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Privacy policy

Who we are

MapMaker.so is run by Riverforge Ltd, a company in the UK. We decide how the little personal data described here is used, under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR) and the rules on cookies and similar storage (PECR).

Company number and registered office: Riverforge Ltd, company number 16827982, registered office 3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.

For anything about your data, write to privacy@mapmaker.so.

What we collect

Very little. There are no accounts and no sign-up, so we never ask for your name, your email address or a password. That also means pupils can use MapMaker in class without creating an account or giving us a name or email.

  • Your maps: they stay in your browser (see "Your maps" below), and we don't receive them, except when you download a PDF from the editor (below).
  • A PDF from the editor: when you download a PDF in the editor, your browser sends the map to our server: its places, colours and text, and any data you pasted into it, including rows that matched no place. The server uses it only to draw the PDF, sends the file back and does not keep the map.
  • Web requests: like any website, our host receives the technical details your browser sends with each request, such as your IP address and the kind of browser, in order to deliver the page.
  • The Tag Manager script: every page fetches it from Google, so Google receives the technical details of that request, such as your IP address, your browser and the address of the page (see "Analytics and cookies" below).
  • Analytics cookies and analytics data, only if you accept them (see "Analytics and cookies" below).
  • Emails you send us, which we use to reply.

Your maps

The maps you make are saved in your own browser's storage on your device, under Your maps. They are not sent to us, except when you download a PDF from the editor (see "What we collect" above), and they are never kept on our servers, so we can't see them, recover them or delete them for you. Clearing your browser's data for mapmaker.so deletes them, so download a copy of any map you want to keep.

The editor also keeps a few settings in your browser: which map you had open, your last download choices, your light or dark theme, and whether you have seen the first tip. When you paste a table on a choropleth page, the browser holds it for that tab only until the editor has read it.

Analytics and cookies

We use Google Tag Manager with Google Consent Mode to count visits and see how the site and the editor are used, for example which maps are opened and which downloads are chosen.

The Tag Manager script is fetched from Google on every page, before you make any choice, so Google receives your IP address, your browser details and the address of the page. Consent is set to denied until you choose: no analytics cookies are set and no analytics data is sent unless you accept.

A banner offers Reject and Accept, each one click. If you accept, analytics storage is switched on: the analytics tags set cookies and send usage data to Google, which processes it for us. Advertising storage, advertising data and ad personalisation stay denied whatever you choose. If you reject, the analytics tags stay off. Your choice is kept in your browser for 12 months, and you can change it at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page of the site.

MapMaker sets no other cookies. Your maps and settings are kept in browser storage on your device, not in cookies.

Embeds

The embeddable maps that people put on their own websites are plain pages showing a map with a credit link. They set no cookies and run no scripts. As with any web page, the request for the embed reaches our host with the technical details your browser sends.

Hosting and map data

The site, the map data and the files it draws, such as the page images and the printable PDFs, are hosted by Vercel. The maps are drawn from Natural Earth data, which is public domain and holds no personal data.

Who we share data with

We don't sell your data, and we share it only with the services that run the site for us:

  • Vercel, which hosts the site and receives the web requests described above;
  • Google, which serves the Tag Manager script on every page and so receives the technical details of that request, and which receives analytics data only if you accept analytics cookies.

Some of this data may be processed outside the UK.

Why we may use it

  • Analytics: because you agreed. You can withdraw that at any time with Cookie settings.
  • Web requests and the PDFs from the editor: to run the site you asked for and keep it working and secure.
  • The Tag Manager script loading before you choose: so the site can apply your choice, Accept or Reject, as soon as you make it.
  • Your emails: to answer you.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and object to how we use it. We hold very little, so most requests come down to the emails you have sent us. Write to privacy@mapmaker.so, and we will reply within one month, as the law requires.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator.

Changes to this policy

If what the site does with your data changes, we will update this page and the date below.

Contact

For questions about this policy or your data, write to privacy@mapmaker.so. For anything else, use hello@mapmaker.so or the contact page. The terms of use cover what you may do with the site and your maps.

Last updated: 5 November 2026