Data Integrity & User-Owned Data
Our testing phase database securely scales to millions of users. When exiting the testing phase, you will have the opportunity to store and sell your data - or delete it from existence from our database.
The operating costs run on donations and private investment. Data base operation testing phase paid for by a interest/non-profit grant from a private investor.
Submission of your comment constitutes agreement to the following Terms of Submission:
Your comment is stored in our database and still belongs to you.
You own the value of your opinion here.
The Forum Initiative may study and share public insights from all comments to help improve civic dialogue and government responsiveness.
If the information ever helps generate revenue, you’ll receive a fair share based on your participation.
You can ask us to remove your comment or data at any time.
The Forum Initiative is a citizen-run network, not a corporation or political group.
Terms of Submission
Ownership
You retain full ownership of your words, ideas, and any content you submit (“User Content”).License to The Forum Initiative
You grant The Forum Initiative permission to store, display, and analyze your submission for purposes of civic engagement, research, and public dialogue. This permission does not transfer ownership or limit your rights to your own content.Revenue Participation
If The Forum Initiative or an affiliated entity monetizes aggregated or derivative data containing User Content, contributors will receive a fair and proportional share of such revenue, based on their participation level.Transparency
The Forum Initiative will maintain open records of how data is used, including any analytical or commercial applications derived from it.Removal
You may request deletion or anonymization of your submissions at any time. Upon verified request, The Forum Initiative will remove identifiable data and exclude it from any future aggregation or monetization.Civic and Non-Corporate Nature
The Forum Initiative is a citizen-led civic network. It is not a 501(c)(3) or registered lobbying organization and operates without institutional or corporate funding.
Our User-Owned Database, Secured & Supported by Supabase
To support transparency, accountability, and engagement, our User-Owned Database for public comments is powered by Supabase.
Below is a explanation of what that means and how your data is handled.
Supabase is an open-source backend platform that provides secure databases, authentication, and access controls. It is built on proven, widely used technologies (notably PostgreSQL) and is designed to give communities and organizations direct control over their data, rather than locking it inside proprietary systems.
Open source: The core technology is publicly auditable.
Standards-based: Uses PostgreSQL, a trusted relational database.
Security-first: Fine-grained access rules and encryption.
Data portability: Data can be exported or migrated without vendor lock-in.
The User-Owned Database contains public comments and related metadata submitted through the platform, such as:
The content of your public comment
The time and context in which it was submitted
Non-sensitive identifiers needed to support moderation and transparency
We do not sell this data, and we do not use it for advertising or commercial profiling.
Current Status: Testing & Pilot Phase
The User-Owned Database is currently operating in a testing and pilot phase. During this phase:
The database infrastructure is powered by Supabase.
Features, governance models, and data-handling practices are being evaluated and refined.
No legal ownership interests, equity, or contractual rights are created by participation at this stage.
Participation during testing is voluntary and intended to help validate technical performance, governance assumptions, and community safeguards.
