Privacy policy
Last updated
What we store
Nothing about you. There is nothing on GazeStory to sign up for or sign in to, so there is no profile of you to keep. The pages are static files, and this site keeps no history of the names you search for, with the one exception described next. We run no analytics of our own. Advertising is another matter: the company that fills our ad space relies on cookies of its own, explained under Advertising below.
When a username reaches the page address
Sometimes the username ends up inside the page address. Following a link someone shared, or searching in a browser where JavaScript is off, opens this site at /?u= followed by the name. Every address requested from this site can be recorded in the access logs of our hosting provider and content delivery network, and that one is no exception.
What stays in your browser
The “recently viewed” list is written to your browser’s local storage and is never transmitted. Clearing site data removes it. So does the Clear button next to the list. It holds only the usernames you opened on this device, and no other device or browser can read it. Private or incognito windows discard it when they close.
One further item is stored locally. A service worker keeps copies of a few GazeStory pages so they open offline. Those saved pages contain neither usernames nor profile data.
Where profiles come from
When you look up a username, your browser contacts a data provider run by a third party, which fetches the account’s public data from Instagram for the page to display. That provider receives your IP address, the username you entered and the standard technical details that come with any web request, among them this website’s address. We do not control how long it keeps them. If that matters to you, the same precautions apply as for any website: a VPN or a privacy-focused browser limits what any server learns.
Advertising
GazeStory is free because it carries ads. They are chosen and delivered by a separate ad company, not by us. That company, with the advertisers and vendors it deals with, may set and read cookies, comparable browser IDs or web beacons on your device while ads load here.
- What they learn: the IP your connection uses, which browser and language you have, how big the screen is, the page an ad sits on, and whether that ad got seen or clicked.
- What it is for: picking which ads to show, keeping one from repeating too often, counting views and clicks, and catching fraud. Ads may be personalised from your earlier visits to this and other websites.
- Your choice: visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland get a consent window first, where personalised ads can be refused. Elsewhere, browser settings that block third-party cookies, or a private window, limit the same tracking.
- Handles you search: we send none to the ad company ourselves. A results page carries the name in its address (
/?u=), though, and ad code running on that page can read the address like any page it loads on.
Third parties
- Hosting provider: serves the pages of this site.
- Content delivery network: sits in front of the site, protects it from abuse and briefly processes your IP address to do so.
- Data provider: fetches open profiles from Instagram, as described above.
- Ad company: serves the ads and runs the consent window, as set out under Advertising.
Nobody else receives data from this site, and nothing is sold.
Your rights
A request to see, correct or delete what is held about you can be sent at any time; in practice the answer is that nothing tied to you is held, and that answer comes in writing. GazeStory itself is responsible for this data and can be reached at hello@gazestory.com. You may also complain to the body that supervises data protection in your country.