Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

HistoryTrack LLC, a Georgia limited liability company (“HistoryTrack”, “we”, “us”), runs the historical atlas at historytrack.io, its newsletter and the related email services. We decide how and why the personal information described here is used, which makes us the “controller” under data protection law.

Postal address:

Email: [email protected]. A person reads every message.

2. The short version

• We collect what you give us (your email, display name, saved items, questions, reports and contributions) and a record of how the app is used.
• We use it to run HistoryTrack, answer your questions, send the emails you ask for (including updates on what you follow) and improve the atlas.
• We do not sell or share your personal information, show ads or use advertising trackers.
• You choose which emails you get at Email preferences, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Your live location on a tour stays on your device. We do not store it.
• You can download a copy of your data or delete your account yourself from Your data in the account menu, or ask us to do it (or to correct your data) at [email protected].

3. Information we collect

Your account

HistoryTrack is invite-only. When we invite you we record your email address, the name the invitation is addressed to, who sent it, any trip attached to it and whether the invitation was delivered and accepted. When you set up your account you choose a password; our authentication provider stores it only in hashed form, and we never see it. Your profile holds your email, the display name you choose, the time you were last active, and which version of our Terms and this policy you accepted and when.

If you ask for an invitation on our home page, we keep the name, email and note you send so we can reply.

Things you save

When you use personal features we store them against your account: favourites, collections and reading lists (with any notes you add), trips you create or follow (including a start date if you set one), saved map views, and notes you pin to the map. These are private to you unless a feature clearly says it is shared or public.

Location

Location features ask your browser for permission first. During a live tour, your device’s position is used on your device to find the nearest stop and move the map. It is not sent to us or saved. When you use near me in Travel, we request places within an area of roughly 35 km around you so we can list them; that area is used to answer the request and is not saved to your account. You can turn location off at any time in your browser or device settings and pick a stop by hand instead.

Ask HistoryTrack

When you ask a question we store the question, whether it was answered, the time taken, the size and cost of the request and any rating or comment you give the answer, linked to your account. This lets us enforce the daily question limit and improve answers. Questions are answered by an AI model provided by Anthropic (see AI features). If another member asks the same question within 7 days, we may show them the stored answer; stored answers are kept with the question text but without anyone’s identity.

Dig workspace

If you use the dig workspace, we store your projects, finds, descriptions, coordinates, dates and the photos you upload. These are private to your account. Photos are kept in private file storage. If you ask for help identifying a find, the photo and your note are sent to Anthropic’s AI model to produce a suggestion.

Contributions from specialists

If you submit a contribution through Contribute, we store your proposal, citations, conflict-of-interest statement, the files you attach (kept in private file storage), your email, and the display name, affiliation and ORCID iD you give. You choose whether we credit you by name. If you set up a specialist profile and agree to it being public, the profile details you enter are shown publicly.

Reports, feedback, ideas and comments

When you report a problem with a record or with the app, we store your report, your email, the page you were on and, for app feedback, your device type, browser, operating system, recent error messages from the page and any screenshot you choose to attach. Ideas you post on the ideas board and comments you leave on contribution pages are public and shown with your display name; votes are linked to your account.

Follows and notifications

When you follow a place, person, empire, dig, open question, claim or other record, we store what you follow and when. We use it to create notifications when something linked to it changes: a new find or story, an excavation season, a correction or a specialist review. We also notify you when a report, contribution or idea you sent us changes status, and, if you turn on product updates, when we publish a new feature. For each notification we store its text, a link, when it was created, and when you read it or we emailed it. Your email choices (updates on what you follow off, as they happen, daily or weekly; report and contribution updates on or off; product updates on or off) are stored with your account and can be changed at any time at Email preferences. The list of what you follow is private to you.

Newsletter

If you subscribe we store your email, the edition and topics you chose, where you signed up, the version of this policy shown when you signed up, and the dates you confirmed or unsubscribed. We use double opt-in: nothing is sent until you click the confirmation link. For each issue we record whether it was delivered, bounced, opened or clicked (see Emails we send below).

Emails we send

We keep a log of the emails we send you (invitations, password links, newsletter issues, notification emails and service messages): the address, the type of email, the subject and delivery events reported by our email provider, including bounces and, where your email app allows it, opens and link clicks. Open and click tracking works through a small image and redirected links in the email; blocking images in your email app stops open tracking.

How the app is used

The app records usage events so we can understand how HistoryTrack is used, find errors and fix them. Each event includes the page and view, the time, a random session identifier kept for the browser session, your account ID if you are signed in, your screen size and your browser’s user-agent string. Events cover actions such as opening a record, moving the map or the timeline, searching (including the first 60 characters of the search text), opening panels and submitting forms, plus error messages. We do not record the content of your saved items, notes or password in these events.

Information from our service providers

Our hosting, database and email providers keep technical logs, such as IP addresses and request times, to operate and secure their services. We do not add your IP address to your account or to usage events.

Notes kept by our team

When helping you or managing accounts, our team may keep short internal notes on an account (for example, a support request or an invitation arrangement).

