Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Isle of Wight Heritage Map (iowmap.co.uk) is a community-driven mapping platform showcasing historic sites, commercial venues, and points of interest across the Isle of Wight.

2. What Information We Collect

• Submitted location data: Name, description, images, and coordinates you provide when suggesting a location.
• Contact details: Name and email address when you submit a location suggestion, contact message, or commercial listing.
• Business information: Business name, address, and telephone number for commercial partner listings.
• Payment information: Payments are processed securely via PayPal. We do not store your card details. We retain a record of the transaction amount, date, and PayPal order ID.
• Usage data: Anonymous view counts per location and device type (mobile/tablet/desktop) to help us understand which sites are popular.
• Visitor ID: A random anonymous identifier stored in your browser's local storage to prevent duplicate view counts. It contains no personal information.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To display location information on the public map (once approved).
• To contact you regarding your submission or commercial listing.
• To process payments for commercial listings.
• To generate invoices for commercial partners.
• To improve the map by understanding usage patterns.
• To send renewal reminders for commercial listings.

4. Location / GPS Data

If you use features such as "Find My Location" or "Find Nearest Defibrillator", your device's GPS coordinates are used only within your browser session to perform that action. We do not store or transmit your GPS location to our servers.

5. Cookies & Local Storage

We use browser local storage (not cookies) to store:

• An anonymous visitor ID for view-count deduplication.
• Draft form data so you don't lose your work if you navigate away.
• Your preference for analytics exclusion.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

6. Third-Party Services

• OpenStreetMap / MapTiler / Esri: Map tile providers. Your IP address may be visible to them when tiles are loaded.
• PayPal: Secure payment processing for commercial listings. Subject to PayPal's Privacy Policy.
• Transport / Weather APIs: Used to display live ferry, train, bus, tide, and traffic data. No personal data is sent.

7. Data Retention

Location submissions and associated contact details are retained for as long as the listing is active on the map, or until you request removal. Payment transaction records are retained for 7 years for accounting purposes.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention obligations).
• Object to processing of your data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@iowmap.co.uk.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please email us at info@iowmap.co.uk.