How WAWL uses
your data.

Research saved in this browser

Saved questions, comparisons, recent visits, favorites, evidence snapshots and display preferences use browser storage. They remain tied to this browser, profile and site address unless you export or share them. Browser storage may be cleared or blocked by your browser.

A resumable research link contains its question and comparison titles. Anyone who receives that link can read them. Transfer files may include research questions and visit history, are not encrypted, and stay local unless you share them.

Accounts and community

Where email sign-in is available, WAWL stores your email address, verification records, sessions and account collections in its database. The email provider processes sign-in messages. ChatGPT sign-in provides identity for community and editorial features; these are separate from email accounts. Contributions, review activity and their attribution can be retained as part of the archive’s history.

Paid subscriptions are not available in this release. Do not submit payment information through feedback.

Feedback and privacy requests

Open Feedback to send a problem, correction, source suggestion or privacy request. No account is required. Email is optional; provide it and allow follow-up if you need a reply outside this browser. A report reference confirms storage, not that a person has reviewed it. We do not send automatic email confirmations.

Reports and attachments are private to authorized reviewers. Your browser keeps a random access key for report status; clearing site data removes that access. Automatic context includes only the page path, language and viewport. Query strings, raw error messages, typed values and click history are excluded. Screenshots or silent recordings are uploaded only when you choose and send them; check them for private information first.

We store reports in the hosting database and attachments in its object storage. A short-lived rate-limit window uses a keyed network identifier, never a stored raw IP address. Its counter stops affecting submissions after ten minutes; records await manual retention review. Report details, email and access keys are excluded from analytics and advertising.

Optional analytics

Analytics collection is paused during launch preparation. When enabled, Google Analytics stays off until you accept. WAWL configures it without advertising personalization or Google Signals. Research-transfer files do not carry analytics consent to another address. Declining does not restrict the archive.

WAWL’s analytics configuration strips query strings and fragments from page locations. Error measurement sends fixed technical categories, not the text of your questions, form entries or exception messages. Your browser still connects to Google when analytics is enabled.

Advertising

Google AdSense support is being prepared. Ads are not active until WAWL’s publisher account, site approval and privacy messaging are configured. When enabled, a labeled ad may appear after the sources on a public species report. Paid ad-free accounts are excluded. Advertising is not inserted into research tools, forms or record dialogs.

Google and its partners may process IP addresses, device information and cookies to deliver and measure ads. WAWL requests non-personalized ads; these may still use cookies. Advertising consent is separate from optional analytics consent. Where required, Google’s consent message provides choices, including declining consent. Use the advertising privacy link to revisit your choices. Browsers signaling Global Privacy Control do not load WAWL’s ad unit.

How Google uses information for advertising · Google Privacy Policy

External sources and embedded media

Opening a citation, external service or embedded media can contact that provider, which has its own privacy practices. WAWL does not control what those services collect.

Retention and requests

Browser research remains until you remove it or clear site data. Existing account, editorial and archive records are retained; automated deletion remains disabled. Feedback and attachments remain while a report is being assessed and are reviewed for continued need after resolution. A final fixed retention schedule has not yet been adopted.

Use Feedback → Privacy request for a privacy concern or request. Include an optional contact email if you need follow-up after clearing browser data. Do not send identity documents, passwords or sensitive records. An operator may need to verify a request before sharing or changing personal records. Submitting a request does not itself delete anything.

Policy changes

This page describes the implemented features and identifies unfinished launch controls. Material changes will be dated here.