Privacy Policy

Who runs the site

CountyAtlas is run by Marko Visic and operated by Moving Data Systems d.o.o., a company based in Slovenia (European Union), which is the controller of the personal data described here. Questions and requests go to info@countyatlas.org. This policy is provided for transparency; it is not legal advice.

Outside services a visit reaches

Four services are involved. Your browser contacts Vercel, Google Analytics and OpenFreeMap directly; the site’s own server contacts the Census Bureau for you. Nothing else is loaded from another company: no ad networks and no social media buttons.

Vercel (hosting)

Vercel Inc. hosts the site, so every page, file and lookup on countyatlas.org is served by Vercel. Like any web host it receives your IP address, your browser’s user agent, the address of each request and the time. A lookup carries what you asked about. An address or place you typed is part of the request’s web address. A point (your location, a spot you tap on a map, or coordinates you typed) goes exactly as your browser has it, inside the request rather than in its web address, so it stays out of request logs and caches; the site’s server reads it only to ask the Census Bureau and keeps nothing. Vercel also tells the site which country your IP address is in; the site keeps only whether that country is in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland (the ca_region cookie below).

Google Analytics 4 (Google)

Google Analytics counts visits so the site can see which pages and tools people use. Its tag loads from www.googletagmanager.com and sends each measurement to www.google-analytics.com, or to www.google.com when the first address is blocked (some ad blockers block it).

• When it runs. In the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland it does not load at all until you press Accept on the cookie banner. Everywhere else it runs unless you turn it off: press Cookie settings at the bottom of any page, then Reject.
• What it receives. The address and title of each page you view and the page that linked you there; events such as page views, scrolling, clicks on links to other sites, file downloads and starting to fill in a tool’s form (which form, never what you type in it); your browser’s language, screen size, browser and operating-system version; a random ID kept in the _ga cookie; and your IP address, which comes with every request. Google says Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses (Google’s note on IP addresses). A page address can include a ZIP code, when you follow the county finder’s link to the county lookup for a ZIP you typed.
• How long it is kept. The site’s Google Analytics property keeps event data for 2 months and user data for 14 months, and the user-data period starts again each time the same _ga ID comes back with new activity (the property’s data-retention settings).
• No advertising use. The site shows no ads, so for every visitor it keeps the three advertising signals of Google Consent Mode (ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization) at denied: no advertising cookies, no use of the data for ads and no ad personalization.

OpenFreeMap (map tiles)

The street map behind the county, city, state, township and congressional district tools comes from OpenFreeMap, loaded from tiles.openfreemap.org: the map style, its tiles, icons and label fonts. OpenFreeMap receives your IP address, your browser’s user agent, the site’s address (countyatlas.org, not the page) and the tiles the map needs, which show the area on screen. It sets no cookies. The county and district boundaries drawn on top come from the site itself.

U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder

The tools find your county, city, state, township or congressional district by asking the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder (geocoding.geo.census.gov). That request goes from the site’s server, not from your browser: the Census Bureau gets the address or place you typed, or the point exactly as your browser sent it, and the server’s IP address, never yours. A bare ZIP code typed into the county lookup is answered from a HUD table on the site’s server and goes nowhere else. Answers to a typed address or place are cached on Vercel’s network by the typed text, never by who asked; answers to a point are never cached.

Your location

Use my location on a tool asks your browser for permission first; a tool never asks on its own when a page opens. If you allowed it on an earlier visit, the tool uses your location as soon as the page opens. Either way it sends the point exactly as your browser reports it, inside the lookup request rather than in its web address, and the site’s server keeps nothing. Without permission, type an address or a place instead. You can withdraw the permission in your browser’s site settings at any time.

Cookies and browser storage

This is everything the site and its services keep in your browser:

• ca_region (cookie, set by CountyAtlas): eea or other, meaning your country is or isn’t in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, so the page knows whether to ask before Google Analytics loads. It expires after one day.
• ca-consent (browser storage, CountyAtlas): your Accept or Reject choice and when you made it. It stays until you change the choice or clear the site’s data.
• _ga and _ga_9M9B6GVP0Y (cookies, Google Analytics), set only while analytics is on: _ga holds the random ID that tells repeat visits apart, and the second one keeps track of the current visit. Google’s default lifetime for both is two years (Google’s cookie list). Pressing Reject deletes them.
• Your last lookup, one entry per tool (wcaii:last, wciai:last, wsaii:last, wtaii:last, mcd:last and county-lookup:last; browser storage, CountyAtlas): the place you last looked up with that tool and when, as the point it looked up, the address the Census Bureau matched, or the text you typed (a place name or coordinates). The tool offers it as “Your last lookup” when you come back and looks it up again; it never holds the answer. Clear on the tool removes it.

OpenFreeMap and the Census Bureau set nothing in your browser. Cookie settings, at the bottom of every page, reopens the analytics choice at any time. Your browser’s settings can also block or delete cookies and site data; the site still works, though the banner may then ask again and the tools won’t remember your last lookup.

What the site doesn’t do

• No advertising, ad networks, affiliate links or data brokers.
• No accounts, logins, newsletters or payments, and no form that asks for your name or email address.
• No selling or sharing of personal information.

If advertising is added, this policy will name the advertising partner, its cookies and your choices before any ad runs, and the date above will change. If you email info@countyatlas.org, your address and message are used to reply to you.

Your rights (EU and UK GDPR, Swiss data protection law)

The operator is based in the European Union, so the GDPR applies. The site relies on your consent for Google Analytics in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and elsewhere on its legitimate interest in knowing which pages are used, which you can object to with Cookie settings. Hosting, the lookups you ask for and the ca_region and ca-consent entries rest on the legitimate interest in running and securing the site and recording your choice; your device location is used only with the permission you give in the browser.

You can ask for access to your data, its correction or deletion, a restriction of its use, or a copy, and you can object to its use. You can withdraw consent at any time with Cookie settings, which takes effect at once. Vercel and Google are U.S. companies, so what they receive can be processed in the United States. Send requests to info@countyatlas.org. You can also complain to a data protection authority; in Slovenia that is the Information Commissioner (Informacijski pooblaščenec).

California (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have the right to know what personal information is collected and how it’s used, to access, correct or delete it, to opt out of its sale or sharing, and not to be treated differently for using these rights. CountyAtlas does not sell or share personal information and does not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of; you can still turn analytics off with Cookie settings. To make a request, email info@countyatlas.org.

Children

CountyAtlas is a general-audience reference site, not directed to children (under 13 in the U.S., under 16 in the EU), and does not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact info@countyatlas.org and it will be deleted.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS. The entries in your browser last as listed above. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and absolute security can’t be guaranteed.

Changes to this policy

This policy changes when the site or the law changes, and the “last updated” date above shows the latest revision. A material change, such as adding advertising, is posted here before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: info@countyatlas.org. See also the contact page, the terms of service and the disclaimer.