Privacy

Last updated October 11, 2026

Abodery is a volunteer history project about Waynesboro, Virginia’s old buildings. You can read every page without an account, and we collect as little as we can.

If you only read the site

We don’t ask who you are and don’t use advertising cookies. Like any website, our host (Google’s Firebase Hosting) receives the technical details every browser sends, such as your IP address and browser type, to deliver pages and protect against abuse. Maps and pictures load from the services that provide them: OpenStreetMap, the Library of Congress, the Virginia Geographic Information Network and the U.S. Geological Survey. Those services see your request the same way.

Searching

Matching by words happens in your browser. To match by meaning, what you type in the search box is also sent to our search service, which asks Google’s Vertex AI to interpret it and returns the closest records. We don’t keep searches or tie them to you; like any web request, Google Cloud’s logs record them for up to 30 days for troubleshooting. Visit counts note that a search happened, not what was searched for.

Counting visits

To learn which pages and features people use, we count visits with Google Analytics (through Google Firebase). It sets a cookie that tells a return visit from a new one, and records the pages you view and features you use, such as opening a map year, the 3D view or a photo, along with general details like your device type and approximate area. We’ve turned off Google’s advertising features and cross-device tracking, never send your name, email or anything you write, keep the detailed records for two months, and don’t count the editors’ or personal account pages.

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, we don’t count your visits at all. Visitors in Europe are asked first, and nothing is counted unless they agree. You can also block it with Google’s opt-out add-on or your browser’s privacy settings; the site works the same either way.

If you sign in to share a memory

You sign in with your Google account. We receive your name, email address and an account ID from Google, and your browser keeps you signed in until you sign out. We use your email only to manage your contributions and, if we need to, to contact you about them. We never show it on the site.

What you share (your text, photos, captions, how you know the place, and the name you choose to be credited with) is stored with Google Firebase. Photos are resized and re-saved when you upload them, which removes hidden details such as the location where a photo was taken. Nothing is shown publicly until an editor approves it, and you can ask to be credited as “A neighbor” instead of by name.

What we don’t do

We don’t sell or rent personal information or share it with advertisers, and we don’t use it to show you ads. We don’t publish the names of current owners or residents, or sale prices. House histories come from public records such as National Register nominations and historic maps.

Seeing, changing and deleting your information

On your contributions page you can see everything you’ve shared, edit it (edits are reviewed again before they appear), or delete it along with its photos. To have your account information removed entirely, or for anything else, email contact@abodery.com.

Children

Abodery isn’t directed at children, and signing in requires a Google account, which is limited to people 13 and older. If you believe a child has shared something, email us and we’ll remove it.

Changes

If we change how we handle information, we’ll update this page and its date. See also our terms of use and contributor terms.