Privacy and Observation

TRUST & PRIVACY

Patterns, not people

SignsWatch helps people understand what is happening in the world. We do not need to know who you are to do that

01

Privacy is simple

Most people do not want everyone to know everything about them.

That is not suspicious. It is human

02

Knowledge is power

Personal data can be used to predict, influence or judge people. SignsWatch is not built to have that kind of power

03

Curiosity should feel safe

People should be able to explore serious subjects without feeling watched, profiled or pushed

OUR APPROACH

SignsWatch is interested in what people are trying to understand — not who they are

We may record that a page was viewed, that a signal was explored, or that a search term was used. This helps us improve the site and see which topics need clearer explanation.

Trust We do not use that to build personal profiles

What we may observe

  • Which public SignsWatch pages are used
  • Whether the site is viewed in mobile or regular format
  • Which signal topics people choose to explore
  • Search terms entered on the Insight page
  • Broad location signals, such as country or city where available

What we avoid

  • No advertising profiles
  • No selling behavioural data
  • No storing IP addresses in our own usage records
  • No personal browsing histories
  • No cross-site tracking identities
THE PRINCIPLE

Collective curiosity, not individual surveillance

It is useful for SignsWatch to know that more people are searching for Jerusalem, earthquakes or distress.

It is not useful for SignsWatch to identify a particular person behind that search

Why collect anything?

Because a responsible system needs feedback.

If people are using mobile pages, we should improve mobile pages. If people are searching for a topic, we should make that topic easier to understand

SIGNSWATCH PROMISE

Information is everywhere ⦿ Understanding is not

SignsWatch is built to help people see patterns in public events, not to turn users into products

Read more about trust →