Privacy

The short version

• There are no accounts, no adverts and no tracking or analytics.
• We only store what you type into a code, the photos you add, and the pin you place.
• A code is public: anyone who has it, or guesses it, can see it. Your second "once they arrive" photo stays hidden unless you share its private link.
• We never sell or share your information for marketing.

Who we are

Postcode Plus is run by Tom Brewis and Henry Brewis. Contact: hello@postcodeplus.co.uk.

What we store when you create a code

• The code itself: the postcode (or, outside the UK, the country and area code) and the three letters you choose.
• The pin: the map position you set. Outside the UK, also the nearest town and the country, shown on the code's page.
• What you write: the name of the place, how to find it, and your first name if you choose to add it.
• Photos you add: the entrance photo, and optionally a second photo with a caption. We re-save every photo, which removes the hidden details cameras add, such as where and when it was taken.
• A secret edit key: this is what lets you change or delete the code. The key is kept on your phone or in your browser. We store only a scrambled copy, which can check the key but can't recreate it.
• A scrambled version of your internet address: this limits how many codes can be made from one place, to stop spam. We don't keep the address itself in our database.
• When it was made and changed, and how many times its page has been visited, per day. We don't record anything about who visited.

Who can see it

Everything on a code's page is public: the pin, the name of the place, the directions, the entrance photo and your first name if you added one. Anyone with the code or link can see it, and codes are short enough to be guessed. So don't put anything on a code that you wouldn't pin to your front gate.

The second photo is private unless you choose otherwise. It only appears through the private link, which contains a long random key.

Location, camera and photos

The app asks for your location only when you tap "Use my location", to drop the pin where you are. It never tracks you in the background. The camera and your photo library are used only for the photo you pick.

On your phone or in your browser

Postcode Plus keeps a list of the codes you've made (with their edit keys) and your first name, so you don't have to type them again. They stay on your device. There are no advertising or tracking cookies. Uninstalling the app or clearing your browser's site data removes them, but then you can no longer edit those codes.

Other services we use

These services receive your internet address, as any website you load does, plus what's described here:

• postcodes.io gets the pin position, to find the nearest postcode, and any postcode you type, to check it exists.
• OpenStreetMap's Nominatim gets the pin position when you're making a code, to find which country it's in and the nearest town.
• OpenStreetMap and Esri (satellite view) supply the map pictures for the area on screen.
• Google Fonts supplies the lettering. The website also loads its map code from Cloudflare's cdnjs.
• The directions buttons open Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze with the pin's position. What they do next is covered by their own privacy policies.
• Our web host keeps standard server logs, which record internet addresses and the pages requested.

How long we keep it

A code, its photos and its visit counts stay until you delete the code in the app or on the website. Deleting removes all of them straight away. We may also remove codes that break the law or are abusive.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of what we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. If you've lost your edit key, contact us with the code and we'll help. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Changes

If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top.