Privacy policy

The short version

The World Through Time has no accounts, no forms and no advertising. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, Google Analytics, and PostHog to understand which pages are read and how the map is used. The site's own files — fonts, map library, map data and relief tiles — are all served from this site. We do not sell or share personal information.

Who we are

This site is operated by Plus Marketing Solutions LLC, a company organized under the laws of Wyoming, United States ("we", "us"), 30 N Gould St, Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801. Questions about this policy: hello@theworldthroughtime.com.

What is collected

Server logs. Like every website, the servers that deliver this site — operated by our hosting provider, Cloudflare, Inc. — automatically record technical details of each request: IP address, browser and operating system, the page requested, the referring page, and the time. These logs are used to deliver the site, keep it secure and diagnose faults, and are kept only as long as the hosting provider's own retention requires.

Analytics. To learn which pages people read and how the map is used, the site runs Cloudflare Web Analytics, Google Analytics, and PostHog. These tools see the pages you visit, the page that referred you, your browser, device type and screen size, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. We use the results to decide what to write and fix next. We do not use them to identify you, and we do not combine them with any other information about you.

• Cloudflare Web Analytics (Cloudflare, Inc.) counts visits without cookies, local storage or fingerprinting, and reports only aggregate figures. Cloudflare's privacy policy.
• Google Analytics (Google LLC) sets cookies to tell visits apart and recognise returning visitors. According to Google, Google Analytics does not log or store IP addresses. We have not enabled Google Signals or any advertising features, so this data is not used to show you ads, and it is kept for no longer than 14 months. How Google uses data from sites that use its services.
• PostHog (PostHog, Inc.) records page views and the clicks and navigation within the site, using a cookie or local-storage identifier to tell visits apart. Data is stored in the European Union. We do not record sessions. PostHog's privacy policy.

Nothing you type. We do not ask for your name, email address or any other information, and the site has no way to submit any.

Cookies and browser storage

The site remembers two display choices in your browser's local storage, so they survive a reload. They never leave your device:

• gh-theme — light or dark mode, if you chose one;
• gh-projection — which map projection you last used.

Google Analytics and PostHog set analytics identifiers, as described above:

• _ga and _ga_<ID> — Google Analytics cookies, kept for up to two years;
• ph_<project>_posthog — PostHog's identifier, stored as a cookie and in local storage, kept for up to one year.

Clearing your browser's cookies and site data removes all of these.

Your choices

You can block or delete cookies in your browser's settings, or use a content blocker; the site works fully without them. Google offers a browser add-on that opts you out of Google Analytics on every site. Visitors from the European Union, the rest of the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are asked first, and Google Analytics and PostHog load only if they accept. Anyone, wherever they are, can switch both off — or back on — with "Privacy settings" in the site footer.

Third parties and links

No advertising or social-media scripts are loaded. The analytics providers named above receive the information described there, acting on our behalf. Glossary entries link to the sources they were written from — Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, journals and others. Those sites are only contacted if you follow a link, and their own privacy policies then apply.

Do Not Track

Analytics runs whether or not your browser sends a Do Not Track signal; see "Your choices" above for ways to opt out.

Children

The site is a general-audience reference work and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

California and other US state residents

We do not sell or share personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising. If you have a question about your rights under a state privacy law, contact hello@theworldthroughtime.com.

Visitors outside the United States

The site is operated from the United States. Server logs and analytics data are processed there, or wherever our providers run their servers.

Visitors from the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland

For these visitors the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the UK GDPR or the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection applies. The controller is Plus Marketing Solutions LLC, 30 N Gould St, Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States — hello@theworldthroughtime.com.

Why we process your data (legal basis).

• Google Analytics and PostHog run only with your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). You give it with "Accept" in the banner and can withdraw it at any time with "Privacy settings" in the site footer; withdrawing does not affect what was processed before.
• Server logs and Cloudflare Web Analytics are processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in delivering the site, keeping it secure and counting visits in aggregate (Art. 6(1)(f)). Cloudflare Web Analytics sets no cookies and keeps no personal profiles.
• The two display settings in your browser's storage are kept only because you chose them, and never leave your device.

How long it is kept. Google Analytics data: up to 14 months. PostHog data: up to one year. Your consent choice: one year in your browser, after which you are asked again. Server logs: as long as our hosting provider's retention requires.

Transfers outside Europe. We are a US company, and Cloudflare and Google process data in the United States. Both are certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions, which the European Commission recognises as providing adequate protection. PostHog stores this site's data in the European Union. Where a transfer is not covered by the Framework, it relies on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

Your rights. You can ask for access to your data, its correction or deletion, restriction of or objection to its processing, and a copy in a portable format; and you can withdraw consent at any time. Write to hello@theworldthroughtime.com. Analytics data is pseudonymous — we do not know who you are — so to find yours we may ask for the identifier stored in your browser. You also have the right to complain to a data-protection authority, in particular the one where you live or work (in the UK the Information Commissioner's Office, in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner).

You are not required to provide any personal data to use the site, and we make no automated decisions about you.

Changes to this policy

If the site starts collecting anything more — for example through advertising — this policy will be updated before that happens, and the effective date above will change.