Géocartie's Terms of Service

1. Scope

These terms of service apply to any User accessing or using Géocartie (hereinafter "the Service"), published on the website https://geocartie.net as well as on the mobile applications coming very soon to Android and iOS.

The "User" is you — the one clicking or typing.

The "Service" is what we publish and what you use; it is Géocartie.

The "publisher" is us.

The User is deemed to accept these terms of service as soon as they begin using the Service. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms of Service.

2. Definition of the Service

The Service is a software platform designed to let Users discover the world and learn geography. It offers a variety of interactive and educational resources, including:

• Geographic maps: Access to detailed maps of cities, countries, states, provinces, rivers, and other places of geographic interest;
• Place profiles: Descriptions and information about various locations around the world;
• Blog articles: Editorial content covering topics related to geography, the history of places, cultural facts, educational subjects, and tools for building maps or other geographic documents;
• Interactive quiz: A quiz that lets Users test their geography knowledge. At the end of a Quiz game, the User is invited to save their score to track their progress and compare it with other players.

Access to the Service is free of charge.

3. Publisher's contact information

The Service is published by EI Emilien Cosson, who can be reached by email at contact@emiliencosson.fr, or via the contact form.

4. Leaderboard

At the end of a Quiz game, the score is saved and displayed on the leaderboard of the corresponding quiz, so that other Users can see other players' scores. The metadata saved with a score includes the User's username, the time recorded, and the number of mistakes.

While playing a Quiz game, Users are prohibited from using any script, bot, plug-in, or other automated means to artificially improve the performance of their score.

When choosing a username during account creation or when saving a score anonymously, Users are prohibited from choosing a username that is offensive or that does not comply with laws governing freedom of expression or any other applicable law.

5. Legitimate use of the Service

The Service is designed to be used from a client device, via a web browser or the Géocartie mobile app. The Service must be used with the intent of discovering the world, learning geography, or for academic or educational purposes.

To ensure a fair and secure experience for all Users, the following actions, among others, are strictly prohibited:

Automation: Using extensions, plug-ins, scripts, or any other form of automation to interact with the Service is prohibited. These restrictions are intended to prevent abuse and preserve the integrity of the Service. Reverse engineering: Any attempt to decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer the Service is strictly prohibited. Scraping: Automated data extraction (scraping) or the use of similar technologies to collect information from the Service is prohibited. Denial of service: Any attack aimed at disrupting the Service's technical infrastructure, degrading its quality, modifying it without authorization, hindering, blocking, or slowing down access for other Users, or infringing on Users' privacy is strictly prohibited.

In the event of a violation of these rules, the publisher reserves the right to suspend or terminate access to the Service, and to take any other appropriate legal action.

6. Intellectual property

The Service brings together several elements subject to copyright. Users are required to respect these rights and comply with the following restrictions:

• Editorial content: The blog content, place profiles, and other text content on the Service are the exclusive property of their author. Any unauthorized reproduction or use of this content is prohibited without the author's written permission.
• Illustration images: The images illustrating places used on the service come from the Unsplash library and are covered by the Unsplash license. In accordance with this license, the images may be used freely, including for commercial purposes, without requiring prior authorization, provided the terms of the Unsplash license are respected.
• Maps: The geographic data used in the maps comes from ADMIN EXPRESS (IGN) and is processed using the Mapshaper tool. The resulting SVG output is the exclusive property of the publisher. Any unauthorized reproduction or use of these maps is prohibited.
• Source code: The Service's source code is protected by copyright and belongs to its author. Its use, reproduction, or modification without the author's prior written authorization is prohibited. Requests for authorization can be sent to contact@emiliencosson.fr.
• Trademark, logos, and brand imagery: The "Géocartie" trademark, its logo, and other distinctive graphic elements of Géocartie are reserved. Their use without prior written permission from contact@emiliencosson.fr is prohibited.

Exception: It is permitted to use the "Géocartie" trademark and logo to present the Service, provided this is done in a way that does not mislead third parties as to any affiliation with or representation of Géocartie.

7. Disclaimer

The Service is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind to the extent permitted by applicable law, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Unless otherwise stated in writing, in no event shall the author or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages, or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort, or otherwise, arising from the Service or its use or any other dealings with the Service. Accordingly, you assume all risks related to the quality and performance of the Service.

