Privacy and network access
Forum Fortress works by checking forum activity against our anti-spam service. This means the plugin needs to connect to Forum Fortress regularly, and some forum data needs to be sent to us so we can provide the service.
This page explains what that means in practical terms.
Network access
To function properly, the plugin regularly connects to Forum Fortress services.
If your server uses an outbound firewall, allow outbound HTTPS traffic on port 443 to hosts ending in:
*.ffapi.net
This is how the plugin asks Forum Fortress to check registrations, logins, posts, profile updates, and other supported forum actions.
If these outbound connections are blocked, the plugin may be unable to check activity or update its status.
Privacy policy
Before installing Forum Fortress on a live community, you may need to update your forum's privacy policy depending on your jurisdiction and how your community is operated.
To provide the service, Forum Fortress receives the information needed to analyse forum activity for spam. This can include details such as usernames, email addresses, IP-related information, submitted post content, profile content, links, and other signals relevant to the check being performed.
Forum Fortress has been designed to be as privacy-friendly as possible, but you should read and understand our privacy policy before enabling the plugin:
This documentation is not legal advice. If you are unsure what your forum needs to disclose, check the rules that apply to you.
Log retention and hashing
Forum Fortress keeps plaintext decision data for a short period so recent spam patterns can be reviewed, debugged, and acted on effectively.
Plaintext values such as post content, usernames, and email addresses are retained for 5 days. After that, those values are replaced with one-way hashed versions.
A hash is a string of random-looking text created from the original value. For example, a hashed username, email address, or content fragment may appear as a long string of letters and numbers.
Hashing lets Forum Fortress recognise the same detail again in future without keeping the original plaintext value indefinitely. If the same username, email address, link, or content pattern is submitted again, Forum Fortress can compare it against both current plaintext data and previously hashed data to help form a decision.
One-way hashes cannot be reversed back into the original username, email address, or post content.
Checking hashed details
You can still check known values or hashes using the public checker:
The checker accepts both plaintext values and Forum Fortress hashes.
If you submit a hash, the checker can look for information linked to that hash, but it cannot reveal the original value. Forum Fortress cannot reverse a hash back into the original username, email address, or content.