Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Search Queries: When you search for air quality information, we process your address, city, or ZIP code to provide results. These queries are not stored or associated with your identity.
• Contact Information: If you contact us through our contact form, we collect your email address and message content solely to respond to your inquiry.

Automatically Collected Information

• Technical Data: Like most websites, we collect standard technical information including IP address, browser type, device type, and referring URL. This data is used for analytics and security purposes.
• Cookies: We use minimal cookies for essential site functionality. We do not use tracking cookies for advertising purposes.

How We Use Your Information

• Provide Air Quality Data: We use your search queries to geocode locations and retrieve air quality information from monitoring stations.
• Improve the Service: We analyze aggregate usage patterns (not individual searches) to improve site performance and user experience.
• Respond to Inquiries: We use contact information only to respond to your questions or feedback.
• Security & Abuse Prevention: We may use technical data to prevent abuse, spam, and security threats.

What We Don't Do

• We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.
• We do not store your search history or associate searches with your identity.
• We do not track your location beyond what's necessary to provide search results.
• We do not create user profiles or track your behavior across other websites.
• We do not use your data for targeted advertising.

Third-Party Services

AirQuality.directory uses the following third-party services to operate:

• OpenAQ API: We retrieve air quality data from OpenAQ's platform. See their privacy policy.
• Geocoding Services: We use OpenStreetMap Nominatim (and optionally Mapbox or Google Maps) to convert addresses to coordinates. These services receive only the address you search for.
• Cloudflare: Our site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Cloudflare may collect technical data for CDN and security purposes. See their privacy policy.
• Analytics: We may use privacy-respecting analytics tools to understand aggregate site usage. No personally identifiable information is collected.

Cookies

We use minimal cookies for:

• Essential Functionality: Session cookies to maintain basic site functionality.
• Preferences: Storing your theme preference (dark/light mode) if implemented.

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect site functionality.

Data Retention

Search Queries: Not stored permanently. Cached results are retained for 1 hour to improve performance, then automatically deleted.

Contact Messages: Retained only as long as necessary to respond to your inquiry, then deleted.

Technical Logs: Server logs are retained for up to 30 days for security and troubleshooting purposes.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Access: Request access to any personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information.
• Objection: Object to certain data processing activities.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email address below.

Children's Privacy

AirQuality.directory does not knowingly collect information from children under 13. The service is available to all ages, but we do not specifically target or collect information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify users of any material changes by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us: