Privacy Policy

At mapaPH (www.mapaph.com), we build open-source geographic tools that respect user privacy. This policy explains what technical information is processed when you visit our central hub, how our client-side calculators operate, our mandatory Google AdSense partner disclosures, and your statutory rights under Philippine law.

1. Information We Collect and Client-Side Architecture

Because this hub website is compiled as a static Astro application, we do not operate user registration systems, authentication databases, or server-side form processors. You can search Philippine Standard Geographic Codes (PSGC), convert PRS92 coordinates, calculate LTFRB and TRB transit tariffs, and inspect boundary maps without creating an account or submitting personally identifiable information (PII).

• Zero Query Logging: All interactive calculators on this site execute locally inside your browser using JavaScript against pre-compiled JSON datasets already downloaded to your device. When you search for a municipality, barangay, or postal code, or drag a walkability radius pin on a map, those queries and coordinates are never transmitted to a mapaPH backend database.
• Server Logs: Our hosting provider, Vercel, automatically records standard HTTP request parameters when delivering static assets. This includes anonymized IP addresses, request timestamps, browser user-agent strings, and referral URLs to monitor network stability and mitigate denial-of-service traffic.
• Vercel Web Analytics & Google Search Console: We use Vercel Web Analytics to measure aggregate traffic trends (such as page views and viewport sizes) without setting tracking cookies or fingerprinting individual visitors, and Google Search Console to monitor search index health.
• Direct Voluntary Correspondence: If you contact us directly via email (mapaph.1030@gmail.com) or open a public issue or pull request on GitHub, we process the contact details you provide solely to respond to your inquiry or review your code contribution.

2. Browser Local Storage, Clipboard Access, and Cookies Inventory

To provide a responsive interface while funding our open-source hosting infrastructure, mapaPH uses limited client-side browser APIs alongside third-party advertising cookies. Below is a complete inventory of storage mechanisms active on this domain:

3. Google AdSense & Mandatory Partner Disclosures

We partner with third-party advertising networks, including Google AdSense, to display advertisements on mapaPH and its subdomains. In compliance with Google Publisher Policies, we provide the following disclosures:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies, web beacons, and similar browser storage technologies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites across the Internet.
• Google's use of advertising cookies (such as the DoubleClick DART cookie) enables Google and its partners to serve ads to our visitors based on their visits to mapaph.com and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings (My Ad Center).
• Alternatively, users may opt out of third-party vendor cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices/ or Your Online Choices.
• To understand how Google collects, shares, and processes data when you visit websites or apps that integrate Google services, please review Google's official partner disclosure page: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

You can also manage or block third-party cookies directly within your web browser settings. Blocking advertising cookies will not restrict your access to any calculator, lookup table, or GeoJSON export on mapaPH; it will only cause displayed advertisements to be non-personalized.

4. External Map Tile Providers & Third-Party Infrastructure

We rely on Vercel to host this static hub site. In addition, interactive map utilities on mapaPH (including the Walkability & 15-Minute Radius Map, Rail Transit Map, EDSA Carousel Route Map, Expressway Toll Calculator, and Kilometer Post Locator) load the open-source Leaflet library from unpkg.com and fetch raster basemap tiles from the OpenStreetMap Foundation (tile.openstreetmap.org). When your browser requests map tiles from OpenStreetMap, your IP address and tile coordinates are transmitted to their tile servers under the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.

5. Your Rights Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act (RA 10173)

We align our data handling practices with the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and the regulations of the National Privacy Commission (NPC). Under Section 16 of RA 10173, data subjects are entitled to the following statutory rights:

• Right to be Informed: To be notified whether personal data pertaining to you is being processed, including third-party advertising cookie disclosures.
• Right to Object: To opt out of personalized advertising profiling via browser controls or Google Ads Settings.
• Right to Access, Rectification, and Erasure: To inspect, update, or request the permanent deletion of any email correspondence or GitHub inquiries you have submitted to our maintainers. Because we do not maintain a user database or store personal profiles, we hold no personal data files beyond voluntary correspondence.

All demographic, electoral, and municipal financial datasets published on mapaPH and Lens consist exclusively of aggregated public-domain government statistics released under Executive Order No. 2, Series of 2016 (Freedom of Information) and exempted under Section 4(e) of RA 10173 for public statistical and historical research functions.

6. Data Retention and Security

Anonymized edge server log entries are automatically rotated and purged by Vercel according to their standard infrastructure retention schedules. Direct email correspondence is retained only as long as necessary to resolve your technical inquiry or data correction report. All traffic to and from mapaph.com is encrypted in transit using HTTPS / TLS 1.3.

7. Children's Privacy

While our educational geography and transit reference guides are safe for students of all ages, we do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

8. Subdomains and Linked Open-Source Applications

This policy governs www.mapaph.com and its built-in `/tools` and `/docs` directories. Standalone applications linked from our directory run on dedicated subdomains (such as lens.mapaph.com) or external government portals (such as psa.gov.ph and namria.gov.ph). When following external links to government portals, please consult the privacy notices of those respective agencies.

9. Changes to This Policy & Contact Information

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect new tools or regulatory requirements, with the revision date updated at the top of this page. If you have questions about this policy or your rights under RA 10173, please contact us at mapaph.1030@gmail.com, visit our Contact Page, or file an issue in our public GitHub repository.