What is recorded, and what is not

Looking up an address

Reports are free and there is no account to create. You are not asked for your name, and nothing you type is sold, rented or shared for marketing.

When an address is looked up, the site keeps the address text and the coordinates it resolved to in a lookup cache. That cache exists so the same address does not have to be resolved again, and it is not tied to you: no name, no account, and no record of which visitor asked. Reports themselves are generated on request and are not saved as a history against anyone.

Correction and removal requests

If you send a request through Corrections and removal, the site stores what you submit: the address, your description of the problem, the email address you give so a reply can be sent, and the IP address the request came from. The IP is kept to make abuse of that form traceable. That is the only place this site deliberately records something about a person, and it is kept only as long as needed to handle the request and any follow-up.

Cookies, and the choice you are given

Nothing that sets a cookie runs until you choose. If you allow analytics, Google Analytics sets a small number of cookies (named _ga) so we can see which pages people find useful and how they arrived. Until you choose, it runs in a cookieless mode that stores nothing on your device. Advertising features are switched off either way, because this site carries no advertising.

You can change your mind at any time, and choosing “No thanks” also deletes any Google Analytics cookies already set. Cookie settings

The site is hosted on Vercel, which reports anonymous, aggregate page-speed and traffic numbers. Those set no cookies and identify no one. Your cookie choice itself is kept in your browser's local storage so you are not asked again on every page; it never leaves your device.

Public records are already public

The records a report draws on are published by counties, states and federal agencies, and every line cites where it came from. This site does not add anything private to them. If a record about your property is wrong at the source, the correction has to happen there too, and the corrections page explains how to raise it in both places.

Questions

Email info@beforethesewalls.com, including if you want to know what, if anything, is held that relates to you.