Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Across Interactive Atlas
This policy explains the information Interactive Atlas uses to operate its public atlases, one family account, member profiles, communications, and shop.
Effective September 1, 2026.
This is one policy for the whole family rather than thirty-three separate ones, because the account, sign-in, messaging, notification, accessibility, and payment systems it describes are the same shared systems behind every atlas. Where an atlas keeps its own profile fields or its own community features, those are described in general terms here rather than atlas by atlas, since the underlying handling is the same regardless of which atlas the feature sits in.
Account details, your profile, saved work and purchases, messages and connections, contributions, and standard server records. What follows breaks each of those down.
You can read the atlases without an account. If you create an account, we keep the information needed to authenticate you and provide the features you choose. Each atlas may keep an atlas-specific profile while your sign-in and global preferences remain shared across the family.
Account, Profile, and Saved Work
Your account. When you register we keep your email address, your credential or passkey, whether the account is active and whether the email is verified, security and session records, and the dates the account was created and last changed. We do not ask for a postal address or a phone number to create an account; one may be collected separately if a purchase requires delivery.
Your profile. An atlas-specific profile you choose to fill in may hold a display name, a short bio, a location you type in, an avatar image, and selections drawn from that atlas's own taxonomy, such as subjects, disciplines, or interests you pick. What appears publicly is governed by the visibility control shown when you edit each field; a private field is not shown to other readers.
Saved work and activity. Items you save, lists you build, and reading or activity history tied to your account are stored so you can return to them. This is visible to you on your own account pages and is not published as atlas content unless a feature explicitly makes it public, such as a public list or a public profile field.
Account, Profile, and Saved Work
Your account. When you register we keep your email address, your credential or passkey, whether the account is active and whether the email is verified, security and session records, and the dates the account was created and last changed. We do not ask for a postal address or a phone number to create an account; one may be collected separately if a purchase requires delivery.
Your profile. An atlas-specific profile you choose to fill in may hold a display name, a short bio, a location you type in, an avatar image, and selections drawn from that atlas's own taxonomy, such as subjects, disciplines, or interests you pick. What appears publicly is governed by the visibility control shown when you edit each field; a private field is not shown to other readers.
Saved work and activity. Items you save, lists you build, and reading or activity history tied to your account are stored so you can return to them. This is visible to you on your own account pages and is not published as atlas content unless a feature explicitly makes it public, such as a public list or a public profile field.
How Information Is Used
We use information to deliver the service, keep one account working across the atlases, remember accessibility and appearance choices, route messages and notifications, prevent abuse, investigate errors, maintain the integrity of contributions, and improve the application.
Public profile fields and public contributions are visible according to the visibility choices shown when you create or edit them. Private messages, account security information, and non-public profile fields are not published as atlas content.
Nothing described in this section makes an automated decision about you or scores you. A generated preview, a search result, or a cross-atlas link surfaced to you is produced from the published atlas content itself, not from an inference about who you are.
If a Security Incident Occurs
If we discover a security incident that affects your account information, we will act to contain it and, once we have a reliable account of what happened, will tell the affected account holders what we know, consistent with what applicable law requires. We do not have a separate incident to disclose as of the date at the top of this page; this section states the commitment, not a report of an event.
If a Security Incident Occurs
If we discover a security incident that affects your account information, we will act to contain it and, once we have a reliable account of what happened, will tell the affected account holders what we know, consistent with what applicable law requires. We do not have a separate incident to disclose as of the date at the top of this page; this section states the commitment, not a report of an event.
Sharing, Service Providers, and Purchases
Interactive Atlas does not sell personal information. Information is disclosed only as needed to operate the service, complete a transaction you request, protect the application or its users, comply with law, or with your direction.
Shop orders require fulfillment and payment providers to receive the order details they need. Payment-card data is handled by the payment provider rather than stored as readable card numbers by Interactive Atlas. A product fulfiller may receive the recipient name, delivery address, selected product, and print artwork.
Everyone We Share Data With
The complete categories of who receives information, and why:
- A payment provider, when you make a purchase, to process the payment.
- A fulfillment provider, when you order a physical product, to produce and ship it.
- An analytics provider, to measure aggregate usage; see Cookies and Local Storage.
- Our email provider, to deliver password resets, order confirmations, and account notices.
- Our web host, which necessarily processes traffic to operate the site.
We do not disclose personal information to anyone else, except where the law requires it, to protect the application or its users, or with your direction.
Everyone We Share Data With
The complete categories of who receives information, and why:
- A payment provider, when you make a purchase, to process the payment.
- A fulfillment provider, when you order a physical product, to produce and ship it.
- An analytics provider, to measure aggregate usage; see Cookies and Local Storage.
- Our email provider, to deliver password resets, order confirmations, and account notices.
- Our web host, which necessarily processes traffic to operate the site.
We do not disclose personal information to anyone else, except where the law requires it, to protect the application or its users, or with your direction.
