Privacy

In short: no cookies, no advertising and no tracking across websites. We count visits and downloads anonymously, to know how much the database is used and where in the world. Nothing that identifies you is kept, except what you send us yourself (a dataset or a message).

Visits of the website

Visits are counted with GoatCounter, an open-source statistics service built for privacy. For each page view it records the page, the website you came from, the browser, the operating system, the screen size and the country. The country is found from your IP address, which GoatCounter does not keep. It sets no cookies and cannot recognise you on another website. See its privacy policy. The private previews of submissions are not counted.

Downloads

A download from the catalogue is counted the same way, with the datasets chosen and their size.

The Python package (anta_database) sends one anonymous count when db.sync() or anta-sync downloads files: whether it is a first download or an update, the number of files and bytes, and the versions of the package and of the database. It is sent to our server (api.antadatabase.com), which passes it on to GoatCounter with your IP address for the country, and keeps nothing. To turn it off:

export ANTA_NO_STATS=1          # for all syncs, or:
db.sync(stats=False)
anta-sync --no-stats

Submissions and messages

When you submit a dataset or send a message, we keep what you send: your name, email address and affiliation, your files, and your message (with the IP address it came from, against abuse). Submissions are kept to compile and review your dataset, and as the record of where the data of the database comes from. Your email address is only used to answer you and to tell you about your submission. Ask us at any time to see or delete what we keep about you.

Our server keeps logs of its requests, with their IP addresses, for security and to fix problems. They are overwritten as new requests come in.

Stored in your browser

The website remembers a few choices in your browser (local storage, not cookies): the light or dark theme, whether you have seen the tour of the viewer, the draft of a submission, and the verification of your email address for the submission form. They stay on your device, except the verification, sent with your submission.

Hosting

The website is hosted on GitHub Pages, and the data and the 3D views on the object storage of Infomaniak, in Switzerland. Like any web server, they see your IP address when your browser loads files from them. The submission portal runs on a server of Infomaniak, in Switzerland.

Contact

The AntADatabase is run by Antoine Hermant, University of Bern: antoine.hermant@unibe.ch.