Legal

Privacy policy

Short version: we build a public-records encyclopedia. We are not in the surveillance business.

What we never do

  • No tracking or locating of private individuals — ever, under any request.
  • No publishing of private addresses, phone numbers, or non-public personal data.
  • No sale of visitor data. There is nothing meaningful to sell.

What we do collect

  • Preferences on your device. Theme choice (dark/light) is stored in your browser's localStorage. It never leaves your device.
  • Aggregate analytics (optional). Google Analytics 4 is disabled by default. When enabled, it collects standard, aggregate usage statistics under our GA4 ID, subject to Google's terms.
  • Content you submit. Contact-form submissions are used to prioritise research and corrections — nothing else.

Cookies

This site can operate with zero cookies. See the cookie policy for the exact list.

Advertising

WhereIsAtlas may display advertising served by third-party ad networks (including Google AdSense). Advertising is off by default and only ever activates after you opt in through the consent banner — no ad cookies or ad requests are set until you consent, and you can withdraw consent at any time.

  • Ad networks and their partners may use cookies or similar technology to serve and measure ads.
  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to this or other websites.
  • You can opt out of personalised advertising at any time via the consent banner or your browser's ad settings.
  • When ads are enabled, the cookie policy lists the advertising cookies in use.

How we use sources

Every entry is written by us, in our own words, from the material listed in its sources. We read sources to establish facts; we do not copy their text. Where we quote a source directly we mark the quotation, keep it short, and attribute it — that is what a citation is for.

Some of the material we consult is openly licensed and some is not. We treat both the same way: cite, summarise, quote sparingly. We do not republish other people's articles, theses, papers or datasets, in whole or in substance, and we do not mirror archived pages — we link to them. If you hold rights in something we have cited and you would like it handled differently, write to us and we will act on it.

Third-party links

Sources link outward (Wikipedia, wire services, official records). Those sites have their own policies; we cite them, we don't speak for them.

WhereIsAtlas is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy through one of our "go deeper" book or product links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We only recommend works we genuinely cite or believe in.

Contact

Privacy questions: [email protected].