Privacy Policy for FindsMap

Last updated: January 30, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to FindsMap. We are committed to protecting your personal data and your right to privacy. This privacy policy describes how we collect, use, process, and protect your personal information when you use our website and services.

2. The Data We Collect

We collect and process the following types of personal data:

Identity Data: Including first name, last name, username or similar identifier.
Contact Data: Including email address.
Technical Data: Including internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access our website.
Usage Data: Including information about how you use our website and services.
Location Data: Including the geographical coordinates of finds you submit to the map.
Content Data: Including photos and descriptions of finds that you upload to our platform.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and maintain our service, including to monitor the usage of our service.
To manage your account and registration as a user of the service.
To contact you by email regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including security updates.
To manage your requests to us.
For other purposes: We may use your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

4. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have different data protection laws. Specifically:

We use Google Firebase services, hosted in various global locations
Map data is provided by services based in the UK, EU, and US
Analytics data may be processed globally

When we transfer your data internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place through:

Standard contractual clauses
Data processing agreements with service providers
Compliance with EU-US Data Privacy Framework where applicable

5. GDPR Specific Rights

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have these additional rights:

Right to be Informed: About how we use your personal data
Right of Access: Obtain a copy of your personal data
Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate data
Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your data
Right to Restrict Processing: Limit how we use your data
Right to Data Portability: Receive your data in a structured format
Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
Rights Related to Automated Decision Making: Not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing

To exercise these rights, please contact us at camilleri.clive@gmail.com

6. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

Right to know what personal information is collected
Right to know whether personal information is sold or disclosed
Right to say no to the sale of personal information
Right to access your personal information
Right to equal service and price

We do not sell your personal information. However, we do share data with service providers as described in this policy.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services and fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. Specifically:

Account Information: Retained until account deletion
Find Data: Retained until manually deleted or account termination
Usage Data: Retained for 26 months
Location Data: Retained only while necessary for the feature's functionality
Analytics Data: Retained for 14 months
Authentication Data: Retained until account deletion

8. Security Measures

We implement various security measures to protect your data:

Firebase Security Rules: Strict access control for database operations
App Check Integration: Prevents unauthorized API access
reCAPTCHA Protection: Prevents automated abuse
HTTPS Encryption: Secure data transmission
Authentication Security: Secure token-based authentication
Regular Security Updates: Continuous monitoring and updates

9. Map Providers and Data Processing

Our map providers process certain data when you use their services:

OpenStreetMap: May collect IP addresses and usage data
National Library of Scotland: May collect usage statistics
Environment Agency UK: May track API usage
DARE: May collect interaction data
VICI.org: May track feature usage

Please refer to each provider's privacy policy for detailed information about their data processing practices.

10. Offline Functionality

Our service worker functionality:

Caches map data for offline use
Stores your finds locally when offline
Synchronizes data when connection is restored
Manages version updates of the application

You can disable service workers through your browser settings if desired.

11. Analytics and Performance Data

We use Google Analytics to improve our service:

Usage patterns and statistics
Feature popularity metrics
Performance monitoring
Error tracking

You can opt-out of analytics tracking through your browser settings or using Google's opt-out browser add-on.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

By email: camilleri.clive@gmail.com

12. Updates to Terms

We regularly review and update this privacy policy to reflect:

Changes in our practices
New functionality and features
Legal and regulatory requirements
User feedback and concerns

We will notify you of any material changes through:

Email notification (if we have your email)
Notice on our website
Update date at the top of this policy

13. Governing Law

This privacy policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.