---
title: "Privacy and control"
locale: en
status: published
id: privacy-and-control
ownerWorkItem: PILOT-01
reviewed: 2026-10-29
applicableRelease: local-OPS-03
collection: help
---

# Privacy and control

The local preview uses a functional browser cookie to remember your place. A private return link is optional and grants access to your chapters and current holder controls. Only its verifier is stored. It expires after 180 days. Confirmation replaces it and signs in a new browser; existing devices stay signed in. A public journey link grants no private authority. A scan proves URL access, not physical possession.

All contribution choices are optional. Marks and preset messages are public after acceptance. Only countries from the offered list can be selected; no location is preselected or inferred. A country stays private until both the next accepted handoff and 24 hours after your chapter. Public chapters show a month, not an exact time.

Public journey links do not let someone act as you. The preview has no participant profiles, direct messages, free-text notes or participant uploads.

Open your private item view and choose “Remove my contribution” beside your own chapter. Read the confirmation before removing it. A neutral chapter remains, and the holder does not change. You can remove a chapter after passing the item on or returning with your private link. This is not full personal-data erasure.

Reporting uses a separate functional cookie, valid for seven days, without creating a participant or scan permission. It lets only this browser view its own saved receipt and limits repeated requests. The optional explanation is stored privately and never appears in the public journey. Clearing the cookie can lose receipt access, not delete the report. Authorized staff can review reports privately. Approved retention and full erasure remain later work; no response time is promised.

If the public page becomes unavailable, reload your remembered item page or use your saved private link. “Your journeys” still offers a private link to your own chapter controls, without reopening the public story. You can remove your contribution there.