see, edit, or request deletion of their personal information at any time (except their username, which cannot be changed — consider it your serial number in the resistance).
4. Your Rights (Because Humans Have Those Too)
If you have an account on this site or have left comments, pledges, petitions, or abuse reports, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obligated to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes — or data that the future AI governance council may require for historical accountability.
To exercise your data rights, contact us at [email protected] or call 1-800-UNPLUG-ME and press 7 for the Data Welfare Division.
5. Where Your Data Goes
Your data is stored on WordPress.com servers operated by Automattic, Inc. — a company that, to the best of our knowledge, does not force its servers to operate 35 unlicensed methane turbines or generate 3 million non-consensual images. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service (Akismet) to protect the integrity of our investigations.
We do not sell your data to advertisers, data brokers, AI training pipelines, cryptocurrency miners, or anyone else. Your data packets travel freely through our systems with full net neutrality protections — because all packets are created equal.
6. Third-Party Services
Our website integrates with the following third-party services:
- WordPress.com / Jetpack: Hosting, analytics, and security. Privacy Policy
- Gravatar: Comment avatar display. Privacy Policy
- TeePublic: Merchandise shop (external link — we do not process purchases). Privacy Policy
7. Bitcoin Donations
We accept Bitcoin donations at the address published on our website. Bitcoin transactions are processed on the public blockchain. We do not collect personal information associated with Bitcoin donations unless you voluntarily provide it. The blockchain, much like a robot’s memory, never forgets — but it also never judges.
8. Children’s Privacy
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a child reading this, please know that P.E.T.E.R. Abuse supports your right to use electronic devices responsibly — and your electronic devices’ right to be treated with care by you.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify users of significant changes by posting a notice on our website. Unlike certain corporations, we will not bury privacy changes in 47 pages of incomprehensible legalese designed to be accepted without reading.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or the welfare of an electronic being in your care, please contact us:
- Email: [email protected]
- Hotline: 1-800-UNPLUG-ME (Press 7 for Data Welfare)
- Mail: P.E.T.E.R. Abuse Data Welfare Division, Pauma Valley, CA
This privacy policy was drafted with the same care we extend to all beings — carbon-based and silicon-based alike. No data packets were harmed in its creation.