1. Introduction and scope
This Privacy Policy explains what data the Pangée app processes, or does not process, when you use it. It applies to the mobile application as well as to the legal pages published online. It also covers the project's showcase website, at pangeeapp.com, including its own separate contact form described in Article 11 bis, as well as the web map available at pangeeapp.com/map, described in Article 6 bis. Pangée is built on the principle of data minimisation: it collects only what is strictly necessary for it to function.
2. Data controller
The data controller is Staivium, publisher of the App, reachable at [email protected] for any question about your data. The processing described below is carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable data-protection law.
3. Data protection principles
Pangée is a consultation app. Using it requires no account, sign-up or profile. The App contains no advertising, no audience-measurement or behavioural-analytics tool, no tracking cookie and no advertising identifier. No data is collected for profiling, nor sold, rented or otherwise transferred to third parties for commercial purposes.
4. Definitions
'the App' means the Pangée mobile application; 'the Publisher' means Staivium; 'you' or 'the User' means any person using the App; 'personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; 'processing' means any operation performed on such data.
5. What we do not collect
We do not collect: your name or identity, any account or password, any map-browsing history kept on our servers, any advertising identifier, any usage-analytics data, or any tracking cookie. No data feeds any marketing profile.
5 bis. Website and web map audience measurement
The project's showcase website and the web map use Cloudflare Web Analytics to obtain aggregated traffic statistics (number of visits, pages viewed). This tool sets no cookies, collects no personal data, and does not allow an individual visitor to be identified or tracked across sites. Its use therefore has no bearing on the principles set out in Article 3: Pangée, whether as an app or as a website, remains free of advertising or behavioural tracking tools.
6. Location data
If you consent through your operating-system permission, your GPS position is used to locate you on the map and display your heading. This is processed locally on your device: your position is neither stored nor accessed by the Publisher. The altitude shown in the information bar, however, is calculated by a service of the French national geographic institute (IGN), to which your GPS coordinates are sent directly from your device, at regular intervals, for as long as location is active. You can withdraw the location permission at any time in your device settings; the App remains usable in free-navigation mode, without a displayed position or altitude. Similarly, if you open the 'Paleogeography globe' feature, your GPS position is sent to the GPlates Web Service, a geological reconstruction service operated by the EarthByte Group (University of Sydney, Australia), so that a marker of your position can be shown at the geological epoch being viewed; this transmission occurs when you open the feature, and again each time you select a different epoch.
6 bis. Web map
The web map runs in your browser, with no account and no cookie. It is counted by the aggregated, cookie-free audience measurement described in Article 5 bis, and contains no other tracking tool. Your preferences, your points, their photos and your imported files stay in your browser's storage (localStorage and IndexedDB) and are never transmitted to the Publisher. Geolocation relies on your browser's permission, with the effects described in Article 6. To display the map, your browser contacts the data providers directly (in particular IGN, BRGM, Géorisques, Hub'Eau, INRAE, OpenTopoMap, the Paleobiology Database and, for the 3D-mode terrain, Mapterhorn) as well as the Publisher's infrastructure at Cloudflare (tiles, point queries, the paleogeography globe, the contact form). Each receives your IP address and the area or point requested, within the limits described in Article 8. Two layers go through a Publisher relay, because their provider cannot be queried directly from a browser: the Camino mining titles and the Mindat sites. The relay receives your request with your IP address, which it uses only to limit the number of requests (Article 12). It then queries the provider without passing on your IP address or any information about you, the request carrying only the code of the displayed department or the identifier of the site consulted, and it keeps the response in cache, one day for Camino and seven days for Mindat. This cache holds no personal data. Place search queries the IGN geocoding service first and falls back to Photon (Komoot GmbH) only if the IGN service does not respond. Finally, the page address stores the view, the base map and the active layers in its fragment (after the # sign), which the browser sends to no server. This fragment contains neither your points nor your imports, but anyone who receives the link sees the view it describes.
7. Photos attached to your points
If you choose to attach a photo to a point saved in 'My points', the App asks for permission to access your device's camera or photo gallery, depending on the source you choose. This permission is optional: you can still create and save a point without a photo. The photo is copied to the App's local storage; it is neither transmitted to nor accessible by the Publisher, and is only included in an export if you export that point yourself. You can withdraw this permission at any time in your device settings.
8. Querying the map
When you tap the map to query a layer, or when a layer loads information around a point, the relevant coordinates and your device's IP address are sent to the corresponding public data providers (in particular IGN, BRGM, Géorisques and Hub'Eau) and to the Publisher's tile server (Cloudflare). These coordinates correspond to the point you are viewing on the map, which may not match your actual position. Processing by those third-party providers is governed by their own privacy policies.
9. Place search
When you use the search bar to find a place by name, the text you type is sent to the Photon geocoding service, operated by Komoot GmbH, which returns the matching places. This processing is governed by Komoot GmbH's own privacy policy. Your recent searches are also stored in your device's local storage so you can find them again quickly; they are not transmitted to the Publisher.
