Privacy Policy

Privacy at a glance

Who we are

Nations Atlas ("we," "us," "our") operates the website at https://nationsatlas.com. For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR, we are the data controller of the personal information described in this policy. For the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), we are a business.

Our editorial and business operations are based in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Our contact details are on the contact page. Privacy-specific inquiries should go to privacy@nationsatlas.com.

What we collect

We collect three broad categories of information:

1. Information you give us directly
   • Email address, if you subscribe to our newsletter.
   • Name and email, if you contact us through the contact form or by email.
   • Information you volunteer in a correction submission — your name, city, expertise, and the correction itself.
   • Payment information, if you buy one of our info products (processed by a third-party payment provider — we do not store card details).
2. Information collected automatically
   • IP address (typically truncated for analytics).
   • Device type, browser, and operating system.
   • Referring URL and pages visited on our site.
   • Approximate geographic location (country and region level).
   • Cookies and similar technologies as described in our cookie policy.
3. Information from third parties
   • Aggregate audience analytics from Google Analytics, our ad network, and Pinterest.
   • Nothing that identifies you individually beyond what we already collect directly.

How we use your information

We use the information above only for the purposes listed here:

• To operate the site — load pages, deliver search results, run interactive tools such as the country search and comparison tool.
• To send our newsletter, if you subscribed to it.
• To reply to your correspondence with us.
• To action corrections and credit contributors as they have requested.
• To measure site traffic in aggregate so we can improve our content.
• To serve display advertising (either directly or through an ad network) to help fund the site.
• To process purchases of info products, through a third-party payment provider.
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
• To comply with our legal obligations.

Legal basis (GDPR)

If you are in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction with a similar law, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent — for our newsletter, for non-essential cookies, and for personalised advertising where required.
• Legitimate interest — for site analytics in aggregate, for security, and for basic contextual advertising, balanced against your rights.
• Contract — where you have purchased an info product, we process the information needed to fulfil that purchase.
• Legal obligation — where processing is required by tax, accounting, or other applicable law.

Cookies and tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies as described in our cookie policy. Non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising, personalisation) require your consent where required by law. You can change your consent at any time through the cookie banner or the Cookie preferences link in our footer.

Third parties

We use the following categories of third parties to run the site:

• Analytics: Google Analytics 4. See the Google privacy policy.
• Advertising: initially Ezoic, later Mediavine. See the Ezoic privacy policy and the Mediavine publisher privacy policy.
• Newsletter: Beehiiv. See the Beehiiv privacy policy.
• Hosting: our WordPress hosting provider, subject to its own privacy policy.
• Search Console and IndexNow for search indexing.
• Pinterest for visual distribution, subject to its own privacy policy.
• Payment processors for info product purchases, subject to their own policies.

We do not sell your personal information. We share only what is necessary with the categories of third party above, for the purposes described.

Data retention

We keep personal information only as long as we need it:

• Newsletter subscribers: for as long as you are subscribed, and for 6 months after unsubscribing (to honour your unsubscribe).
• Contact form and correspondence: for up to 24 months, then deleted or anonymised.
• Correction submissions credited on pages: the credit remains on the page indefinitely; personal contact details are deleted within 12 months of the correction being actioned.
• Analytics data: aggregated and retained per Google Analytics defaults (26 months for the default configuration, which we may reduce).
• Purchase records: as long as required by tax and accounting law in the relevant jurisdiction.

Your rights

Regardless of where you live, you can:

• Ask us what personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong.
• Ask us to delete your information (unless we are required to keep it).
• Unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the link in every issue.
• Withdraw cookie consent through the cookie banner or the Cookie preferences footer link.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@nationsatlas.com from the email address associated with the request. We respond within 30 days.

GDPR rights (EU / UK)

If you are in the EU or UK, you have additional rights under GDPR:

• Right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, and portability.
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interest, including direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• Right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

We respond to GDPR requests within 30 days.

CCPA rights (California)

If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA):

• The right to know what personal information we collect and use.
• The right to delete personal information we hold about you.
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

We do not sell personal information. To exercise your CCPA rights, email privacy@nationsatlas.com. We respond within 45 days.

Children's privacy

Nations Atlas is a general audience reference site, not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the equivalent age of consent in your jurisdiction). If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

International transfers

Some of our third-party service providers (Google, Beehiiv, ad networks, payment processors) are based in the United States or other jurisdictions outside the EEA and UK. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on transfer mechanisms recognised under GDPR — typically Standard Contractual Clauses.

Security

We use standard technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information: HTTPS across the site, access controls on our systems, up-to-date software, and vetted third-party providers. No online service is 100% secure, but we work to reduce risk continuously.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will note them prominently on this page, and — for newsletter subscribers — inform you by email. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated.

Contact us about privacy

For any privacy question, request, or complaint:

• Email privacy@nationsatlas.com
• Or write to us at the mailing address on our contact page.