TL;DR
- We collect no personal information. No names, emails, or device IDs.
- IP addresses are hashed with SHA-256 the moment they arrive. We never write or store the raw IP.
- We use no third-party trackers, no ad scripts, no analytics that fingerprint you.
- The only cookie we set is a CSRF anti-spam token. It is technically necessary and does not identify you.
- Submissions are anonymous and irreversibly aggregated.
What we collect
When you submit an emotion, the following is recorded:
- The chosen emotion. One of twenty preset labels.
- An approximate location. Either coordinates you grant via the browser geolocation prompt (which you can refuse), or a country derived from the SHA-256-hashed IP. Coordinates are rounded to ~1 km.
- A timestamp.
- A SHA-256 hash of your IP address. Used only for rate-limiting and duplicate-detection. The raw IP is not stored.
- A SHA-256 hash of your user-agent string. Combined with the IP hash for spam detection.
What we don't collect
- Your name, email, phone, or any account identifier.
- Your raw IP address.
- Cross-site tracking cookies.
- Fingerprinting data (canvas, webGL, fonts, audio, etc.).
- Anything from third-party advertising or analytics networks. We use none.
How we protect what we do collect
- Hashed identifiers (IP and UA) are computed at request entry; raw values never reach our database.
- All connections are HTTPS-only.
- Backups are encrypted at rest.
- Access to production data is limited to two named operators with multi-factor authentication.
- We publish aggregate data only. No row in any export corresponds to a single human.
Cookies
We set
one
cookie:
gei_csrf
. It is a randomly generated value used to prevent cross-site request forgery on the submission endpoint. It contains no personal information, expires when you close the browser, and is marked
HttpOnly
and
SameSite=Lax
.
Third parties
We use the following services in passing:
- OpenStreetMap Nominatim — reverse geocoding of latitude/longitude into a country. Only the coordinates you grant are sent, never any identifier.
- ip-api.com — fallback country lookup. The hashed-IP-derived country is the only thing we keep.
- Carto / OpenStreetMap tiles — map background images. These services may log standard web-server data per their own policies.
- jsdelivr / unpkg / Google Fonts CDNs — JavaScript libraries and fonts. They see your IP because that is how the web works; we have no control over their logs.
Your rights
Under GDPR (EU), CCPA (California), and equivalent laws around the world, you have rights to access, rectify, delete, and port your personal data.
In our case those rights are essentially fulfilled by design: we hold no personal data linked to you. We cannot retrieve "your data" because there is nothing identifying you in the system. If you nevertheless wish to confirm this, write to privacy@globalemotionsindex.com .
Children
The service is intended for general audiences but is not designed for or directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If a parent or guardian believes a child has interacted with the service, they may contact us — though, as noted, we have no way to identify or remove specific submissions.
Changes to this policy
If we ever change our data practices, we will update the "Effective" date at the top of this page and post a notice on the homepage at least 14 days before the change takes effect.
Contact
For any privacy-related question, write to privacy@globalemotionsindex.com .