Privacy Policy

Privacy policy for Climate Explorer, covering analytics, cookies, advertising, and contact data handling.

Effective Date: 2026-10-11

This policy explains what information is used when you read Climate Explorer, open an interactive explorer, or contact the project. Climate Explorer is responsible for the site and its editorial work. For privacy questions, email climateexplorer.app@gmail.com or use the contact form.

For Google’s handling of personal information received from websites using its services, see Google’s Business Data Responsibility information.

1. Information We Collect

A. Personal Information

If you use the contact form, Formspree receives your name, email address, message, and any enquiry topic or subject you provide on our behalf. If you email us directly, Google processes the correspondence through Gmail. We use these details to read and respond to your enquiry, including correction or privacy requests. Please do not include passwords, identity documents, or other sensitive information that is not needed for your enquiry. We do not sell, rent, or share this information with third parties for marketing purposes. The About/contact page is excluded from advertising and optional analytics.

B. Automatically Collected Information

When you access our website, our servers and third-party services may automatically record certain information, including:

• Log Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and pages visited.
• Usage Data: Time spent on pages, clicks, and interaction with our data visualization tools.

Browsers may also send reports about resources that conflict with our security policy. Our report handler removes URL query strings and fragments, hashes script samples, and logs only selected diagnostic fields. It does not deliberately log request headers, referrers, browser user agents, or IP addresses; the hosting provider may separately keep operational logs.

2. Cookies, Analytics, and Advertising Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, understand usage patterns, remember preferences, and support advertising. Depending on the page you visit, your browser settings, your location, and the consent choices available to you at the time, these technologies may be provided either by us or by third-party providers.

A. Analytics and Measurement

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use Climate Explorer and to improve the site’s content, navigation, and performance. Microsoft Clarity session recording is currently disabled while its consent and data-handling settings are reviewed.

Google Analytics measures page visits and usage. On Explorer pages, when analytics is permitted, we also measure settled station, period, resolution and radar-product changes. These custom events identify the Explorer and, where applicable, its resolution or radar product; they do not include station identifiers or the selected dates. Page URLs and titles can still identify a station or period. Google may receive technical information such as browser and device details, page URLs, and interaction events. The information collected and any identifiers used depend on the service and your choices. Disabling Clarity prevents new recording requests from this site; it does not automatically delete data previously stored by Microsoft.

Google Analytics measurement is controlled through Google Consent Mode. Analytics storage is denied by default, and the Google Analytics script is requested only after the Google consent integration reports analytics consent (or reports that consent does not apply and explicitly identifies a non-GDPR region). An unknown, denied, or unconfigured status keeps it blocked. Google Analytics does not load on the About/contact or Privacy pages.

• Google Analytics Privacy Policy
• Opt-out of Google Analytics
• Microsoft Privacy Statement

B. Advertising (Google AdSense)

We may use Google AdSense to display advertisements on Climate Explorer. Google and its partners may use cookies or similar technologies to deliver, measure, and, where permitted, personalize ads based on your visit to this website and other websites.

• Advertising Cookies and Similar Technologies: These technologies may be used to measure ad performance, limit repetition, and infer whether an ad may be relevant to you.
• Personalized and Non-Personalized Ads: Where advertising is enabled, the site waits for the Google consent integration before loading AdSense. Unknown, denied, or unconfigured advertising-storage consent keeps ads blocked. Where storage is permitted but personalization is declined, non-personalized ads may be used. Non-personalized ads can still use cookies for purposes such as measurement.
• Where Ads May Appear: The homepage, individual articles, individual guides, and interactive Explorer pages are eligible for consent-gated advertising. Directory pages, the About/contact page, and legal pages are excluded. Eligibility does not mean an ad will appear.
• Ad Choices: You can review or adjust Google’s ad personalization settings at Google Ad Settings. You can also learn more about opt-out options through aboutads.info.

C. Consent and Privacy Choices

Open Cookie Settings in the footer to review your choices. Where an applicable Google privacy message is available for your region, this control opens that message. If no such message applies to your region, or Google’s consent tool could not load, the control says so instead of opening a dialog. On this page the control takes you to the homepage, where the message opens. The site does not use a separate local cookie banner.

You can decline optional cookies and continue reading the site and using its explorers. Changes may reload the page to stop integrations that have already loaded. Browser settings can also block or delete cookies; deleting them may require you to choose again. If the expected Google choices do not appear, contact us through the email address above.

If your browser still holds preferences from our former Quarto cookie banner, we may automatically open Google’s consent message when no existing Google choice is available and European consent rules apply. Existing Google choices, including refusals, are preserved. Optional services remain blocked while this transition is pending. A first-party preference cookie, climateexplorer_consent_migrated, remembers for up to one year that the transition has been handled; it contains no identifier and does not grant consent to advertising or analytics.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate and maintain our website.
• Improve our data visualization tools and content.
• Respond to your comments or inquiries.
• Protect against malicious usage or security threats.
• Comply with legal obligations.

4. Third-Party Services and Links

Climate Explorer contains links to external websites and also includes embedded applications and third-party services. These may include meteorological agencies and data providers (such as NOAA, DWD, JMA, IMGW, MeteoGate, and WMO-related resources), infrastructure or hosting providers, analytics services, advertising services, and contact-form providers.

The website is hosted by Netlify, and the interactive Shiny applications are hosted on Hugging Face Spaces. Opening an Explorer page can load its embedded application automatically, without an additional click. The application host and its map or data services then receive the requests needed to display the tool, independently of the parent page’s advertising preferences.

When you visit a linked external website or load an embedded application, that service may collect technical and usage information under its own privacy policy and terms. This can include IP address, browser metadata, requested URL, session information, and interaction data required to deliver the service. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party service you use through or from Climate Explorer.

Provider privacy information:

• Netlify — website hosting and delivery.
• Hugging Face — interactive application hosting.
• Formspree — contact form processing.
• Google — email, measurement, consent, and advertising services.

These providers may process information in countries other than your own. Their policies explain their locations, retention practices, and international transfer arrangements. Contact correspondence may be stored separately by Formspree and in the project’s email inbox; deleting a browser cookie does not delete that correspondence. You can request deletion by contacting us.

5. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data, including:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you.
• The right to request correction of inaccurate information.
• The right to request deletion of your data.
• The right to request restriction of processing.
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• The right to receive and transfer your data, where data portability applies.
• The right to withdraw consent for data processing.
• The right to complain to the data protection authority in your country. In Romania, this is ANSPDCP.

To exercise these rights, email climateexplorer.app@gmail.com or use the contact form.

We normally respond within one month. If a complex request needs more time, we will explain the extension within that month. Rights may have conditions or exceptions; if we cannot fulfil a request, we will explain why. Withdrawing cookie consent stops future optional processing according to your choices, but does not by itself erase historical records; deletion requests are handled separately.

6. Children’s Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us, and we will investigate and arrange deletion of personal information collected inappropriately.

7. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top.

---

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us via the contact form or email climateexplorer.app@gmail.com.