Passwords and Sign-In
Signing in supports a password or a passkey. Where a password is used, what is stored is a value derived from it, not the password itself; nobody, including the people who run the project, can read your password back from what is stored, and a forgotten password is replaced through a reset rather than recovered. A password reset uses a single-use, time-limited link sent to the email address on the account.
A passkey, where you choose to register one, is tied to your device or your password manager; the private half of it never leaves your device and cannot be used to sign in as you by anyone who does not hold it.
Choices, Retention, and Security
Account and profile pages provide controls for preferences, visibility, security, and deletion, including a self-service option to delete your own account. Records are retained for as long as needed to provide the service, meet legal and accounting obligations, preserve the attribution and integrity of published contributions, resolve disputes, and prevent abuse. Deleting an account marks its records as removed rather than erasing them immediately, which is deliberate: it keeps an accidental deletion recoverable and keeps a purchase history intact for accounting. Deletion or anonymization may be limited where a record must be retained for those purposes.
We use administrative, technical, and access controls intended to protect account information. No online system can promise absolute security; use a unique password or a passkey and report suspected account misuse promptly.
Choices, Retention, and Security
Account and profile pages provide controls for preferences, visibility, security, and deletion, including a self-service option to delete your own account. Records are retained for as long as needed to provide the service, meet legal and accounting obligations, preserve the attribution and integrity of published contributions, resolve disputes, and prevent abuse. Deleting an account marks its records as removed rather than erasing them immediately, which is deliberate: it keeps an accidental deletion recoverable and keeps a purchase history intact for accounting. Deletion or anonymization may be limited where a record must be retained for those purposes.
We use administrative, technical, and access controls intended to protect account information. No online system can promise absolute security; use a unique password or a passkey and report suspected account misuse promptly.
Your Rights
You can see and edit most of what an account holds about you from your own account settings: preferences, visibility choices, saved items, and connections. You can delete your account yourself from account settings; this signs you out everywhere, ends access to your saved work and purchases under that account, and is the fastest way to exercise the request below in full.
For anything account settings does not cover directly, a request to see, correct, delete, or receive a copy of the information we hold about you can be sent to cleite@interactiveatlas.org. Include the account email and the atlas or page involved, but do not send a password or a payment-card number. We will ask you to confirm you control the account before acting on the request. A record that must be kept for accounting, dispute handling, or the integrity of a public contribution may be retained or shown without your name rather than fully erased; we will explain what is being kept and why if you ask.
Your Rights
You can see and edit most of what an account holds about you from your own account settings: preferences, visibility choices, saved items, and connections. You can delete your account yourself from account settings; this signs you out everywhere, ends access to your saved work and purchases under that account, and is the fastest way to exercise the request below in full.
For anything account settings does not cover directly, a request to see, correct, delete, or receive a copy of the information we hold about you can be sent to cleite@interactiveatlas.org. Include the account email and the atlas or page involved, but do not send a password or a payment-card number. We will ask you to confirm you control the account before acting on the request. A record that must be kept for accounting, dispute handling, or the integrity of a public contribution may be retained or shown without your name rather than fully erased; we will explain what is being kept and why if you ask.
Cookies and Local Storage
The application uses cookies or comparable browser storage to maintain a signed-in session, protect requests, remember display and accessibility preferences, preserve a shopping cart, and support security. Essential storage is required for the feature that uses it. Clearing browser storage may sign you out, reset preferences, or empty a cart that has not been attached to an account.
Your display and accessibility preferences, such as text size and theme, may also be kept in local storage on your own device so they apply immediately on your next visit before the server has a chance to confirm your sign-in; this local copy never leaves your device on its own.
Cookies and Local Storage
The application uses cookies or comparable browser storage to maintain a signed-in session, protect requests, remember display and accessibility preferences, preserve a shopping cart, and support security. Essential storage is required for the feature that uses it. Clearing browser storage may sign you out, reset preferences, or empty a cart that has not been attached to an account.
Your display and accessibility preferences, such as text size and theme, may also be kept in local storage on your own device so they apply immediately on your next visit before the server has a chance to confirm your sign-in; this local copy never leaves your device on its own.
Analytics
Interactive Atlas uses Google Analytics to understand aggregate usage: which pages and features are visited, in what volume, and how that changes over time. Analytics is configured and administered through Google's own service, so a visit can set a Google Analytics cookie and send usage information to Google, subject to Google's own privacy practices for that product. Analytics data is used in aggregate to understand and improve the application; it is not used to build an advertising profile of you, and no advertising runs on this site. Where analytics data is exported for internal analysis, it is exported and handled as an aggregate dataset rather than reattached to your account.
Analytics
Interactive Atlas uses Google Analytics to understand aggregate usage: which pages and features are visited, in what volume, and how that changes over time. Analytics is configured and administered through Google's own service, so a visit can set a Google Analytics cookie and send usage information to Google, subject to Google's own privacy practices for that product. Analytics data is used in aggregate to understand and improve the application; it is not used to build an advertising profile of you, and no advertising runs on this site. Where analytics data is exported for internal analysis, it is exported and handled as an aggregate dataset rather than reattached to your account.
