Legal & Privacy

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 25, 2026 Last Updated: October 2026

1. Overview & Scope

SafeMaply ("we", "our", or "us") operates the public web platform accessible at safemaply.com and related services (collectively, the "Service"). We are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors and maintaining complete transparency regarding how data is gathered, processed, and safeguarded.

This Privacy Policy applies to all users who visit the SafeMaply website, explore our interactive crime maps, or communicate with us through our contact forms. Please read this document carefully to understand our practices regarding your information.

2. Information We Collect

We collect minimal personal data necessary to operate our website, respond to communications, and protect service security.

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

When you contact us using our Contact Form or direct email, you voluntarily submit:

  • Contact details: Your full name and email address.
  • Message content: Any feedback, technical inquiries, partnership requests, or questions included in your message.
  • Referral context: The URL of the page you were viewing when you submitted your inquiry.

B. Technical & Automatically Collected Data

Like most web services, when you access SafeMaply, our servers automatically log certain non-personally identifiable technical information:

  • Log details: Your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, requested URLs, referring web page, and timestamps.
  • Device data: Screen resolution, device category (desktop, tablet, mobile), and approximate geographic region inferred from IP addresses (used solely to assist in serving relevant local map tiles).

C. Information We Do NOT Collect

SafeMaply does not require user registration or account creation for public map browsing. We do not collect payment card details, social security numbers, biometric data, sensitive demographic classifications, or personal address books.

3. Public Crime Records Notice

SafeMaply processes and displays crime incident data obtained strictly from official public sources, including municipal open data portals and local law enforcement records departments under applicable public record statutes (such as the Freedom of Information Act and state public records laws).

Protection of Personal Privacy in Open Data:

Municipal police departments routinely anonymize and geocode incident reports before public release (for example, by reporting incidents at the block level rather than specific private residential addresses, and excluding names of victims or reporting individuals). SafeMaply respects these privacy standards and does not attempt to deanonymize, track, or profile private individuals through public crime datasets.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the limited information collected strictly for legitimate operational purposes:

  • Responding to inquiries: To answer your questions, address data feedback, and collaborate with researchers or partners.
  • Service maintenance & reliability: To monitor server health, diagnose rendering errors, and ensure high availability of interactive map tiles.
  • Security & abuse prevention: To detect, prevent, and mitigate automated scraping, denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, spam submissions, or malicious misuse of our infrastructure.
  • Platform enhancement: To evaluate aggregate usage patterns (such as which cities or map layers receive high traffic) to prioritize new dataset ingestion and performance optimizations.

5. Cookies and Local Browser Storage

SafeMaply utilizes lightweight browser storage mechanisms to enhance user experience:

  • Essential session cookies: Temporary cookies required for CSRF protection on forms and secure web navigation.
  • Local storage & preferences: We may store non-sensitive user preferences locally on your device (such as whether you enabled the neighborhood boundary toggle, or your last visited zoom level) so they persist across page refreshes.

You can configure your browser to block or delete cookies at any time. Doing so will not restrict your access to public crime maps, though certain UI preferences may reset between visits.

6. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, monetize, or trade your personal information with third parties or data brokers.

We may share information only in the following limited circumstances:

  • Service providers: Trusted technical vendors who assist in operating our infrastructure (such as cloud hosting providers, content delivery networks, and transactional email gateways), strictly bound by confidentiality obligations.
  • Legal obligations: When required by valid law, regulation, subpoena, or governmental request, or to protect the safety, rights, or property of SafeMaply, our users, or the public.

7. Data Security and Retention

We implement appropriate technical and administrative safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. All web traffic is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS).

Contact form submissions are retained only as long as necessary to resolve the inquiry and maintain a record of communications. Technical server logs are rotated and deleted on a standard rolling schedule (typically within 30 to 90 days).

8. Your Rights (CCPA / GDPR Principles)

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have specific privacy rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right to know / access: You may request confirmation of whether we hold personal information you submitted and ask for a copy.
  • Right to deletion: You may request that we delete personal correspondence or contact form submissions.
  • Non-discrimination: We will not deny services or provide a lower quality of service if you exercise your privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please reach out through our Contact Page.

9. Children's Privacy

SafeMaply is intended for general audiences interested in urban safety and neighborhood research. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in certain jurisdictions). If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete that information.

10. External Links & Map Attribution

Our platform may contain links to external websites, including official municipal open data portals, government agencies, and mapping contributors (such as OpenStreetMap). We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or policies of third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect operational improvements, changes in data sources, or evolving legal standards. Any revisions will be published on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of SafeMaply following the posting of changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contacting Us

If you have questions, feedback, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact our team: