Privacy
Privacy is a simple matter here, and I intend to keep it that way. CivicMaple is a one-person operation, and I have no interest in building a profile of you. The site runs without cookies, does not store any visitor information, and has no third-party trackers embedded in its pages. When you read an entry about People or History, your visit is not recorded, logged, or shared. There is no analytics script, no advertising network, and no social media pixel. The only thing that happens when you load a page is that your browser fetches the text and images, and then the connection is done.
What does this mean in practice? If you browse an article about Jurassic Park or The Road, I have no way of knowing that you were here. I cannot see your IP address, your approximate location, or which pages you visited. This is a deliberate choice. The site is funded by my own time and a small hosting bill, and it runs without ads or tracking because I believe a reference site should not treat its readers as data points.
Email and Contact
The one exception to this is email. If you write to me at emily@civicmaple.com or info@civicmaple.com, I will receive your message, along with your email address and whatever else you choose to include. I use that information only to reply to you. I do not add addresses to a mailing list, I do not sell or share them, and I delete messages once the conversation is finished. If you send a question that leads to a new page, I will ask your permission before quoting any part of your message, and I will never include your full name or email address in a published entry.
I also welcome corrections. If you spot an error in a page about Places or Nature, or anywhere else on the site, please let me know. The same privacy rules apply: your contact details stay with me, and I will only use them to acknowledge your note or ask a clarifying question.
Why This Matters
The internet has normalized surveillance as the price of reading anything. I do not think that is acceptable for a resource like this one. CivicMaple exists to give quick, plain-language answers, and it should not ask for anything in return. There is no account system, no comment section that requires login, and no newsletter signup. You are a reader, not a user profile.
If you have any questions about this policy, or about anything else on the site, my email is open. I am one person in Ottawa, and I answer every message I receive.