Privacy
Privacy policy
What this site collects, why, and what you can do about it. Last updated 31 August 2026.
Who is responsible
Mattia Menchetti, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. To ask what data is held about you, to correct it, or to have it deleted, write to mattiamen [at] gmail.com.
The website
These pages are static files. There are no accounts, no comments, no forms and nothing to log in to, so there is nothing for you to submit and nothing stored about you here.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages get read. It sets cookies in your browser and sends Google your page views, approximate location from your IP address, and basic details of your device and browser. Google Analytics 4 does not store full IP addresses. I use it to know whether the site is worth maintaining, not to identify anyone, and the data is not shared or used for advertising.
You can opt out for every site you visit with Google's browser add-on, or by blocking cookies for this domain. Nothing on the site stops working if you do.
Content from other services
Some pages load material from other providers. Those providers receive your IP address when their content loads, exactly as if you had visited them directly:
- Google Fonts, for the typefaces used across the site.
- Altmetric and Dimensions, for the attention and citation badges beside publications.
- Esri, for the satellite imagery and place names on the collaborations, fieldwork, species and non-native ant records maps.
- iNaturalist, which hosts the observations that photographs link to.
Server logs
The hosting provider records standard access logs, including IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting. These are kept only as long as needed for that purpose.
RangeQuest
The browser game at /rangequest/ is on this domain and is covered here too.
- Your progress stays on your device. Your field guide, saved game, language and settings live in your own browser and are not sent anywhere unless you deliberately switch on cloud sync.
- Live player count. A random identifier is created in your browser and sent to the game's database so the site can show how many people are playing. It is not linked to your name and is not shared.
- Optional cloud sync. If you turn it on, your collection and a player code are stored so you can restore progress on another device. That is your choice, and you can delete everything from Profile and Sync at any time.
- Leaderboards and live events. If you submit a score, the name you type is stored and shown to other players. Use a nickname if you prefer.
- Feedback. If you send feedback from inside the game, the message, the page you were on and your browser's user agent are stored so the report can be acted on.
The game itself sets no advertising cookies and carries no analytics.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of your data, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, and object to it being processed. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.