Privacy

What we collect today

First-party analytics, built and run by us on our own database — no analytics vendor SDKs, no data brokers. It records a small set of events:

• Page loads — one event when you open the site, once per visit.
• Venue views — which venue pages get looked at, so we know where to focus research.
• Link taps — when you use a venue's website, menu, phone, or map link. This is what lets us tell a sponsoring venue, in aggregate, how its listing performed.

Along with each event we store a rough browser description and, for page loads, the page that referred you. We do not store your IP address, your name, your precise location, or anything you typed.

One more thing, for full honesty: Cloudflare, the company that hosts this site, also counts traffic through its Web Analytics service — a small script it adds when serving pages. It's cookieless, doesn't profile you or follow you to other sites, and shows us only aggregate numbers like total page views and load speed. It's the hosting equivalent of a door counter.

Meta Pixel: Rusty's runs some ads on Facebook and Instagram. To see whether those ads actually bring people here, the site uses Meta's pixel, a small script from Meta. When you open a page, it tells Meta which page you looked at, along with the browser details Meta collects on its own, like your IP address. If you're signed in to Facebook or Instagram in the same browser, Meta can connect that visit to your account and use it for measuring and targeting ads, under Meta's own privacy policy. We've set it up to send only two things: which pages you open, and when you tap a venue's website, phone number, or map link (which venue, and which kind of link). Not your searches, ratings, comments, or anything you type — pages opened with a search or filter in the address aren't reported at all. It only switches on after you confirm you're 21 or older, and never if your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control.

The device ID, plainly: the site keeps a random ID in your browser's local storage. It persists between visits on the same browser, and it exists to rate-limit submissions, stop spam, and avoid counting the same browser twice. It is a random string — it is not your identity, it is not shared with anyone, and clearing your browser data resets it.

Separately, content you choose to submit is stored: if you rate a venue, leave a comment, share a photo, or send us a note, we keep the initials and text you enter, and an email address only if you choose to provide one. A submitted email is kept so we can follow up if needed; the address itself is never shown publicly and never sold. Nothing derived from it is shown or sent to anyone else.

How long we keep it

Raw analytics events sit in our own database and feed aggregate reports; totals and summaries are kept indefinitely so historical reporting stays consistent. We're a small operation and haven't set an automatic deletion schedule for raw events yet — when we do, we'll say so here. Content you submit (ratings, comments, photos, Contact-page notes — plus posts and suggestions from the retired message board and venue form) is kept until it is removed through moderation or on request. Want your events or submissions cleared? Email us and we'll do it.

Who sees it

Sponsoring venues receive aggregate reports only — counts and summaries for their own placement. They never get access to individual events, raw logs, or anything about a specific visitor.

We do not sell data, and we don't share it with data brokers or analytics resellers. The third parties involved are the infrastructure providers that run the site (hosting, database, and our content-delivery edge); Stripe, which processes donations — we never see or store your card details; and Meta, which receives page views and venue-link taps through the pixel described above.

Cookies and tracking

Our own features use no cookies. The one identifier we keep is the random device ID described above — it stays in your own browser's local storage, is used only on this site for spam control and dedup, and resets whenever you clear your browser data.

The Meta Pixel is the exception: when it runs, Meta's script sets a cookie on this site (named _fbp) so Meta can recognize the same browser across visits and tie visits to its ads. That is advertising tracking, and it's why the pixel stays off for anyone sending Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control. Clearing your cookies removes it.

Your choices

We honor Do Not Track (DNT) and Global Privacy Control (GPC) in all of our own analytics. If your browser sends either signal, none of our events are recorded for you — not page loads, not venue views, not link taps — and the Meta Pixel never loads. There is nothing to install or configure beyond turning the signal on in your browser.

Cloudflare's cookieless traffic counts (described above) are collected by Cloudflare as part of serving the site and don't key off those signals. If even anonymous counting bothers you, standard content blockers block that beacon — and the Meta Pixel — without breaking the site. You can also manage how Meta uses activity from other sites in your Facebook or Instagram ad settings.

A per-visitor opt-out toggle on the site itself is planned but not yet built. Until it exists, DNT/GPC is the supported way to opt out, and you can always reach us directly with a request.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or a request about data you've submitted? Email warsignallabs@gmail.com.

Changes

When this policy changes in a way that matters, we'll update the date above and note it on What's new.