Privacy policy

Last updated November 1, 2026

Youseum offers free self-guided tours that run in your phone's web browser. You don't need an account or an app to take a tour. This page explains what we collect when you use youseum.org, why, who else is involved, and the choices you have.

What we collect when you take a tour

• Page visits. When you open a tour page we record which tour and page, the time, your IP address, your browser's name and version (its "user agent") and, on the first page you open, the site that sent you (for example a search engine). We use this to count visitors, to see which tours and stops people read, to tell real visitors from automated crawlers, and to give tour owners and partner venues totals such as how many people opened each stop. Reports we share with others show totals, not individual visitors.
• Server logs. Like most websites, our web server keeps a standard log of requests, including IP addresses. These logs are deleted after about a week.
• "Was this helpful?" and problem reports. If you rate a page or report a problem, we store your answer and any comment you write. To limit repeat votes we store a scrambled code made from your IP address, not the address itself. If you choose to leave contact details with a report, we use them only to reply.
• Your approximate area. To show tours near you on the home page, we look up the approximate city for your IP address using the ip-api.com service. We don't store the result.

Your device's location

If you turn on GPS in a tour's settings, your browser asks for permission to use your location. The tour uses it on your phone to open the next stop when you arrive and to show distances. Your location is not sent to Youseum. A tour page that shows a local weather forecast sends your location to the U.S. National Weather Service (weather.gov) to get that forecast. You can turn location off at any time in the tour's settings or in your browser.

On the home page, if you tap Share your location, your browser asks for permission and then sends your location, rounded to about half a mile, to Youseum to list the tours near you. We use it only for that list and don't store it.

When you contact us

If you use our contact form or ask about a partnership or sponsorship, we keep what you send, such as your name, organization, role, email address, phone number and message, so we can reply and follow up. We don't add you to a mailing list or share your details with anyone else.

Tour editors

If you create or edit tours, we keep your account and sign-in details and the text, photos and recordings you add. Content you publish is public on the tour pages.

Cookies and storage on your device

Youseum itself uses a few small cookies and browser storage items, only to make the site work:

• your tour settings (narration autoplay and speed, GPS, QR code and NFC tag scanning, light or dark theme);
• a short-lived cookie that opens the right stop after you scan a QR code or tap an NFC tag;
• for tour editors, a sign-in cookie;
• pages you save with "Save this tour" for use without a signal, and a short list of pages read offline that is sent to us when you're back online so they are counted.

We don't use these to track you on other websites.

Advertising

Most tour pages show ads from Google AdSense, which help keep the tours free. The home page, editing screens and partner pages don't show ads, and tours run by partner venues are ad-free.

• Google and other third-party ad vendors use cookies to show ads based on your earlier visits to this site and to other websites. Google's advertising cookies let Google and its partners show you ads based on your visits to youseum.org and other sites on the internet.
• You can turn off personalized ads from Google in Google's My Ad Center (formerly Ads Settings). You can also opt out of personalized ads from many other ad vendors at aboutads.info and, in Europe, youronlinechoices.eu.
• To learn how Google uses information from sites that show its ads, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
• Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are asked for consent before personalized ads are shown.

Other services we rely on

These services receive your IP address and basic browser information when a page uses them:

• Cloudflare delivers and protects the site.
• Apple Maps (MapKit JS) draws the tour maps.
• Google AdSense serves ads, as described above.
• jsDelivr and cdnjs serve standard web page code that our pages load.
• ip-api.com looks up your approximate area for the home page.

Each handles that information under its own privacy policy.

What we don't do

• We don't sell your personal information.
• We don't ask for your name or email address to take a tour.
• Google's ad cookies may count as "sharing" for advertising under some U.S. state privacy laws. You can stop it with the opt-outs above.

Children

Youseum tours are for general audiences, and many are family-friendly, but the site is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you think a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

How long we keep information

We keep visit records for as long as we need them for visitor statistics and tour reports, and messages and partnership inquiries for as long as we're in touch about them. Server logs are deleted after about a week. You can ask us to delete information about you at any time.

Your choices and requests

You can block or delete cookies in your browser, use the advertising opt-outs above, and turn off location in a tour's settings. To ask what information we have about you, or to have it corrected or deleted, use our contact page. Because we don't collect names for visits, include enough detail for us to find the records you mean, such as the date and the tour.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.

Questions? Contact us.