Privacy Policy — Earth Pulse

Last updated: June 2026 · Earth Pulse, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Short version: Earth Pulse is a small citizen science project. We collect your email only if you register or subscribe to the newsletter. We use Google Analytics to understand traffic. We don't sell data, run ads, or share personal information with third parties beyond what's needed to operate the site. Read on for the full detail.

1. Who we are

Earth Pulse (earth-pulse.org) is an independent citizen science environmental observatory based in Baner, Pune, Maharashtra, India, operated by an individual researcher. We are not a company, and we are not registered as a data controller under any formal regulatory framework, though we follow best-practice data minimisation principles consistent with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act, 2023) and general international privacy norms.

For privacy questions, contact: [email protected]

2. What data we collect and why

2.1 Anonymous visitors (no account)

We collect no personally identifiable information from visitors who do not register. Google Analytics (see section 4) collects anonymised usage data (page views, approximate location at country/city level, device type, referrer). Your IP address is processed by Google but not stored by us.

2.2 Newsletter subscribers

If you enter your email address in the newsletter signup form, we store your email address in our Supabase database solely to send you the Earth Pulse monthly environmental digest (approximately one email per month). We do not share this list with anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time by emailing [email protected].

2.3 Registered users (account holders)

If you create an account, we store:

Your email address (required for authentication via Supabase Auth)
Your alert preferences (e.g. which AQI levels or bird species you want notified about)
Your search history (last 20 queries, stored to power your personal search suggestions)
Any field notes you save within the platform
Your watchlist of bird species

None of this is shared with third parties. Passwords are never stored — authentication is handled by Supabase Auth using secure hashed credentials.

2.4 Plant identification submissions (identify.html)

If you submit a photo for plant identification, the image is sent to the Pl@ntNet API (hosted by French research institutes) for species identification. If you consent to saving the result, the species name, confidence score, and ecological data are stored in our Supabase database. Photos themselves are not permanently stored by Earth Pulse. GPS coordinates (if provided) are used only to verify the submission is within the Baner Hill area (10km radius) and are not publicly displayed.

2.5 Contact form

Messages submitted via contact.html are stored in our Supabase database and emailed to the site administrator. We use this information only to respond to your message.

2.6 Environmental sensor data (not personal data)

All weather, AQI, bird detection, and soundscape data is collected by automated sensors and AI systems at Baner Hill. No personal information is involved in this data collection.

3. How we use your data

We use collected data only for the following purposes:

Operating the site: Authentication, displaying personalised content (alerts, watchlist, field notes).
Sending newsletters: Monthly environmental digest to newsletter subscribers (email only).
Sending personalised alerts: AQI alerts, new bird species notifications, heavy rain alerts — only if you have enabled these in your account settings.
Responding to contact messages: We reply to messages submitted via the contact form.
Site improvement: Anonymised Google Analytics data helps us understand which pages are useful and how the site is being used.

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, automated decision-making that affects you, or any purpose not listed above.

4. Third-party services that process data

Earth Pulse uses the following third-party services that may process data from or about visitors:

Supabase (database and authentication)

Stores all user accounts, alert preferences, newsletter emails, field notes, plant database, and environmental sensor data. Hosted on AWS in the US. Supabase Privacy Policy

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Anonymised website traffic analysis. Collects page views, session data, approximate geographic location (city/country level), device type, and referrer. IP anonymisation is enabled. We do not use GA4 advertising features. Google Privacy Policy

Cloudflare (CDN, Workers, Pages, R2)

Hosts the website (Cloudflare Pages), runs our backend API workers, and stores timelapse photos (Cloudflare R2). Cloudflare processes request metadata (IP, headers) for security and routing. Cloudflare Privacy Policy

Resend (transactional email)

Used to deliver newsletter emails and automated alerts to subscribers. Receives recipient email addresses for delivery. Resend Privacy Policy

Pl@ntNet API (plant identification)

Plant photos submitted via identify.html are sent to Pl@ntNet's servers for species identification. Pl@ntNet may retain query data per their terms. No personal account data is shared with Pl@ntNet. Pl@ntNet Terms

Google AI (Gemini) · Google Air Quality API · Open-Meteo · Weather Union

These APIs receive query parameters (coordinates, date ranges) only — no personal user data is shared with these services. Responses are used to display environmental data.

5. Cookies and local storage

Earth Pulse uses:

Supabase Auth session token: Stored in your browser's localStorage to keep you logged in. Key: sb-krmczyqwblsoekceanlj-auth-token. Cleared when you log out.
Google Analytics cookies: _ga, _ga_* — analytics tracking cookies. These persist for up to 2 years.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or any cookies for retargeting. We do not run ads on this site.

You can delete cookies and localStorage data at any time via your browser settings. Deleting the Supabase token will log you out.

6. Data retention

Newsletter email addresses: Retained until you request removal.
Registered user accounts: Retained while your account is active. Deleting your account removes your email, preferences, alerts, search history, and field notes. Environmental sensor data (not personal) is retained indefinitely as part of the scientific record.
Contact messages: Retained for up to 12 months, then deleted.
Search history: Automatically trimmed to your last 20 queries.
Google Analytics data: Retained per Google's standard retention settings (up to 14 months).

7. Your rights

You have the right to:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction: Request correction of inaccurate data.
Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated personal data.
Withdrawal of consent: Unsubscribe from the newsletter or disable alerts at any time.
Portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format (we can export as CSV).

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Data security

We take reasonable steps to protect your data:

All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS).
Passwords are never stored — Supabase Auth uses secure hashing.
Database access is protected by Row Level Security (RLS) policies.
Service role keys (which bypass RLS) are stored only as encrypted Cloudflare Worker secrets — never in frontend code.
The site administrator is the only person with access to personal data.

No system is perfectly secure. In the event of a data breach affecting personal information, we will notify affected users as soon as practicable.

9. Children

Earth Pulse is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. No advertising

Earth Pulse does not display third-party advertisements and does not sell, rent, or share your personal information with advertisers. The site is funded by the operator's own time and resources, not advertising.

11. International data transfers

Some of our service providers (Supabase on AWS, Google, Cloudflare) may process data outside India. By using Earth Pulse, you acknowledge this. We have chosen providers with strong data protection commitments and standard contractual protections where applicable.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date at the top. We will not make material changes that reduce your privacy rights without clear notice on the homepage.

13. Contact

For any privacy questions, data requests, or concerns:
Email: [email protected]
Earth Pulse · Baner, Pune, Maharashtra 411045 · India
earth-pulse.org

We aim to respond to all privacy-related requests within 30 days.

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