Messages, Connections, and Notifications
Private messages are delivered to their participants and are not published as encyclopedia content. Connection requests and notification records identify the accounts and events needed to provide those features. Abuse reports, blocks, and moderation records may be retained to protect users and enforce community rules.
We do not read private messages in the ordinary course of running the service; they are accessed only to investigate a reported abuse, to protect the security of the service, or where the law requires it. A notification tells you about activity relevant to your account, such as a reply, a connection request, or an order update; notification preferences, where a feature offers them, are controlled from your account settings.
Messages, Connections, and Notifications
Private messages are delivered to their participants and are not published as encyclopedia content. Connection requests and notification records identify the accounts and events needed to provide those features. Abuse reports, blocks, and moderation records may be retained to protect users and enforce community rules.
We do not read private messages in the ordinary course of running the service; they are accessed only to investigate a reported abuse, to protect the security of the service, or where the law requires it. A notification tells you about activity relevant to your account, such as a reply, a connection request, or an order update; notification preferences, where a feature offers them, are controlled from your account settings.
Public Contributions and Attribution
Comments, corrections, reviews, forum posts, and other contributions intended for publication can remain associated with a display name or profile so readers can understand their source and the project can preserve editorial history. Removing an account does not necessarily erase a published contribution when retention is needed for attribution, integrity, dispute history, or legal obligations; it may instead be anonymized where appropriate.
A correction you submit through the dispute or challenge action on an entry is stored against that entry along with your account and the outcome, whether the entry changed or stayed as it was, so the review is auditable by anyone who looks at the entry later. A scholar who takes part in the reviewer program and agrees to be named is acknowledged publicly for that review; a reviewer who prefers to remain unnamed is not.
Public Contributions and Attribution
Comments, corrections, reviews, forum posts, and other contributions intended for publication can remain associated with a display name or profile so readers can understand their source and the project can preserve editorial history. Removing an account does not necessarily erase a published contribution when retention is needed for attribution, integrity, dispute history, or legal obligations; it may instead be anonymized where appropriate.
A correction you submit through the dispute or challenge action on an entry is stored against that entry along with your account and the outcome, whether the entry changed or stayed as it was, so the review is auditable by anyone who looks at the entry later. A scholar who takes part in the reviewer program and agrees to be named is acknowledged publicly for that review; a reviewer who prefers to remain unnamed is not.
Payments and Fulfillment
Payment information is submitted to the payment provider. Interactive Atlas receives transaction identifiers, status, amount, and the details needed to reconcile the order, but does not store readable full payment-card numbers. A fulfillment provider receives the delivery and product information required to manufacture and ship a purchase.
Order history, including what was bought, when, for how much, and the delivery address used, is kept on your account so you can review a past purchase and so a return or refund request can be checked against it. This is the same purchase history the Returns, Replacements, and Refunds section of the Terms describes handling a request against.
Payments and Fulfillment
Payment information is submitted to the payment provider. Interactive Atlas receives transaction identifiers, status, amount, and the details needed to reconcile the order, but does not store readable full payment-card numbers. A fulfillment provider receives the delivery and product information required to manufacture and ship a purchase.
Order history, including what was bought, when, for how much, and the delivery address used, is kept on your account so you can review a past purchase and so a return or refund request can be checked against it. This is the same purchase history the Returns, Replacements, and Refunds section of the Terms describes handling a request against.
Security and Error Records
Authentication events, session records, network addresses, user-agent information, failed requests, and application errors may be logged to detect misuse, diagnose failures, and protect the service. Access is restricted to operational and administrative purposes. Logs are not used as public profile content.
These records exist to keep the service working and secure, not to build a profile of your reading. If we block a network address for abuse, that address and the reason for the block are kept.
Security and Error Records
Authentication events, session records, network addresses, user-agent information, failed requests, and application errors may be logged to detect misuse, diagnose failures, and protect the service. Access is restricted to operational and administrative purposes. Logs are not used as public profile content.
These records exist to keep the service working and secure, not to build a profile of your reading. If we block a network address for abuse, that address and the reason for the block are kept.
Children
The service is not designed to collect personal information from a child who cannot legally consent to its use. A parent or guardian who believes a child supplied personal information should contact us so the account and relevant records can be reviewed.
Children
The service is not designed to collect personal information from a child who cannot legally consent to its use. A parent or guardian who believes a child supplied personal information should contact us so the account and relevant records can be reviewed.
Policy Changes
Material changes are dated on this page and may also be announced through family News or an account notice. Continued use after an effective date is governed by the updated policy, subject to rights that cannot be waived by notice.
Policy Changes
Material changes are dated on this page and may also be announced through family News or an account notice. Continued use after an effective date is governed by the updated policy, subject to rights that cannot be waived by notice.