This policy explains what Bitcoin City Map ("we") collects, why, and what you can do about it. Questions: zach@thewhalelounge.com.
Browsing without an account
You can use the maps without signing in. We do not set advertising or tracking cookies. We keep:
- Visit statistics: pages viewed, country, device type and loading times. They use no cookies and do not identify you.
- Counts of views and taps per place (for example "directions tapped"), and of how people arrived through the shop's own links (its window sticker, stamp card or website badge, or a shared link), kept as daily totals for each place's owner. We do not store who viewed what.
- Your settings (language, light or dark) in your own browser's storage. They never leave your device.
- Server logs kept by our hosting provider for a short time to run and protect the service.
- Messages you send with the feedback form, with the page you sent it from, your device type and, if you give one, your email address. They come to us by email, to read and to reply to you, and nowhere else.
If you sign in
Signing in needs only your email address. We use a link sent by email instead of a password.
- Your email address, to sign you in and to send you messages about things you did on the site.
- An optional display name, used to greet you and shown to the leaders you work with. It is never shown on ratings.
- What you send us: places you add, changes and reports you suggest, ratings and comments, ownership claims and the proof you give, and applications to lead a map.
- A session cookie that keeps you signed in. It is needed for the site to work and is not used for anything else.
What other people can see
- Ratings and comments are public, shown as "A visitor" with the date. Your name and email are never shown.
- Places you add and changes that are approved become part of the public map, without your name.
- Local leaders who review your submissions, claims or applications see your email address and what you sent, so they can decide and contact you.
- If you lead a map, other leaders of that map can see your email, and your actions are recorded in that map's activity log.
- If you own a listing, the public sees that the business is claimed, not by whom.
Who handles the data for us
A few service providers run parts of the site for us:
- hosting, server logs and visit statistics;
- our database and signing in;
- sending emails;
- checking that sign-ins come from people, not bots;
- the map pictures your browser loads;
- OpenStreetMap’s address search, which turns an address you type into a map position when you add a place.
They may store data outside your country, and process it only to provide their service to us. Ask us if you would like to know which providers these are.
Place information and OpenStreetMap
Much of the map comes from BTC Map and OpenStreetMap, licensed under the Open Database License. Details about businesses (names, addresses, opening hours) are not personal data about you, but a business owner can ask us to correct or remove theirs.
How long we keep it
- Your account and what you sent: until you delete your account.
- The activity log of leaders' actions: kept to keep the maps trustworthy, but your email is removed from it when you delete your account.
- Daily view and tap totals: as long as the place is listed.
Your choices
- See and change what you sent on your account page.
- Delete your account there at any time. Your ratings, passport stamps, saved places and waiting requests are removed; places you added stay on the map without your name.
- Ask us for a copy of your data, a correction, or anything else this policy covers, at zach@thewhalelounge.com. We answer within 30 days.
Depending on where you live (for example under Hong Kong's PDPO, Japan's APPI, Korea's PIPA, Thailand's PDPA or the EU's GDPR), you may have further rights, including to complain to your data protection authority.
Children
The site is not meant for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
If we change this policy, we update the date at the top. For important changes we will tell signed-in users by email.