Looking out for people, pets and community.
Privacy
A plain explanation of what ParkOwl collects, what it doesn't, and how the anonymous reporting system works. Updated for version 2.7.
No accounts, no names
There is no sign-up, login, or user profile anywhere on this site. Status reports, busy-level reports, and confirmations are never linked to a name, email address, or public identity.
How the anonymous identifier works
- Each report is tagged with a SHA-256 hash of a secret key, the current calendar day, your IP address, and your browser's user-agent string.
- Because it's a one-way hash, the original IP address cannot be recovered from it.
- It changes every day. A report made today cannot be linked to one made tomorrow, even from the same device.
- Used for a 5-minute cooldown between reports from the same device, for counting how many different people agreed, for counting visits, and for checks that help the site operator spot misuse.
What the site operator can see about a report
So that fake or abusive reports can be spotted, the site operator (through a password-protected admin page) can see, for each report: the time, the park, the status, an approximate location (country and state only, never a street or suburb), the name of the internet provider (for example "Telstra"), a general description of the browser (for example "iPhone, Safari"), and a short code that only shows two reports came from the same device on the same day.
This detail is deleted automatically after 30 days. It is never shown to the public. No IP address is stored.
Counting visits
To understand when people use ParkOwl, each page view is counted. A count records the time, which page and park, the same daily-changing anonymous code described above, and the same approximate location (country and state), provider name and browser type. No IP address is stored, and the code changes every day, so visits cannot be followed from one day to the next. The location, provider and browser detail is deleted after 30 days; after that only the time, page and code remain, as a count. Only the site operator can see this, through the password-protected admin page.
Where reports can come from
For now, ParkOwl only accepts reports from people connecting from a supported area (currently Victoria, Australia), with plans to expand. To check this, your connection's approximate location (country and state only) is looked up at the moment you send a report. Nothing more precise is used, and this check does not store your IP address. Viewing the site, and the request-a-park and feature-interest forms, are open to everyone.
On your own device
Your browser remembers a few small things: the time of your last report and what happened to it (for a few minutes, so the page can tell you), the park you last viewed, the park you chose as your default if you used the star, and the site's current look so the page doesn't flicker. These stay on your device and are never sent to us. Clearing your browser data removes them.
What we don't store
- No IP addresses.
- No browsing or location history beyond which ParkOwl page and park you viewed, and when.
- No public list of who reported what.
What is shown publicly: "Reported today" and the calendar
The site shows what was reported earlier today, and a calendar of past bookings with whether they were used for sport. For each entry the public sees only the time, the status (no sport · free to use, partly in use, sport, restricted), how busy it was and how many different people agreed. The calendar can list each report on a day separately, still with only the time, status and busy level. It never shows who reported, where from, or on what device. If you report the oval free during a booking, you can also say whether any sport was played that day; that answer is kept with the report and used to count the hours given back to the community.
Locks by an admin
A small number of trusted people, chosen by the site operator, can set an admin override on a park's status for a set time (4 hours unless they choose otherwise). The public sees this as "locked by an admin", and "Reported today" lists it as an admin override with its start and end times, but never who it was. Their private link is stored only as a one-way hash, never in readable form. The site operator keeps an internal log of who set each lock.
Request-a-park and feature-interest forms
If you fill in these forms, you're providing your name and email voluntarily, used only to consider your request or follow up about features — never sold or used for unrelated marketing. Submissions are stored in the site's database and reviewed directly by the site operator, who marks each one as actioned or dismissed.
How long reports are kept
A report counts towards the live status for 4 hours, or until someone reports a change. When a booked sport session finishes, reports made before the finish stop counting towards the live status (reports of a restriction keep their 4 hours). After that it no longer affects the live status, but the time, status and number of agreeing people are kept so the calendar and "hours claimed back" tally can be shown. The approximate-location, provider and browser detail described above is deleted after 30 days.
Who can see usage data
A password-protected admin page shows usage statistics, the activity log and the report detail described above to the site operator only.
Questions
Use the "Share feature interest" form on the main page to get in touch.