In no event, unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, shall a copyright holder be liable to you for damages, including any general, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the Service (including but not limited to loss of data, data inaccuracy, or losses sustained by you or third parties, or the failure of the Service to operate with other programs), even if such holder has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The publisher reserves the right to suspend and permanently discontinue the Service without notice.

8. Account and security

All measures have been taken to ensure security, including:

1. Access to servers and data is restricted to the Service's publisher.

2. The User's password is encrypted.

Users are encouraged to create an account using a password exclusive to the Service, of a length and character set compliant with ANSSI's security recommendations.

9. Cookies and trackers

We use OpenReplay to analyze User usage and interactions with the Service through behavioral indicators, heatmaps, and session replays, in order to improve it. OpenReplay is self-hosted by the publisher on its own servers: the session data collected in this way remains on Géocartie's infrastructure and is not shared with any third party. Usage data for the Service's website is collected using proprietary cookies as well as other tracking technologies, in order to determine the popularity of our Service's modules and online activity. In addition, we use this information to optimize the Service's editorial content and its user experience and interface. Sensitive input fields (email addresses, numbers) are masked before being recorded.

Users can manage their cookie preferences via an information banner or their browser settings.

10. Advertising

Since the Service is free, we fund it through advertising.

Google uses cookies to help serve ads on its partners' websites, such as sites displaying Google ads or sites that are members of an advertising network approved by Google. When a User visits this type of site, a cookie may be placed in their browser.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a User's prior visits to our Service and to other websites. Through advertising cookies, Google and its partners personalize the ads shown on our Service to Users based on their browsing on our Service and/or other websites. Users can choose to opt out of personalized advertising in Ads Settings.

The User is informed of this on their first visit.

11. Processing of personal data

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR - EU 2016/679) and the amended French Data Protection Act ("Informatique et Libertés"), the publisher is committed to ensuring the protection, confidentiality, and security of Users' personal data on the Service.

Data collected

Personal data that may be collected when using the Service includes:

Email address (if the User creates an account or subscribes to the newsletter);

Username (when saving a score or creating an account);

Connection and usage data (IP addresses, logs, anonymized statistics);

Scores and performance in Quiz games;

Information submitted through contact forms.

This data is strictly necessary for the proper functioning of the Service, the display of leaderboards, the continuous improvement of content, the security of the Service, and communication with Users.

Data of minors

The Service is not intended for minors under the age of 16 without parental consent. No personal data is intentionally collected from minors under 16. If the publisher becomes aware that a minor has submitted personal data without authorization, that data will be deleted as soon as possible.

Purposes

Personal data is processed for the following purposes:

Management of User accounts;

Display of leaderboards and performance in Quiz games;

Analysis of Service usage for improvement purposes;

Sending information about the Service, including by email (if the User has consented to receive the newsletter);

Responding to requests submitted through the contact form.

Legal basis

Processing is based on:

The performance of the contract (access to and use of the Service);

The User's consent (newsletter, cookies);

The publisher's legitimate interest (improving the Service, security, fraud prevention).

Retention period

Data is retained for the period strictly necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless otherwise required by law. Account data is retained as long as the account remains active. Scores may be retained anonymously for statistical purposes.

Data security

The publisher implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal data, including:

Encryption of sensitive data;

Access control restricted to authorized personnel;

Regular backups;

Regular system updates to prevent vulnerabilities.

Recipients

The data collected is intended exclusively for the publisher. No personal data is sold, transferred, or rented to third parties. Some data may be hosted by technical service providers (hosting provider, analytics tools) located in the European Union or in a country offering an adequate level of protection.

Users' rights

In accordance with applicable regulations, Users have the following rights:

Right of access: to know what data is held about them;

Right of rectification: to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;

Right to object: to object to certain processing;

Right to erasure: to request the deletion of their data;

Right to restriction: to request the temporary suspension of processing;

Right to data portability: to receive their data in a structured format;

Right to withdraw consent at any time.

Users can exercise their rights by sending an email to contact@emiliencosson.fr.

If in doubt about exercising these rights, Users may contact the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés): www.cnil.fr.

12. Updates to these terms of service

The publisher reserves the right to modify these terms of service at any time, by publishing them on the website https://geocartie.net (on this page). Changes take effect as soon as they are published.

It is the User's responsibility to regularly review the terms of service to stay informed of any changes.