Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 22, 2026

Overview

SafeZone is a client-side web application that visualizes publicly available crime and restaurant inspection data for Chicago neighborhoods. We are committed to protecting your privacy.

Data We Do Not Collect

SafeZone does not collect, store, or transmit any personal information. Specifically:

We do not use cookies
We do not use analytics or tracking services
We do not create user accounts or profiles
We do not collect or store your search queries
We do not sell or share any data with third parties

Location Data

If you choose to use the location feature, your browser will ask for permission before sharing your location. Your coordinates are used only within your browser to center the map and display nearby safety information. Your location is never sent to our servers (we have none) and is not stored.

Local Storage

SafeZone uses your browser's local storage to cache crime data for up to 6 hours. This improves loading performance. The cached data contains only aggregated crime statistics (coordinates, types, dates) and no personal information. You can clear this data at any time through your browser settings.

Third-Party Services

SafeZone connects to the following third-party services directly from your browser:

City of Chicago Open Data Portal (data.cityofchicago.org) — to retrieve crime and restaurant inspection records. Subject to the City of Chicago data terms.
OpenStreetMap Nominatim (nominatim.openstreetmap.org) — for address search. When you search for an address, your query text and IP address are sent to this service. See OSM Foundation Privacy Policy.
CARTO (basemaps.cartocdn.com) — for map tiles. Your IP address and viewed map areas are visible to this service.
unpkg.com / jsDelivr — for loading open-source JavaScript libraries. Standard CDN access logs may apply.

Data Sources

All data displayed on SafeZone comes from publicly available sources:

Crime data: Chicago Police Department, via the City of Chicago Open Data Portal
Restaurant inspections: Chicago Department of Public Health, via the City of Chicago Open Data Portal

Data may be delayed by approximately 7 days from the date of reporting. Safety scores are algorithmically generated by SafeZone and do not represent official government safety ratings.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please open an issue on our project repository.