Privacy policy

Who we are

Blackout Map (blackoutmap.net and blackoutmap.online) is run by Pixelsolutions B.V., the Netherlands. We decide what happens with the data described here. Questions or requests: info@blackoutmap.net.

When you visit the site

The site is delivered through Cloudflare, which protects it against attacks and makes it fast. Cloudflare sees your IP address and the pages you request, and tells us the country you are in. Our server is in Germany.

Like every web server, ours writes a log line for each request: your IP address, the time, the page, your browser and the page you came from. We use these logs to keep the site secure, fix faults and count how often articles are read. The logs are currently kept without a fixed end date; they are never shared or sold.

Visitor statistics without cookies

To see which pages are used, the site sends a small message to our own statistics service (px.aigenta.app, on our own servers) when you open a page. It stores nothing on your device: no cookies and no other identifiers.

The service records the page, the page you came from, your country, the type of browser, system and device, your screen size and language. To count visitors it uses a code made from your IP address and browser that changes every day, so we cannot recognise you on another day. Your IP address itself is not stored there.

Problem reports and website checks

When you press "It doesn't work for me", we store the problem you picked, the time and your country. To count each person once, we use a code made from your IP address that changes every day. Your IP address is not stored with the report.

When you ask us to check a website we do not watch yet, we store that address and the same daily code, so we can see how many people asked for it.

Alerts

If you turn on alerts, your browser gives us a push address (from Google, Apple or Mozilla, depending on your browser) and we store it together with the countries or websites you follow and your language. We only use it to send the alerts you chose. When you turn alerts off, or the address stops working, we switch it off and send nothing more; ask us if you want it deleted completely.

Your account and comments

You only need an account to write comments. Reading the site, reporting problems and alerts never need one.

For an account we keep: the name you choose, your e-mail address, your password (only as a secure hash) or which sign-in service you use (Google, Facebook or Apple, with the ID it gives us), your language and when you signed up and last signed in.

If you sign in with Google, Facebook or Apple, that company knows you signed in to Blackout Map and gives us your name, e-mail address and an ID. We ask for nothing else, and we never post anything for you.

Your comments are public, with your name and a country flag: the country you wrote from, or the one you picked in your account (you can also show none). Your e-mail address is never shown. When someone reports a comment, we store the reason, an optional note and a daily code as above.

Anyone can like or dislike a comment, without an account. So that each person counts once, we store the vote with your account when you are signed in, otherwise with a code made from your internet address (not the address itself).

You can change your name and delete your account at any time on your account page. Deleting it removes your account, your e-mail address and all your comments straight away. Removing Blackout Map in your Facebook settings does the same.

Cookies and storage on your device

• bm_u: keeps you signed in (only after you sign in, 60 days).
• bm_oa: remembers a sign-in in progress with Google, Facebook or Apple (10 minutes).
• Your settings, such as the theme and map style, are kept in your own browser (local storage) and are not sent to us.

We use no advertising or tracking cookies, so you do not see a cookie banner.

E-mail

If you write to us, we use your e-mail only to answer you and keep it as long as needed for that. If you create an account with your e-mail address, we send you a link to confirm it or to set a new password, and nothing else.

Why we may do this

• Running and protecting the site, statistics without cookies, problem reports and server logs: our legitimate interest in a working, secure site that people can find their way in.
• Your account and comments: to provide the service you sign up for.
• Alerts: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by turning them off.

Who else gets data

Cloudflare (delivery and protection), our hosting company in Germany (the server), and, only if you use them, Google, Facebook (Meta) or Apple for signing in and the push service of your browser for alerts. Cloudflare, Google, Meta and Apple are American companies; they take part in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. We do not sell data and do not show ads.

Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct or delete it, to limit its use or to object to it, and to receive it in a common format. Write to info@blackoutmap.net; we answer within a month.

You can also complain to the Dutch data protection authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) or to the authority in your own country.

Children

Accounts are for people aged 16 and over.

Changes

When we change what the site does with data, we update this page and the date below.