Privacy policy

Summary

• We do not collect names, emails, or other personal information unless you actively send them to us through the contact or submission forms.
• We use cookies and third-party services (Mapbox, Google AdSense once it is enabled, and Netlify analytics) to run the site and serve relevant ads.
• We do not sell your data. Period.
• EU and UK visitors have GDPR rights; California visitors have CCPA rights. Both are explained below, along with how to exercise them.

What information we collect

GoFossilHunting is a content site. We do not require you to create an account, log in, or provide any personal information to read the guides or use the map.

Information you actively submit

If you email us or use the site submission form, we receive whatever you choose to share: typically your email address, a description of a fossil site, and any photos or links you attach. We use this information only to respond to your message or to evaluate the submitted site for inclusion in the catalog.

Information collected automatically

When your browser loads a page, Netlify (our hosting provider) automatically records standard server-access data: your IP address, the page you requested, the time of the request, your browser’s user-agent string, and the page that referred you. This is the same data every web server records and we use it for traffic analysis, abuse prevention, and debugging. Netlify handles this data under its own privacy policy.

Mapbox, which serves the map tiles and runs the geocoder when you search a place name, also receives your IP address as part of any request your browser makes for tiles or geocoder results. Mapbox handles this data under its own privacy policy.

Cookies and tracking

Below is the full list of cookies and similar storage GoFossilHunting uses or expects to use. Strictly necessary items are always on; everything else is gated behind your consent choice in the cookie banner shown on first visit.

Strictly necessary

• gfh-cookie-consent— remembers your choice in the cookie banner so we do not show it on every visit. Stored in localStorage on your device.
• Mapbox session storage— the Mapbox map uses short-lived browser storage to cache tiles and remember the last map position during your visit. No tracking identifier is stored beyond the session.

Analytics and advertising (consent-gated)

• Google AdSense cookies (doubleclick.net, google.com, googlesyndication.com) — used to serve and personalize ads, measure ad performance, and detect fraud. These load only after you click “Accept all” in the cookie banner. AdSense is not enabled at the time of writing; this section will apply once it is.
• Netlify Analytics— if enabled, this is a server-side analytics product that runs entirely on Netlify’s edge: no client-side script, no cookies set in your browser, no cross-site tracking, no individual identifiers. Server-side request logs (IP address, page, user-agent) are still recorded even if you reject non-essential cookies, since they are essential for security and operating the site.

Third-party services

GoFossilHunting depends on a small number of external services to run. Each one has its own privacy policy that governs the data they receive from your browser when our site loads their content:

• Mapbox— map tiles and forward geocoding (privacy policy)
• Google AdSense— display advertising, when enabled (privacy policy)
• Netlify— hosts the site and stores standard request logs (privacy policy)

How we use your information

We use the limited information we collect to:

• Operate and maintain the website
• Respond to messages you send us
• Evaluate site submissions and update the catalog when you flag an error
• Understand which pages are popular so we can prioritize updates
• Serve relevant advertising once AdSense is enabled (only if you consented)
• Detect and prevent abuse (rate-limiting, blocking malicious traffic)

How we protect your information

We hold the small amount of personal information we receive (mostly email replies and submission-form contents) on industry-standard email and storage providers. We do not maintain a customer database, do not share submitted information with marketers, and do not enrich it with third-party data brokers.

Your rights under the GDPR (EU and UK visitors)

If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights regarding personal data we hold about you:

• Right of access— request a copy of any personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification— ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Right to erasure— ask us to delete your data (we will, unless we are legally required to keep it)
• Right to portability— receive your data in a portable format
• Right to object— object to specific uses, including any analytics or advertising processing
• Right to withdraw consent— revoke any consent you previously gave (e.g. the cookie banner choice) at any time

Our lawful basis for processing is generally legitimate interest for operating the site and basic analytics, and consent for advertising and any non-essential tracking. To exercise any of these rights, email gofossilhunting@gmail.com with the subject line “Privacy request” and we will respond within 30 days.

Your rights under the CCPA (California visitors)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act gives you specific rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to know— what personal information we collect, where it came from, and who we share it with
• Right to delete— request that we delete personal information we hold about you
• Right to opt out of sale— we do not sell your personal information, but you have the right to opt out if we ever did
• Right to non-discrimination— we will not charge you a different price or provide a different level of service for exercising any of these rights

Do not sell my personal information

GoFossilHunting does not sell personal information to third parties and has no current plans to. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide a clear opt-out mechanism before any sale begins.

Children’s privacy

GoFossilHunting is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has submitted personal information through our site, email gofossilhunting@gmail.com and we will delete it promptly.

Data retention

Server-access logs are retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging purposes. Email correspondence and site submissions are kept indefinitely as part of our editorial workflow, but you can request deletion at any time using the contact email above. Cookie preferences live in your browser and persist until you clear them.

Changes to this policy

When we make a material change to this policy, we update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, post a banner on the site for 30 days. For substantive changes affecting how we handle your data, we will not apply the new policy retroactively to information collected under the previous version.

Contact

Privacy questions, data-rights requests, or anything else about this policy: gofossilhunting@gmail.com. See also the Terms of Use.