Privacy policy
PlaceWas is a community archive of historical photographs pinned to a map. We collect as little personal data as we can get away with. This page explains what we store, why, and how to get rid of it.
Last updated: 13 August 2026
What we collect
- Account details — if you create an account: your email address, the display name you choose, and (for password accounts) a salted hash of your password — never the password itself. If you sign in with Google we receive your name, email address, profile picture, and an opaque account identifier from Google. We never see your Google password.
- Your contributions — photos you upload together with the title, description, year, and map location you give them, and any corrections you suggest. If you are signed in, contributions are linked to your account so they can appear on your public profile — unless you choose to post anonymously.
- Technical data — your IP address is used in short-lived, in-memory counters to limit abuse (for example, report spamming). It is not written to the database or joined to your account.
Cookies
Our own cookie: pw_session, which keeps you signed in. It is essential, HttpOnly, and
holds no tracking data. We also use Google Analytics (cookies prefixed _ga) to
understand how the site is used — see below. We use no advertising cookies.
Third-party services
- Google Sign-In — an optional way to sign in; used only to confirm your identity, as described above.
- Google Analytics — collects aggregated usage statistics (pages viewed, approximate location, device type) so we can see what works. Google acts as our processor; we do not use the data for advertising.
- Bunny.net — hosts the photo images on its CDN.
- OpenStreetMap & CARTO — serve the background map tiles; your browser requests tiles from them directly.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with anyone else.
Public information
Approved photos, their descriptions and locations, and — for credited contributions — your display name and profile page are publicly visible. Your email address is never shown publicly.
Data deletion
You can have your account and personal data deleted at any time:
- Email alen.radica@gmail.com from the address linked to your account (or include your profile link) with the subject “Delete my account”.
- We will delete your account record (email, name, sign-in identifiers, avatar) within 30 days and confirm by reply.
- Photos you contributed can either be deleted with the account or kept in the archive anonymised (no name, no account link) — tell us which you prefer; if you say nothing, they are anonymised.
Contact
Questions about this policy: alen.radica@gmail.com.