Privacy policy

When you submit the contact form, we store the name, email address, subject and message you provide so that the enquiry can be reviewed and answered. Please do not submit sensitive personal data.

Our hosting and infrastructure providers may process standard technical records such as IP address, request time, requested URL, browser information and security events. These records are used to deliver, protect and diagnose the service.

Opening maps or playable media can make direct browser requests to the named tile, satellite or recording provider, currently including CARTO/OpenStreetMap-attributed basemaps, NASA imagery and source-hosted audio. Those providers receive ordinary network information such as your IP address and apply their own privacy terms. Most biodiversity API synchronization is performed server-side.

Contact information is used only for correspondence, abuse prevention and maintaining an auditable history of requests. Contact submissions are scheduled for automatic deletion no later than 24 months after receipt, unless an earlier deletion request applies or a legal obligation requires a limited extension. Pseudonymized anti-abuse counters are normally removed after 48 hours.

The current SpeciesWatch panel stores a necessary consent record in localStorage under specieswatch-consent-v1. Analytics and marketing are displayed as unavailable because no such service is active. Accepting all therefore does not activate a hidden tracker. You can reopen the panel at any time through Privacy choices.

We do not sell personal information. Limited data may be processed by service providers that host the website or database, or disclosed when required by law or necessary to protect the service and its users. Providers may operate in different jurisdictions.

You may request access, correction or deletion of personal information associated with a contact enquiry, subject to applicable law and legitimate retention needs. Write to contact@specieswatch.io and include enough information to locate the request.

SpeciesWatch is a general educational service and does not knowingly solicit personal information from children. Links to external datasets, archives and studies lead to services governed by their own privacy policies.

If AdSense is approved and explicitly enabled, Google’s certified CMP will replace—not accompany—the SpeciesWatch panel for advertising consent and IAB TCF choices. Google and the selected ad technology providers will be identified in that published message. The Privacy choices controls will reopen Google’s official revocation flow.

We will update this policy and provider details before introducing materially different processing, including advertising or audience measurement. Privacy questions may be sent to contact@specieswatch.io.