4. How we use it and our legal bases

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the law requires us to name a legal basis for each use. The table sets out both.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights. You can object at any time (see Your rights).

5. What other people can see

• Ideas and comments you post, with your display name.
• Published contributions, credited by name if you chose that, with any affiliation and ORCID iD you gave.
• A public specialist profile, only if you agreed to it being public.
• Trips shared by a curator, shown with the curator’s name.

6. AI features

Ask HistoryTrack and find identification use AI models provided by Anthropic, PBC through its commercial API. We send the question (or the photo and note) with the atlas records the model needs to answer. We do not send your name or email with it. Under Anthropic’s commercial terms, content sent through the API is not used to train its models, and Anthropic processes it on our behalf.

AI answers can be wrong. Each answer links to the records it draws on so you can check them.

7. Service providers we use

We share personal information only with providers that help us run HistoryTrack, under contracts that limit their use of it to providing their service to us:

Some pages also load images or data directly from open sources such as Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia, and when you add a DOI to a contribution your browser looks it up with Crossref. Those services receive your IP address when your browser contacts them. We use automated checks, run on GitHub, against our public pages; they do not process your personal information.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect the rights and safety of our users or others, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case this policy continues to apply to it.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for targeted advertising.

8. Cookies and local storage

HistoryTrack does not set advertising or analytics cookies. The app stores a few items in your browser’s local storage and session storage so it works and remembers your settings. Session storage is cleared when you close the tab.

The app also keeps copies of pages, map data and images in your browser’s cache so trips work offline. You can clear all of this in your browser settings; you will be signed out and your display preferences will reset.

9. How long we keep information

• Account, saved items, trips and dig workspace: while your account is open. When you delete your account from Your data in the account menu, we delete these straight away; when you ask us by email, we delete them within 30 days.
• Contributions: published contributions stay on the record they improved, under their open licence. We delete the contributor’s private details and files on request, while keeping the credit you asked for.
• Reports and feedback: as long as they help us maintain the record or fix the issue. If you delete your account, your app feedback is deleted and your record reports are kept without your name or email.
• Ask questions and usage events: up to 24 months, then deleted or made anonymous. Stored answers shared between members (kept without anyone’s identity): 7 days.
• Newsletter: while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe we keep your email and the date on a suppression list so we never email you by mistake.
• Follows and email choices: while your account is open.
• Notifications: up to 12 months, then deleted.
• Email log: up to 24 months.
• Invitation requests: until we reply, and for up to 12 months after if no account is created.

10. Your rights and choices

You can:

• see and change your display name from the account menu in the atlas;
• unsubscribe from the newsletter, or from any kind of notification email, with one click from the email itself, or change your choices at Email preferences;
• see and change what you follow under Following in the account menu;
• turn off location access in your browser or device;
• download a copy of your personal information as a JSON file, from Your data in the account menu;
• delete your account from Your data in the account menu (you confirm by typing your email);
• ask us for a copy of your personal information in a portable format;
• ask us to correct, delete or restrict the use of your personal information, or object to our use of it;
• withdraw consent where we rely on it, without affecting what we did before.

To make any other request, or if you prefer not to use the account menu, email [email protected] from the address on your account. We may ask you to confirm your identity. We respond within one month, and we do not charge for requests. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

11. Users in the EEA, UK and elsewhere

HistoryTrack is run from the United States and our main database is in the United States. If you use HistoryTrack from elsewhere, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States. Where the law requires it, we rely on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum, or an equivalent safeguard, with our providers.

If you are in the EEA or the UK you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first at [email protected].

12. California residents

This section meets the California Online Privacy Protection Act. It applies to anyone in California who uses HistoryTrack.

• What we collect: identifiers (such as your email address, display name and account ID), content you submit (saved items, trips, notes, questions, reports, contributions and ideas), the records you follow, usage events from the app, and approximate location only for a “near me” request. Information we collect gives the detail, and Service providers we use lists who helps us process it.
• Reviewing and changing your information: change your display name from the account menu, change your emails at Email preferences, download or delete your data from Your data in the account menu, or email [email protected] to review or correct anything else.
• Do Not Track: HistoryTrack does not track you across other websites and does not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, so it treats every visit the same way whether or not your browser sends a Do Not Track signal. We do not allow other companies to collect personal information about your activity across websites over time through HistoryTrack.
• Selling and sharing: we do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for targeted advertising.
• Changes: we post any change to this policy on this page with its effective date; see Changes to this policy.

This policy is effective 30 September 2026.

13. Children

HistoryTrack is not directed to children, and accounts are for people aged 16 or over; you confirm your age when you set up your account. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under 16 in the EEA and UK. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email [email protected] and we will delete it.

14. Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS) everywhere, hashed passwords, private file storage for uploads, and database access rules so that each member can reach only their own private data. Access to personal information within our team is limited to the people who need it. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

15. Changes to this policy

This version is effective 30 September 2026. We will update this page when our practices change and revise the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect.

16. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: [email protected].