Privacy & Legal
The free map and free-tier API (this site, and api.outages.uk's free-tier keys) don't require an account and don't collect personal data beyond what's described below. The premium console (console.outages.uk) does require an account and does collect personal data — see "Premium console" below.
We use Google Analytics to understand site traffic, and Google AdSense to show ads that help cover the cost of running this site. Both may set cookies. On your first visit, our own banner asks whether you're happy with analytics cookies — you can change your answer at any time below. Ad cookies are covered separately by Google's own consent dialog. The map and postcode search work exactly the same regardless of what you choose.
Acceptable use
The API is free to use within its published rate limits. Don't try to get around those limits, resell or republish the raw data without the attribution each operator's licence requires, or use the API in a way that disrupts the service for anyone else. We may suspend or remove any API key, without notice, if we reasonably believe it's being used to break these rules.
Cookies
outages.uk itself sets one cookie, described below. If you accept the cookie dialog, our third-party providers set a few more:
| Cookie | Set by | Why |
|---|---|---|
voted_incidents | Us (outages.uk) | Remembers which power cuts you've confirmed you're affected by, so you can't vote on the same one twice. No personal data -- just a list of incident IDs, kept 90 days. |
_ga | Google Analytics | Tells returning visitors apart, so we can count unique traffic |
_ga_* | Google Analytics | Remembers your current visit (session) |
IDE, test_cookie | Google AdSense | Shows and measures ads |
outages_console_session | Us (console.outages.uk only) | Keeps you signed in to the premium console |
outages_manager_session | Us (internal admin tool only) | Staff sign-in — you'll never see this unless you work here |
These are Google's cookies, not ours — the exact set can change on their side. Google's own cookie policy is the definitive list.
Data protection
Registering for a free-tier API key is the only place the free map/API asks for personal data — just an email address, stored so we know which key is yours. We don't sell or share it.
To see what we hold about you, correct it, or have it deleted, email data@outages.uk. We'll respond within a month, as UK data protection law requires.
Premium console
Signing up for console.outages.uk requires an email address (yours, and any teammate's you invite into your workspace) and, to subscribe, payment details. We use two processors to run the premium service:
| Processor | What they hold | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Name, email, and payment card details | Handles checkout and billing — we never see or store your card details ourselves |
| Amazon Web Services (AWS, eu-west-2/London) | Account emails, workspace names, registered site postcodes, alert history | Hosts our database and application servers |
We store your Stripe customer ID and subscription status ourselves, to know whether your workspace has active access — not your card details. To see what we hold about your workspace, correct it, or have it deleted, email data@outages.uk.