Privacy notice

2. What MetaVault is

MetaVault is a free community hobby project for GeoGuessr players. It organizes geographic clues (“metas”), related areas, images and sources, and provides map, quiz and comparison features. Optional contributions do not unlock additional access or benefits.

3. Data we process

• Authentication and profile data: Supabase Auth stores a user ID, display name, email address where provided by Discord, the provider (Discord), provider type (social), account creation timestamp and last sign-in timestamp. MetaVault uses the user ID and display name for authentication, access control and the profile shown in the app. A phone number is not requested through the Discord sign-in flow and is not used by MetaVault.
• Community submissions: text, descriptions, location information, images, image attributions, source links and notes that you submit. Submissions are linked to your authenticated user ID and are reviewed by the operators before publication.
• Technical data: hosting and infrastructure providers may process IP address, browser/device information, timestamps, request data and security logs when you use the service. MetaVault does not use this data for advertising or behavioral analytics.
• Anonymous usage statistics: Vercel Web Analytics records aggregated page views, routes, referrers, approximate location, browser, operating system and device type. MetaVault does not send query parameters, custom events, Discord account details or user IDs to Web Analytics. Vercel does not use cookies for this service or associate analytics events with an individual account or IP address.
• Local preferences: your theme, layout preferences and optional-service choices are stored in your browser’s local storage. These values are not sent to MetaVault as a user profile.

4. Purposes and legal bases

• To provide the platform, authenticate users and enforce access controls (GDPR Article 6(1)(b), where applicable).
• To store, review and moderate community submissions and maintain platform security (GDPR Article 6(1)(f), legitimate interests).
• To understand aggregate page usage and maintain the platform without tracking individual users (GDPR Article 6(1)(f), legitimate interests, where applicable).
• To comply with legal obligations where required (GDPR Article 6(1)(c), where applicable).
• To load Google Street View and Google website icons only after you choose to enable them (GDPR Article 6(1)(a), where applicable).

Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, processing is additionally carried out in accordance with the principles of transparency, purpose limitation, proportionality and data security.

5. Service providers and recipients

These providers may process technical data under their own privacy policies. Depending on the provider and processing activity, data may be processed outside Switzerland or the European Economic Area using the safeguards required by applicable law.

6. Optional Google content

Google Street View and Google website icons are disabled until you actively enable them. When enabled, the browser connects directly to Google and Google may receive technical information such as your IP address, browser information and the requested URL. You can change your choices at any time above.

If you decline, MetaVault continues to work and provides a direct “Open in Google Maps” link where available.

7. Cookies and local storage

MetaVault uses technically necessary session cookies for authentication. Vercel Web Analytics is cookie-free and provides aggregated usage statistics without cross-site tracking. MetaVault does not use advertising cookies or behavioral tracking. Theme, layout and optional-service choices are stored locally in your browser. You can clear these values through your browser settings.

8. Retention

Account and profile data are retained while your account is active or as needed to provide access and protect the platform. You can permanently delete a non-editor account through Settings. This removes the account, profile and associated suggestion records; contributions already accepted into the published collection may remain without being linked to the deleted account. We delete or anonymize other data when it is no longer needed, unless a longer period is required for legal, security or backup purposes. External providers may retain technical logs according to their own policies.

9. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to your personal data, correction of inaccurate data, deletion, restriction of processing, data portability or information about the processing. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time. You may also object to processing based on legitimate interests and lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority.

You can download a CSV copy of the account data held directly by MetaVault or delete a non-editor account through Settings. For other requests, contact [privacy email]. We may ask for information needed to verify the request and will respond within the applicable legal period.

10. Security and changes

We use access controls, row-level security and provider security measures appropriate to the nature of the data. No internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We may update this notice when the platform, providers or applicable law changes. The current version is always available on this page.