Privacy Policy

Quorumz is a geo-journalism platform. We aggregate publicly-posted content from social networks + news media + citizen submissions onto a single live map of the world. This policy describes what data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the controls available to you.

Data we collect

From public sources

We index posts and metadata that are already public on the following platforms: X (Twitter), Telegram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Bluesky, Truth Social, and public RSS feeds from news outlets and government / institutional sources. For each indexed post we store: post text or caption, author handle, post timestamp, post permalink, public media URLs (thumbnail or full media), and any engagement counts the source platform exposes (likes, views, etc.).

We do not collect private messages, private group content, contact lists, or anything behind authentication on those platforms. Where a platform's API requires us to authenticate (e.g. the Meta Threads API), we use a read-only access token scoped to public content.

From iWitness contributors

If you choose to file an iWitness report (an anonymous live geobit) we collect: your report text, any attached media you upload, the geographic coordinates you confirm at submission time, and a timestamp. iWitness reports are anonymous by default. We do not link them to a user account unless you explicitly sign in and choose to attribute.

From signed-in users (optional)

If you create an account we store: your email address and a passkey credential (a public-key WebAuthn record). We do not store passwords. We do not collect demographic data, profile pictures, location history, or device identifiers beyond what the WebAuthn standard requires for sign-in.

Automatically (when you visit)

Our infrastructure providers (Cloudflare, Google Cloud) log standard request data — IP address, user agent, request path, timestamp — for the purpose of abuse prevention and operational telemetry. We do not use this data for advertising or profile building. Logs are retained no longer than 30 days for the edge layer and 90 days at the application layer.

How we use the data

• To render the live map and discover feed at quorumz.com.
• To cluster posts into topics and opinions per country (the "Quorumz" layer) and per tracked public figure (the "Public Figures" layer). These clustering passes use LLM providers (currently Google Gemini); the LLMs receive only the public post text, not user identifiers.
• To moderate iWitness submissions before publication.
• To detect and prevent platform abuse.
• To improve coverage gaps and discover new public sources.

Public Figures specifically

The Public Figures layer aggregates statements made publicly by tracked individuals (heads of state, public officials, tech executives, etc.) across the platforms listed above. We track stance shifts over time on each topic each figure addresses, so the public can see how a figure's positions evolve. All source content is public; we link back to the original platform on every rendered statement. Figures appear because of their public role and public statements, not as private individuals.

Sharing + third parties

We do not sell user data. We share data with:

• Infrastructure providers — Cloudflare (CDN + edge worker), Google Cloud (compute + storage + LLM), Postgres on Google Cloud SQL.
• LLM providers — Google Gemini (for topic + opinion clustering and post enrichment). Public post text only; no user identifiers.
• Search providers — Serper, Google Programmable Search Engine (for discovering new public sources).

We may share data with law enforcement when compelled by a lawful order from a jurisdiction in which we operate.

Retention

Public posts indexed from social platforms are retained indefinitely as part of our historic feed, EXCEPT when:

• The source platform's API tells us a post was deleted — we remove the local copy within 24 hours of the next sync.
• A platform's developer terms require shorter retention (e.g. Threads API content cached only as long as the API permits).
• An iWitness contributor requests removal (see "Your controls").

Your controls

• Public figures and post authors on any platform we index: email hello@quorumz.com to request removal of specific posts or your full handle from our index.
• iWitness contributors: email hello@quorumz.com with the permalink of your contribution to request takedown.
• Signed-in users: email hello@quorumz.com from your registered email to request account deletion.

Children

Quorumz is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has submitted iWitness content, please email us so we can remove it.

International transfers

Our infrastructure is hosted in the United States (Google Cloud us-central1) and on Cloudflare's global edge network. If you access Quorumz from outside the US your data is transferred to and processed in the US.

Changes to this policy

We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when we change this policy. Material changes (e.g. a new processing purpose, a new third-party recipient) will also be mentioned in our public release notes.

Contact

For any privacy question, takedown request, or data access request, email hello@quorumz.com.