Privacy Policy

🔒 Our Commitment to Your Privacy

At AQIMap.fun, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle data when you use our real-time global air quality monitoring platform. The short version: we don't collect, store, or sell your personal information. We believe that monitoring air pollution shouldn't require sacrificing your digital privacy.

This policy applies to all users of aqimap.fun, regardless of geographic location, and is designed to comply with international privacy regulations including GDPR (Europe), CCPA (California), and other data protection frameworks worldwide.

📊 Information We Do NOT Collect

Unlike most websites and web applications, AQIMap.fun is designed to function without collecting any personally identifiable information (PII). Specifically, we do NOT collect:

Email Addresses: There's no registration, no newsletter signup, no account system
Names or Contact Information: We don't ask for or store your name, phone number, or mailing address
Location Data: We don't track your physical location through GPS, IP geolocation, or any other means
Payment Information: AQIMap.fun is completely free with no premium features, so we never handle credit cards or payment details
Behavioral Tracking: We don't use tracking pixels, fingerprinting, or cross-site cookies to follow your browsing habits
User Accounts: There's no sign-up system, so we have no user databases with your personal information

You can use AQIMap.fun completely anonymously. We have no way to identify you personally or link your usage to your real-world identity.

💾 Local Storage (Browser-Side Data)

While we don't collect data on our servers, AQIMap.fun does store minimal information locally in your web browser to enhance your experience. This data never leaves your device and is under your complete control. Specifically, we store:

Theme Preference

When you toggle between light and dark mode, your preference is saved to your browser's localStorage under the key aqi-theme. This ensures the site remembers your visual preference on future visits. You can clear this at any time through your browser's settings.

AQI Data Cache

To provide instant responses and reduce unnecessary API calls, we temporarily cache air quality data in your browser's memory (sessionStorage) for up to 30 minutes. This cache is automatically cleared when you close the browser tab and contains only anonymized AQI values and country names—no personal data.

How to Clear Local Data

You can delete all localStorage data at any time by:

Chrome/Edge: Settings → Privacy and Security → Clear Browsing Data → Cookies and other site data
Firefox: Options → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data → Clear Data
Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Manage Website Data → Remove All

🌐 Third-Party Services

World Air Quality Index (WAQI) API

AQIMap.fun retrieves real-time air quality data from the World Air Quality Index project (aqicn.org) through their public API. When you click on a country, your browser makes a direct request to WAQ I's servers to fetch current AQI data. This request includes:

The country or city name you're searching for
Our API token (not associated with individual users)
Standard HTTP headers (browser type, IP address - handled by WAQI, not us)

WAQI maintains its own privacy policy governing how they handle API requests. We recommend reviewing their policy at https://aqicn.org/privacy/.

Google Fonts

AQIMap.fun uses Google Fonts to load the Inter typeface for improved typography. When you visit our site, your browser downloads font files from Google's servers, which may log your IP address. We use the display=swap parameter to prevent render-blocking and improve privacy. Google Fonts' privacy policy is available at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

D3.js Library

Our interactive map uses the D3.js visualization library, which we host locally on our servers. No external requests are made to load D3, ensuring this library doesn't introduce privacy concerns.

🍪 Cookies

AQI Map.fun does NOT use cookies. Instead, we rely on browser localStorage (as described above) which provides similar functionality without the tracking concerns associated with traditional cookies. LocalStorage data:

Never gets sent to our servers or any third parties
Persists only until you clear your browser data
Is inaccessible to other websites due to same-origin policy
Cannot be used for cross-site tracking

You won't see any cookie consent banners on aqimap.fun because there's nothing to consent to—we simply don't use cookies.

📈 Analytics & Tracking

Currently, AQIMap.fun does NOT use any analytics services like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or similar platforms. We intentionally avoid these tools to protect your privacy. This means:

We don't track which pages you visit
We don't monitor how long you spend on the site
We don't record your clicks, scrolls, or interactions
We don't build user profiles or behavioral segments

We may add privacy-respecting analytics in the future (such as server-side, anonymized aggregated statistics) to understand usage patterns and improve the platform. If we do, this policy will be updated with full disclosure, and you'll be notified via a banner on the site.

🌍 International Users

AQIMap.fun is accessible worldwide and we welcome users from all countries. Our platform is hosted in the United States, but since we don't collect personal data, there are no cross-border data transfer concerns. The minimal localStorage data we use stays entirely on your device and never crosses international boundaries.

Users in the European Union benefit from GDPR protections, though there's minimal personal data to protect. California residents are covered by CCPA, but again, we have no personal information to share or sell. Regardless of your location, you have complete control over any data stored locally in your browser.

👶 Children's Privacy

AQIMap.fun is safe for users of all ages, including children under 13. Since we don't collect any personal information, use of our platform doesn't raise COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) concerns. Parents and educators are welcome to use aqimap.fun as an educational tool to teach children about air quality and environmental awareness without privacy risks.

🔐 Data Security

While we don't collect personal data, we still take security seriously for the platform itself:

HTTPS Encryption: All communication between your browser and aqimap.fun is encrypted via TLS/SSL
No Server-Side Storage: We don't maintain user databases that could be breached
Limited API Keys: Our WAQI API token is rate-limited and can only fetch air quality data, not modify anything
Open Source Transparency: Our code is available for security review (GitHub repository link on About page)

🔄 Changes to This Policy

If we make significant changes to how we handle data (for example, adding analytics or new features that require data processing), we will:

Update this Privacy Policy with a new "Last Updated" date
Display a notification banner on aqimap.fun highlighting the changes
Provide a summary of what changed and why

We will never retroactively change our privacy practices without notice. Historical versions of this policy may be available through the Web Archive or by contacting us directly.

📧 Contact & Questions

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, concerns about how we handle data, or need to exercise any privacy rights, please reach out to AQIMap.fun creator Bhavishya Singla through any of the social media channels listed on the About Us page.

We aim to respond to privacy inquiries within 7-14 business days. Since we don't collect personal data, most common requests (data deletion, access requests, etc.) are already fulfilled by default—you're in control of any local browser data.