Terms of Service

Last updated: October 31, 2025

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing and using TheMap.io ("Service"), you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this agreement.

2. Use License

Permission is granted to temporarily use the Service for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:

Modify or copy the materials
Use the materials for any commercial purpose
Attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on the Service
Remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials

3. User Content & Ownership

You Own Your Data: Users retain full ownership of any maps, GeoJSON data, and content they create or upload to the Service. By uploading content, you grant TheMap.io a non-exclusive, worldwide license to host, store, display, and transmit your content solely as necessary to provide the Service.

Your Responsibilities: You represent and warrant that:

You own or have the necessary rights to all content you upload
Your content does not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights
Your content complies with all applicable laws and regulations
Links you share point to publicly accessible, legal content

Prohibited Content: You may not upload content that is illegal, defamatory, obscene, harassing, or violates the rights of others. We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these terms.

4. Public vs. Private Content

Content marked as "Public" will be visible to all users. Content marked as "Private" will only be visible to you and users you explicitly share it with. We reserve the right to remove content that violates these terms.

5. Disclaimer

The materials on TheMap.io are provided on an 'as is' basis. TheMap.io makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties including, without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights.

6. Limitations

In no event shall TheMap.io or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use or inability to use the Service.

7. Links & Third-Party Content

Link Maps: Our Service allows users to create maps with links to external websites and content. We do not own, control, or endorse the content at these external links. Users are solely responsible for the links they add.

Link Preview Metadata: When you add a link, we automatically fetch publicly available metadata (title, description, thumbnail image) using the iframely API. This metadata is provided by the linked website through standard OpenGraph/Twitter Card tags and is cached on our servers for performance. We respect robots.txt and publisher preferences.

Fair Use: Link previews and thumbnails are displayed for the purpose of providing context and promoting the original content. This constitutes fair use under copyright law. All links direct users to the original source, and we provide proper attribution.

Removal Requests: If you are a copyright holder and believe your content is being improperly linked or displayed, please contact us at dmca@themap.io with details, and we will promptly investigate and remove the content if appropriate.

8. Curated & Editorial Content

TheMap.io Blog Maps: Some maps are created and curated by TheMap.io staff as editorial content. These maps aggregate publicly available information (news articles, government data, public records) and provide geographic context.

Data Sources: Our curated maps use data from:

Public APIs and official data sources (government, census, open data portals)
Publicly available news articles (with links to original sources)
Public records and official documents
User-contributed content (with proper attribution)

We do not reproduce copyrighted content. We provide links, geographic context, and factual summaries that constitute transformative fair use. All original sources are credited and linked.

9. DMCA & Copyright Compliance

TheMap.io respects intellectual property rights and complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We respond to valid takedown notices and have procedures for repeat infringers.

Designated DMCA Agent:
Email: dmca@themap.io
Mail: [Your registered business address when you have one]

To File a DMCA Notice: Include:

Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing (URL on our site)
Your contact information (name, address, email, phone)
A statement that you have a good faith belief the use is not authorized
A statement that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
Your physical or electronic signature

Counter-Notification: If you believe content was removed in error, you may file a counter-notification. We will restore the content unless the copyright owner files a legal action within 10 business days.

10. Automated Access & Scraping

Prohibited Activities: You may not:

Use automated systems (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access the Service
Attempt to overwhelm or disrupt our servers
Reverse engineer or attempt to extract our source code or data
Access the Service for competitive purposes or to build a competing product

API Access: If you need programmatic access, please contact us about our API (when available). Approved API usage will be governed by separate terms.

11. Revisions & Updates

TheMap.io may revise these terms of service at any time. We will notify users of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, by email or in-app notification. By continuing to use the Service after changes are posted, you agree to be bound by the updated terms.

12. Contact & Legal Notices

General Inquiries:
support@themap.io

Privacy Concerns:
privacy@themap.io