Privacy Policy

At public.help, we are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard information when you visit our website.

The short version: We collect anonymous usage data to understand how people use our site and make it better. We don't collect personal information, and we respect your "Do Not Track" browser setting.

1. Information We Collect

Anonymous Analytics Data

We use analytics to understand how people use public.help. This helps us improve the website and ensure people can find the help they need. We collect:

• Page views: Which pages you visit and how you navigate through the site
• Interactions: What you click on (buttons, links, etc.)
• Session information: How long you spend on the site and when you visit
• Technical information: Your browser type, device type, and screen size
• General location: Your approximate geographic location (city/region level only, based on IP address)
• Errors: Technical errors that occur to help us fix problems

What We Don't Collect

• No personal information: We don't ask for or collect your name, email, phone number, or address
• No user accounts: We don't require registration or login
• No session recording: We do not record video or screenshots of your browsing sessions
• No form data: We don't track what you type in search boxes or forms
• No cross-site tracking: We don't track you across other websites

2. Third-Party Services We Use

We use carefully selected third-party services to operate public.help. These services help us deliver content and understand how people use our site.

Cloudflare (Hosting & Infrastructure)

Our website is hosted on Cloudflare Workers, a secure and reliable web hosting platform. Cloudflare provides:

• Website hosting and content delivery
• Security protection (DDoS protection, SSL/TLS encryption)
• Performance optimization and caching

As our hosting provider, Cloudflare processes all web requests to public.help. This means Cloudflare has access to standard web server data, including:

• IP addresses (which are automatically anonymized and not stored long-term)
• Browser type and device information
• Pages visited and request timestamps

Cloudflare acts as a data processor and does not use this information for its own purposes. All data is processed in accordance with Cloudflare's strict privacy standards.

Learn more about Cloudflare's privacy practices: Cloudflare Privacy Policy

Sanity CMS (Content Management)

We use Sanity as our content management system (CMS) to organize and deliver information about community resources and services. This includes:

• Service provider information and contact details
• County and subdivision data
• Images and organization logos

Important: Sanity is integrated server-side only. When you visit a page, our server fetches the content from Sanity and builds the page before sending it to your browser. Your browser does not directly communicate with Sanity's APIs.

Images: Images on our website are delivered through Sanity's content delivery network (CDN) at cdn.sanity.io. When you view a page with images, your browser will fetch those images directly from Sanity's CDN. These are static image files only - no tracking or analytics data is collected by Sanity from these image requests.

Learn more about Sanity's privacy practices: Sanity Privacy Policy

PostHog Analytics

We use PostHog, a privacy-friendly analytics platform, to collect and analyze usage data. PostHog helps us:

• Understand which counties and services people search for most
• Identify technical issues and fix bugs quickly
• Improve navigation and make the site easier to use
• Measure the impact of changes we make

PostHog's servers are located in the United States, and data is processed and stored in accordance with U.S. privacy laws.

Learn more about PostHog's privacy practices: PostHog Privacy Policy

3. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies to make our analytics work. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us recognize return visits and understand usage patterns.

Cookies We Use

• Analytics cookies (PostHog): These cookies start with "ph_" and help us track anonymous usage statistics
• Session cookies: Temporary cookies that remember your session while you browse

Cookie duration: Some cookies expire when you close your browser (session cookies), while others persist to recognize return visits (persistent cookies, typically 7 years for PostHog).

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the anonymous analytics data we collect to:

• Improve the website: Make it easier to find resources and navigate the site
• Fix technical issues: Identify and resolve bugs or errors
• Understand usage patterns: Learn which resources are most valuable to visitors
• Demonstrate impact: Show counties and partners how the directory is helping their communities

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your data. Period.

Analytics Provider

Anonymous usage data is processed by PostHog, our analytics provider. PostHog acts as a data processor and only uses data to provide analytics services to us.

Aggregate Reporting

We may share aggregated, anonymous statistics with county partners, service providers, or sponsors to demonstrate the value of public.help. For example:

• "1,500 people searched for housing resources in County X last month"
• "Food assistance services had 3,200 page views this quarter"

These reports never include individual user information or personally identifiable data.

6. Your Privacy Choices

You have control over your privacy. Here are your options:

Do Not Track

We respect the "Do Not Track" (DNT) browser setting. If you enable DNT in your browser, we will not collect any analytics data from your visits.

How to enable Do Not Track:

• Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Send a "Do Not Track" request
• Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Send websites a "Do Not Track" signal
• Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Prevent cross-site tracking
• Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Send "Do Not Track" requests

Block Cookies

You can also block cookies through your browser settings. Note that this may affect the functionality of some websites (though not public.help - our site works fine without cookies).

Use Private/Incognito Mode

Browsing in private or incognito mode will prevent persistent cookies from being stored on your device.

7. Data Retention

We retain anonymous analytics data according to PostHog's default retention policy (typically 7 years). This allows us to:

• Analyze long-term trends in service needs
• Compare year-over-year usage patterns
• Demonstrate sustained impact to county partners and funders

Since all data is anonymous, there is no personally identifiable information to delete.

8. Data Security

We take data security seriously:

• HTTPS encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our website is encrypted
• Secure hosting: Our website is hosted on Cloudflare Workers, a secure and reliable platform
• Limited access: Only authorized team members can access analytics data
• Anonymous by design: Since we don't collect personal information, there's no sensitive data to breach

9. Children's Privacy

public.help is designed to help anyone find community resources, including families with children. Since we don't collect any personal information from anyone, we are automatically compliant with children's privacy regulations like COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or anyone else for that matter.

10. Third-Party Websites

Our website contains links to service providers, county websites, and other external resources. This Privacy Policy only applies to public.help.

When you click a link to leave our site, you are subject to the privacy policies of those external websites. We encourage you to review their privacy practices.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal reasons. When we make changes, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page
• Notify users of significant changes (via a notice on the website)

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

12. Your Privacy Rights

Because we only collect anonymous analytics data and no personal information, there is no personal data for us to access, correct, or delete.

If you have concerns about privacy or want to opt out of analytics entirely, simply enable "Do Not Track" in your browser (see Section 6 above).

For questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@public.help.

13. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with specific rights regarding your personal information.

What This Means

• No personal information collected - The data we collect (described in Section 1) cannot identify you personally
• No personal information sold or shared - Since we don't collect it, we can't sell it
• No behavioral advertising - Our analytics are for improving the site only (see Section 2)

Your Privacy Controls

California residents (and all users) can control their privacy by:

• Enabling "Do Not Track" to opt-out of all analytics (see Section 6)
• Blocking cookies through browser settings (see Section 3)
• Using private/incognito browsing mode

For questions about California privacy rights, contact: info@public.help

14. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

Email: info@public.help

Website: public.help