Privacy Policy

Data We Collect

The Campus Alert Archive is a static website. Reading, searching, and downloading the data require no account, and that part of the site stores no database of visitor information; the maintainer keeps no personal profile of you. There are two exceptions, both described below: Google Analytics, which measures how the site is used so we can tell whether it is worth maintaining, and the optional My Saves accounts, which exist only so you can bookmark cases privately.

Analytics

This archive uses Google Analytics (GA4). It was added for a single reason: the only practical way to learn whether the archive provides any value is to review how it is actually used. Google Analytics reports that to the maintainer in aggregate: which pages are opened, how long visitors stay, what they click (including when a data export is downloaded), the approximate city or region (derived from IP address, which Google does not share with us), and general device and browser type. It is used to judge whether the archive is worth maintaining and where to improve it, and it is not used to identify you. The information is collected and processed by Google as our analytics provider under Google's privacy policy. You can opt out at any time with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on or by blocking analytics cookies in your browser; the site works exactly the same either way.

In plain terms, the interaction events we record are: page views; searches on the archive (the search text, capped at 100 characters, and how many results it returned); filter and sort choices; data exports and downloads (format, detail level, and file size); citation copies; case shares (whether a link was copied or the device share sheet was used, never who it was shared with); opening a case page (recorded with that case's catalog attributes, such as its incident type, state, and confidence rating); opening the command palette and which palette command was run; brushing the timeline (the year range and type filter) or opening a comparison; starting or finishing the guided walkthrough on the experience page; clicks on the homepage “On this day” strip; expanding an explanatory section; theme switches; and clicks on outbound source links. Every one of these describes content and controls, not you: none of them is tied to an account (saving an item is deliberately not measured at all), we add no cookies beyond Google Analytics' own, and the search text is the only typed content ever recorded. As with any web host, Vercel also keeps standard, anonymous server and edge logs (such as request counts and rough geographic region) for operational and security purposes, governed by Vercel's privacy policy.

The contact form

The contact form is the one place on the public archive where you can send us information. When you submit it, your message and the email address you provide are delivered to the maintainer through Web3Forms, our form-to-email provider. That information is used only to read and reply to what you sent; it is not added to any marketing list, and you can ask us to delete it at any time. The data processors for the archive are therefore Google (analytics), Vercel (hosting), Web3Forms (the contact form), and, only if you create an account, Supabase (sign-in and saved items, described next).

Accounts and Saved Items

The one thing an account adds to this site is My Saves: a private list of cases and alert messages you choose to bookmark, with your own notes. Accounts are optional and free, and the archive works identically without one.

You can start a list without giving us anything at all. The first time you save something while signed out, we create an anonymous account tied only to your browser: it has a random identifier and no email, name, or password. It holds the same thing any saved list holds (the catalog references you bookmark, your notes, and timestamps) and nothing that identifies you. Because it lives only in this browser, the list does not follow you to another device and is lost if you clear the browser, so /saves/ offers to attach an email or Google whenever you want to keep it. Attaching one links it to the same list you already have; it never starts a new one, and it never grants credits or any other access.

If you create one, the list belongs to you and is locked to your account. A database rule called row-level security makes sure only your own signed-in session can open or change it: there are no public profiles, no shared lists, and no way for another visitor to see what you saved. You sign in with a one-time email link or Continue with Google (OAuth through Google, handled by Supabase, our database and sign-in provider); there is no password. When you use Google, Google shares your email address (and basic profile details such as name and avatar if you allow them) with Supabase so the account can be created or matched; we use the email as your sign-in identity only, and Google's handling of OAuth is governed by Google's privacy policy.

So that your list can find its way back to you across visits and devices, your account keeps only what that requires: your email address, and one small entry per bookmark holding a catalog reference (a case's ID, or that ID plus a message number for a single alert), your note if you wrote one, and the dates. It never keeps alert text or page content, and Supabase keeps its own standard sign-in records (such as sign-in timestamps and which provider you used). Because your list lives in our database, the site's operator has the technical ability to reach it, as with any site that offers accounts; in practice we do not, and it is used for nothing but showing you your own list.

Two boundaries are deliberate. First, what you save is never measured: the save controls report no events to Google Analytics, nothing about the contents of your list ever appears in analytics, and your saves play no part in how the archive is built or what it publishes. (Opening the My Saves page still counts as an ordinary page view, like any other page; the page's contents are not part of that.) Second, an account does nothing beyond saves. It does not unlock the invite-only AI tools (those require an access code and metered credits; an account created for saving holds zero), and it does not open the private review copy of the site, which admits only a short, named list of reviewers regardless of who is signed in.

Your notes are yours to write, and they are kept exactly as you typed them, so keep genuinely sensitive information out of them. You control the whole list: edit or remove any save, clear it all at once from the My Saves page, export it, and sign out at any time. To close the account itself, including your email address, ask through the contact form and we will remove it.

Cookies

Google Analytics sets a few cookies (such as _ga and _ga_*) so it can measure how the site is used; they do not store your name or contact details. You can refuse or delete them in your browser settings, or use the Google Analytics opt-out add-on linked above, and the site will work the same. Aside from these analytics cookies, the archive sets no first-party cookies of its own; Vercel's hosting may set essential cookies required to serve the site (such as load balancing). If you sign in (to My Saves, or to the invite-only tools), your browser also keeps a Supabase session token in its local storage so you stay signed in; signing out removes it. The sign-in form also keeps a note, on your device only, of which sign-in method you last used (Google, or an email link and the address you typed) so it can offer the same way back in; that note never leaves your browser and you can clear it by clearing site data.

Public Record Information

This archive contains names of individuals (victims, suspects, and public officials) that are matters of public record as reported by news organizations, court documents, and official university communications. This information is not collected from private individuals and is available through publicly accessible sources. If you believe any information about you has been published in error, please reach out through the contact form.

California and State Privacy Rights

For most visitors the site collects only the limited, aggregate usage data gathered through Google Analytics (described in the Analytics section above, with opt-out instructions); the archive keeps no personal profile of visitors. If you create an optional account, we hold the account data described in the Accounts and Saved Items section above. Residents of California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), and other states with consumer-privacy laws may exercise any rights that apply to them, including any applicable right to access, delete, or opt out, through the contact form.

Children's Privacy

This site is not directed to children and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Reading and downloading the archive requires no account, and the optional account features (saving items) are not intended for children. Usage analytics is handled by Google as described above and can be opted out of at any time.

Changes to This Policy

If our data practices change, this policy will be updated. Material changes will be noted with an updated revision date below.