Locus
Privacy
The short version
Locus is an atlas of places — a curated, editorial guide to cruising and queer places, written and verified by Locus. It is not a people radar: it never shows who is somewhere, never shows anyone’s location, and never claims a place is “active now”. Everything personal — saved places, collections, private notes, preferences — stays on your device by default, and there is no social layer or tracking. An account is optional: sign in with an emailed link only if you want your saved places to follow you across devices or to turn on 18+ content. No analytics are currently active, and we do not sell personal data.
Adult content (18+)
Cruising content is intended for adults. It is off by default and can be turned on only by a signed-in account that confirms being 18 or older; that preference lives with the account, not on any one device, and can be turned off at any time. 18+ places are sent only by the Locus server, and only after it checks your sign-in and that setting on each request; they are never part of the public atlas, and they disappear from the app when you sign out or turn the setting off. 18+ places cannot be shared as a card or link. Turning it on never overrides the privacy rules below: a place Locus treats as discreet or sensitive is not shown in more detail to anyone.
What Locus publishes, and what it never does
Every place comes from a licensed, attributed source (see “Place data and attribution”), with Locus’s own editorial notes. Locus does not import descriptions, ratings, reviews, comments or any user-generated content from other sites, and does not publish any from its own members. Place details may be reduced, rounded or withheld for privacy and safety reasons. When Locus shows that a place was “confirmed” in a given month, that means members reviewed the place itself; it is never a statement about people being there, now or at any time.
Contributions (members)
A signed-in member can tap a one-word note about a place — for example that it still exists, has changed, or has closed. A note carries no text, no photo and no location; it is stored with the account so that it counts once, and it is never shown as yours. Notes only ever appear as an aggregate, and only once enough different members agree.
What stays on your device
Collections, private notes, and app preferences — chosen area, tab, and appearance — are stored locally (browser storage / IndexedDB) and are never transmitted anywhere, whether or not you have an account. Saved places (favourites) are stored locally too, and if you create an account they are also mirrored to it so they follow you across devices. “Clear data” in the menu removes the local copy of all of it.
Location
Location is optional and requested only when you tap Nearby or a locate control. It is used on your device to sort places by distance, held in memory only, never stored, and never sent to any server. Locus is fully usable without sharing location.
Network connections
Like any map app, Locus loads its interface and map tiles over the network. Our hosting provider (Vercel) may process request data such as IP addresses for security and reliability. Map tiles are served by OpenFreeMap, which states it does not routinely store IP addresses but may enable temporary logging during security incidents. Tile requests necessarily reveal the coarse map area being viewed. If you create an account, Locus also uses Supabase to handle sign-in and to store your saved places, content preference and contribution notes server-side. Locus itself adds no identifiers, cookies, or analytics to any request beyond what an account requires.
Account (optional)
You can use the core Locus atlas without an account. If you want your saved places to follow you across devices, or to turn on 18+ content, you can sign in with a one-time link sent to your email — no password, no public profile. You can sign out at any time, and can ask us to close your account entirely through the contact below.
Analytics
Locus ships with the technical capability for cookieless, aggregate analytics, but it is not switched on: no analytics are currently active, and nothing about your use of Locus is being collected or sent to any analytics provider today. This policy will be updated first if that ever changes.
Sharing and directions
Opening directions hands the destination to the maps app you choose (Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze). A place’s official website opens on that venue’s own site, which has its own privacy terms. Sharing a place uses your device’s share sheet. All of these happen only when you tap them. Place suggestions are drafted and stored on your device. Locus receives nothing unless you explicitly choose to send the field slip using your device’s share options.
Contact
Questions about privacy or support: hello@locusatlas.app.
Place data and attribution
Places in every edition come from the Overture Maps Foundation Places theme, release 2026-07-22.0, redistributed under the Community Data License Agreement — Permissive 2.0. Attribution: Overture Maps Foundation, overturemaps.org. Map tiles are served by OpenFreeMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. The selection and the editing are Locus’s own.
Last updated 2026-09-14.
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