Effective 13 August 2026
The short version: BC Wildfire Map has no accounts and no login, sets no cookies, and does not collect or sell personal information. It uses privacy-respecting, aggregate analytics only. The one thing it ever asks you for is a message, if you choose to send one.
This Privacy Policy explains how bcwildfiremap.com (the "Site") handles information when you visit. It applies to the Site only, and not to any third-party service linked from or displayed within it.
There are no user accounts, sign-ups, logins, comments, or newsletters, and nothing on the Site is required of you in order to use the map. We do not knowingly collect your name, email address, phone number, or precise location.
The single exception is the "Get in touch" form, which you may use if you want to and which is described in full in section 5 below. Everything you send through it, you type yourself.
The map opens on a fixed view of British Columbia. If you choose to use your browser's "locate me" feature, your device may share your position with your browser to centre the map; this happens locally in your browser and your location is not transmitted to or stored by the Site.
To understand roughly how many people visit and which parts of the map are used, the Site uses Umami, a privacy-focused analytics tool that is self-hosted by the operator of this Site. Umami:
This is how the map decides what to keep and what to build next: a layer nobody switches on is a layer worth reconsidering. Your map preferences themselves — which layers you had on, where you were looking — stay in your own browser and are never sent anywhere (see Local storage below).
Because the analytics are cookieless and non-identifying, no cookie-consent banner is required. No analytics data is sold or shared with advertisers.
The Site does not set tracking or advertising cookies. Your browser may cache map tiles and static files (such as scripts and stylesheets) for performance; this is ordinary browser caching and is not used to identify you.
So that the map opens where you left it, the Site saves your own settings — which layers were switched on, the basemap, the light or dark theme, the timelapse window, and the last map position — in your browser's local storage. This never leaves your device, is not sent to the Site or to anyone else, and is not part of the analytics above. Clearing your browser's site data removes it and the map returns to its defaults.
The map carries one form, opened from the speech-bubble button among the map's controls. It exists so that people who can see what the map gets wrong — a road drawn open that has been closed since Tuesday, a sensor reading nonsense, a source worth adding — have a way to say so. Using it is entirely optional and no part of the map depends on it.
When you press Send, the following is transmitted and stored:
Your IP address is not stored with the message, in hashed form or otherwise. The form is protected against automated abuse by a rate limit that keeps no record beyond the current minute, and by a hidden field that only automated submissions fill in — there is no captcha and no third-party anti-spam service, so nothing about your submission is sent to anyone else.
Messages are kept in a private database on the same server that runs the Site, and a copy is delivered to the operator's own phone so that it is actually read. They are not published, not added to any mailing list, not used for advertising, and never sold or shared with third parties. They are retained for as long as they remain useful for improving the map; you can ask for yours to be deleted at any time at ryandury@gmail.com.
Please do not send emergency information through this form. It is read when the operator gets to it, and it is not monitored. In an emergency, contact the authorities.
To draw the map, your browser loads content directly from third-party providers, and the Site fetches wildfire and environmental data from public sources on your behalf. When your browser requests map tiles or other assets, those providers necessarily receive your IP address and standard request information, and handle it under their own privacy policies. These providers include, among others:
The Site does not control these providers and is not responsible for their privacy practices. Please review their policies if you have concerns.
Like most websites, the Site's hosting infrastructure may keep standard technical logs (such as IP addresses, timestamps, and requested URLs) for a limited time to operate and secure the service. These logs are not used to build profiles of visitors or for advertising.
No personal profiles are created, so there is no personal database to breach. Aggregate analytics and standard technical logs are retained only as long as needed to run and improve the Site.
The Site is intended for a general audience and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.
This policy may be updated from time to time. The "Effective" date above reflects the current version. Material changes will be reflected here.
Questions about privacy can be sent to ryandury@gmail.com.