Privacy Policy
PublicGlobe ("we", "us") runs publicglobe.com, a world news globe with a daily video briefing. This policy explains what information we collect, why, and the choices you have. We keep it short and we collect as little as we can.
The short version
- You can use PublicGlobe without an account.
- If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google.
- We do not show adverts, use advertising or analytics trackers, or sell or share your information for advertising.
- You can download your account data or delete your account at any time.
What we collect
If you visit without an account. We set one cookie holding a random session code, so your settings and quest progress work between visits. It expires after 30 days. Some preferences, such as your reading speed and which panels are open, are kept only in your own browser's local storage and never sent to us.
If you sign in with Google. Your Google account identifier, email address, name and profile picture, as Google provides them, and when you signed in. We never see your Google password.
What you do in PublicGlobe, so its features work. Quest progress (for example which stories and daily briefings you watched or finished, and the countries and regions of those stories), the quest boxes you earn, your saved preferences, followed places and topics, and counts of limited features you use (such as voice playback or brief requests) so fair-use limits can apply. If you ask for a custom briefing, we keep the topic you asked about and the briefing made for you.
Technical information. Like most websites, our hosting provider records your IP address, browser type, the pages and files requested and when, for security and to fix problems.
How we use it
- To provide PublicGlobe: keep you signed in, remember your settings, track quests and rewards, and apply plan limits.
- To keep the service secure and working: preventing abuse, investigating faults and planning capacity.
- To answer you when you contact us.
Under UK data protection law our legal bases are: providing the service you ask for (contract), and our legitimate interests in running a secure, reliable service. The one cookie we use is strictly necessary for the site to work, so it does not need consent. If we ever want to use your information for something else, we will ask first.
Who else handles it
- Google Cloud hosts PublicGlobe, its database, file storage and server logs, in London.
- Google Sign-In verifies who you are when you sign in.
- Google's AI models help us write news summaries and the daily video from published reporting. They work on news articles, not on your personal information, except the topic you type if you ask for a custom briefing.
- Map imagery providers such as NASA's GIBS service supply the satellite pictures your browser loads, and see your IP address as any website you load pictures from would. Links to Wikipedia and to news publishers take you to their own sites and policies.
- YouTube hosts copies of our daily videos. If you watch them on YouTube, YouTube's own privacy policy applies.
These providers only process information on our instructions or under their own published terms. Some may process data outside the UK; where they do, it is protected by the safeguards UK law requires, such as adequacy regulations or the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
How long we keep it
- Anonymous sessions: 30 days after your last visit.
- Account information and activity: until you delete your account.
- Server logs: normally about 30 days.
- Database backups are kept for a limited time and then overwritten. When you delete your account we keep only a small deletion record, so your data is not brought back if a backup is ever restored.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, download or delete your information, or object to or restrict how we use it. Most of this you can do yourself: in PublicGlobe go to Settings, then Account, then Plan & usage, to download your account data or request deletion of your account. For anything else, email us. We reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, though we would like the chance to put it right first.
Children
PublicGlobe is not meant for children under 13, and they should not create an account. If you believe a child under 13 has signed in, email us and we will delete the account.
Security
Connections to PublicGlobe are encrypted, session codes are stored only in scrambled (hashed) form, and access to our systems is restricted. No service can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date above, and tell signed-in users about significant changes before they take effect.
Contact
Email privacy@publicglobe.com.