The fine print

Privacy

The Northern Coasts is an informational travel guide. You don't need an account to use it, and we don't build personal profiles of visitors. We use Google Analytics to understand how the guide is used, as described below.

Site analytics

We use Google Analytics to see which pages people visit, how they find the guide, and general information such as device type, browser, and approximate location. This helps us decide what to write and improve. Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser and receives your IP address and other information from your browser. Google processes this information under its own policies; see how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

We don't send your waitlist email address or product picks to Google Analytics, and the private waitlist removal page doesn't load analytics. To opt out, block cookies for this site or install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Coastal Goods waitlist

If you join the Coastal Goods waitlist, we store the email address you enter, the products you picked, which version of the consent statement you agreed to, and when you signed up or updated your picks. We use this only to tell you when Coastal Goods launches and when new Coastal Goods products are released. We don't sell or share it, and we don't store your IP address with your signup. When we send launch emails, we may use an email delivery service that handles your address on our behalf.

After you sign up, you get a private link that deletes your signup immediately. Keep it somewhere safe: anyone with the link can use it. Every launch email will also include a way to unsubscribe. We keep signups until you remove yourself or the waitlist closes. The form uses a security cookie to stop forged submissions and a short-lived cookie to show your confirmation page.

Saved places and maps

When you save places or road trips, their identifiers are stored in this browser's local storage. They are not sent to a server-side personal profile and do not sync between devices. You can remove individual items or clear your shortlist on the Saved page. Clearing browser site data also removes your shortlist. Fonts and photography are hosted locally.

Interactive maps use locally hosted Leaflet software and lake outlines. Your browser requests raster map tiles from OpenStreetMap by default, or from MapTiler when its basemap key is configured. Those requests can disclose your IP address, browser information, the site's origin and the area of the map you are viewing. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy and MapTiler's privacy policy. Maps do not request your device location.

Live conditions, headlines and ships

The "What's going on right now" panels show weather, alerts, buoy readings, aurora outlooks and headlines. Our server collects this information from public sources: the U.S. National Weather Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and Space Weather Prediction Center, and public news feeds. Your browser only contacts this site for those conditions and headlines, and we don't send these services anything about you. Headlines link to the original publishers; if you follow a link, that publisher's privacy policy applies. Your choice of U.S. or metric units is saved in this browser's local storage.

Selecting Live ships or See them on the map can load an embedded VesselFinder map. This external map is not loaded until you select it. VesselFinder receives your IP address, browser information, the page and map area being viewed, and may use cookies or analytics under its privacy policy. It controls which vessels and identifiers appear. We don't collect or store its vessel data. Returning to the places map unloads the embedded map, and we don't grant it access to device geolocation.

When the optional direct ship overlay is enabled, it uses public Automatic Identification System (AIS) broadcasts received through aisstream.io. That overlay hides recreational boats and unidentified small-craft transponders and does not expose vessel identification (MMSI) numbers. Positions are held briefly in server memory, not saved to the database. Live information from either provider can be delayed or incomplete and is not for navigation.