Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 6, 2026

The short version

DamLookup.com has no accounts, no logins, and no sign-up forms, and we set no cookies of our own. We keep no record of who searched for what. But the site does use Google Analytics, shows advertising, and uses outside services to turn an address into a map location. This page explains exactly what that means for the address you type.

The address you search

When you search, the address you typed goes into the page’s web address (after /lookup?q=), so the results page can be bookmarked and shared. Because web addresses travel with every page request, your search is visible to:

• our server, which reads it to build the results page, and its ordinary short-term access logs,
• Cloudflare, which carries traffic to this site,
• Google Analytics, which records the page address you visited,
• advertising partners, which receive the address of the page an ad appeared on,
• and your own browser history, plus anywhere you share the link.

To find the location of an address, your browser sends what you type directly to a geocoding service: Esri ArcGIS, which also suggests addresses as you type, and, if that fails, OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim service. Those services receive your search text and your IP address and handle it under their own policies (Esri, OpenStreetMap Foundation).

You do not need to enter your own home address. A town, a ZIP code, or a nearby landmark works just as well.

“Use my current location”

This button asks your browser for your location, and your browser asks you for permission first. If you allow it, your latitude and longitude are put into the results page’s web address in place of a typed address, so they reach the same places listed above. If you would rather not share precise coordinates, type a town or ZIP code instead.

Maps

Maps are drawn with the open-source Leaflet library, loaded from unpkg.com, using map images from OpenStreetMap. Loading a map means your browser requests images for the area being shown, so the tile servers see your IP address and which area you are viewing.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to see which pages get visited and how people move through the site. It uses cookies and reports to us only in aggregate — we cannot see individual visitors. You can opt out with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Advertising

Advertising on this site is served through Mediavine Journey. Journey and its advertising partners may use cookies, device identifiers and similar technologies to select and measure ads, including ads based on your activity on other sites. What they typically receive includes your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you viewed and the time of your visit.

You can limit or opt out of personalised advertising here:

• Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out (US)
• Your Online Choices (EU/UK)
• Network Advertising Initiative opt-out
• Google Ads Settings

Mediavine’s own disclosures are at mediavine.com/privacy-policy. Where consent is required, a consent prompt is presented before personalised ads are served, and you can change your choice at any time through that prompt.

Other companies whose servers your browser contacts

• Cloudflare — carries all traffic to this site.
• Google — analytics, and the fonts used on the page (Google Fonts).
• Esri and OpenStreetMap — address lookup and map images, as above.
• unpkg.com — serves the Leaflet map library.
• Mediavine Journey and its partners — advertising, as above.

Each of these sees your IP address because your browser requested a file from it.

Server logs

Like any website, our server and Cloudflare record ordinary access information — IP address, browser type, the pages requested (including search addresses, as above), and timestamps — for security and troubleshooting. These logs are kept only for a short period, are not sold or shared, and are not used to build profiles of visitors.

What we do not do

We do not require or accept accounts. We set no cookies of our own. We have no contact forms, mailing list, or newsletter, and we do not collect email addresses through the site. We do not keep a history of searches tied to anyone. We do not sell personal information.

The dam data

The dam records on this site come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams, a public dataset about structures, not people. Owner names shown are as published in that dataset.

Your rights

If you are a California resident, the CCPA/CPRA gives you the right to know what personal information is collected about you and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information ourselves; to opt out of personalised advertising specifically, use the links above.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable law, you have rights of access, correction, deletion and restriction under the GDPR or its local equivalent. Because we hold no accounts and keep no search history, we usually have nothing on file to return or delete — but for any request or question, write to p@pwhite.org.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, the “last updated” date above will change.

Contact

Privacy questions: p@pwhite.org