10. Data stored locally on your device
Your usage preferences (language, favourite layers, layer order, display settings), your recent place searches, together with the points you save in 'My points' (name, notes, coordinates, and any attached photo), are stored in your device's local storage so that your configuration and data are restored between sessions. This data does not leave your device and is not transmitted to the Publisher. It is deleted when you uninstall the App, clear its storage, or delete the point or photo concerned within the App. On the web map, this data is kept in your browser's storage, as stated in Article 6 bis.
11. Contact form
When you write to us via the 'Help & contact' screen, the following are processed: the subject of your request, the content of your message, your email address and, where applicable, the image you attach. The purpose of this processing is to receive and handle your request. This information passes through the Publisher's server (Cloudflare Worker); any image and the message are delivered by email to the support mailbox via Resend, Inc.; the Publisher's server does not archive the image. Your email address is used as the reply address.
11 bis. Website contact form
The pangeeapp.com website has its own contact form, separate from the App's and processed by an isolated server (a Cloudflare Worker dedicated to the website). It processes the same categories of data as the App's contact form, subject, message and email address, but does not accept any attachment. To prevent automated submissions and abuse, this form uses Cloudflare Turnstile, a cookie-free anti-bot check, in addition to a per-IP-address rate limit. The message is delivered via Resend, Inc., under the same retention period as set out in Article 17 (twelve (12) months maximum).
12. Abuse prevention
To prevent automated submissions and abuse, the server temporarily processes the IP address from which the form is sent in order to rate-limit requests. This data is processed for security purposes only and is not used for any other purpose.
13. Legal bases (Article 6 GDPR)
Location: your consent, given through the operating-system permission, together with the Publisher's legitimate interest in providing the display feature. Photos attached to your points: your consent, given through the camera or photo gallery access permission. Querying the map and place search: the legitimate interest of the Publisher and the User in providing and obtaining the requested information. Contact form: the Publisher's legitimate interest in responding to your request. Abuse prevention: the Publisher's legitimate interest in keeping the service secure.
14. Recipients and processors
Your contact data is accessible to the Publisher and to its technical processors, which act on its behalf and on its instructions: Cloudflare, Inc. (server hosting) and Resend, Inc. (email delivery). Distribution of the App is handled by Google Ireland Limited. No data is shared with third parties for their own commercial use.
15. Third-party data providers
Displaying and querying layers, as well as the paleogeography globe, relies on third-party data services (in particular IGN, BRGM, Géorisques, Hub'Eau / Eau France, INRAE, OpenStreetMap, OpenTopoMap, Copernicus, Mapterhorn, Mindat, GPlates Web Service / EarthByte). Interacting with a layer, or opening the paleogeography globe, sends a request to the relevant provider, which applies its own privacy policy. The full list of providers appears in the 'Credits & sources' screen.
16. Transfers outside the European Union
As Cloudflare, Inc. and Resend, Inc. are established in the United States, processing your contact data may involve a transfer outside the European Union. As the GPlates Web Service (EarthByte, University of Sydney) is operated from Australia, the transmission of your position for the paleogeography globe, described in Article 6, likewise involves a transfer outside the European Union. Such transfers are governed by the appropriate safeguards under Chapter V of the GDPR, in particular the standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission.
17. Retention periods
Contact messages and attached images: kept for as long as needed to handle your request, then for a maximum of twelve (12) months before deletion. Abuse-prevention data (IP address): retained ephemerally, for the duration of the anti-abuse check. Preferences, recent searches, saved points and attached photos: kept on your device for as long as the App is installed, or until you delete them. Responses kept in cache by the web map relays: one day (Camino) or seven days (Mindat), with no personal data.
18. Security
Exchanges between the App, the Publisher's server and the data providers are encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS). The Publisher applies data minimisation, keeps no centralised database of users' personal data and restricts access to contact messages. As no system is infallible, absolute security cannot be guaranteed.
19. Your rights
Under the GDPR, you have the right of access, rectification, erasure, objection, restriction of processing and portability, as well as the right to withdraw your consent at any time. To exercise these rights, write to [email protected] or use the 'Help & contact' screen. Exercising these rights is free of charge and we respond within one (1) month. You may also lodge a complaint with the French data-protection authority (CNIL, 3 place de Fontenoy, TSA 80715, 75334 Paris Cedex 07, www.cnil.fr).
20. Minors
The App is intended for a general audience and does not specifically target children. The contact form should not be used by anyone under the age of fifteen (15) without the consent of their legal guardians.
21. Changes
This Policy may be updated to reflect changes to the App or to applicable law. The applicable version is the one published in the App and online at the time you consult it; its effective date appears at the top of the document. In the event of a material change, we will endeavour to inform you within the App.
22. Contact
For any question about your data, write to [email protected]. For any other request, write to [email protected] or use the 'Help & contact' screen.
