trace privacy notice

Camera verification

When you activate the camera, your browser aligns the rotating artwork with the gallery display. For verification it sends three low-resolution, black-and-white artwork samples and their times. Trace checks them in memory and discards them after the check. Camera images and video stay on your device. The camera stops when verification ends, you leave the page, or you stop it.

Your visit and viewing time

With standard viewing, an active trace display starts a visit after 30 seconds of visible viewing, subject to the artist's inclusion and exclusion settings. In editions set to verified human visits, a new visit starts after pairing with the display, verification and acceptance of the participation terms. A cookie scoped to the artwork keeps ordinary reloads on the same visit. A separate random browser code lets Studio manage the display and optionally give it a private name. Studio can see whether an active visit uses a QR link, opens the viewer directly or uses a gallery display. Studio can also see the current viewing duration rounded down to minutes. When a display disconnects, Studio can still see any settings it saved for that display. A display QR associates your browser with that screen. A guest browser returns to its one visit in the artwork, and an account can have a visit per screen in that artwork. The credits can show whether a visit started at a public or private display. They do not identify the display.

After you verify a private display and accept the participation terms, Trace remembers that verification for the same browser and screen across artworks. It stores a protected code derived from the two random browser identifiers. A public display does not create remembered verification. On a private display you can choose to highlight your visit on that screen; the highlight is temporary and can be switched off. Clearing site data disconnects that browser from its remembered displays.

Trace uses the artwork's geometry and session timing for growth. Public visit names and links across artworks are optional and require a separate action. Viewing updates stop when the page is hidden or closed. Trace uses short verification windows, session identifiers and protected network identifiers to limit abuse.

Trace Network

An account is optional. A guest browser can claim one visit per artwork. When signed in, your visits are counted under your account, with a length per visit and a total for each artwork. A public username is reserved to the person or guest browser that claims it.

To sign in, you provide an email address so the mail service can send a short-lived code. Trace keeps a protected hash of the address for future sign-in and does not store the address in its account database. The mail service processes the address to deliver the code. Sign-in does not subscribe you to artwork announcements. A mailing list would ask separately for an address and permission.

Visitor totals include length added, artworks, visits and views of your visits. Top visitors uses the name you choose or a generated pseudonym. If you choose to link your visits, trace uses your consent and a cookie that lasts up to one year. Accepting the participation terms does not enable that optional link. You can withdraw consent with the button below. It removes the cross-artwork link and clears the cookie while preserving the visits.

Growth rates use measured periods of visible viewing while visits grow. The public figures are rates of growth. Individual viewing intervals are private.

Selections of other people's visits are counted. To reduce repeats within 30 minutes the service temporarily uses a viewing-session identifier or a protected network identifier. It publishes totals. Individual viewing histories stay private.

The edition stores the geometry of each visit and participation times. When you choose to claim a visit, it also stores the terms version you accepted. Trace uses its legitimate interests in creating the work, protecting its integrity and keeping accurate totals. Ordinary editions can use coarse device and browser characteristics and other settings, such as language, theme, screen size and interaction timing, to shape a visit. If you name your visit, it may appear in public credits and in exported editions. Leave it blank to take part without a public name. Credits can show coarse device and browser categories.

Retention

The hosted project library retains artworks, acceptance records and visitor totals until the artist deletes the artwork. Optical samples, active viewing updates and display highlights are temporary. Remembered private verification is retained to support return visits. Account codes expire after ten minutes. The account cookie lasts up to 30 days and signing out revokes the current session. The login hash is retained to allow you to return to your account. The optical viewing cookie lasts up to 24 hours. Studio display codes, names and inclusion choices are valid for up to one year. Ordinary editions retain visit and acceptance records with the edition, and completed artwork and credits may be preserved and exhibited. The ordinary edition cookie can last up to 400 days.

Artwork statistics

The gallery can show each artwork’s total time on a designated display and total verified viewing time. The latter combines visible time after a successful camera check while verification is valid, including remembered verification on a private display. Trace keeps these totals by artwork without saving individual viewing records for these figures.

The optical lab sends totals for page opens, successful optical verifications, new visits and tip extensions to its privately hosted Matomo installation. These are counts of actions, not counts of people. Matomo receives batches from the server without visitors' network addresses, browser identifiers, cookies, names, camera data or individual viewing histories. No analytics script or analytics cookie is installed in your browser for this lab.

Questions and requests

Dijk Grootswagers is the data controller for trace. For privacy questions, requests to access, correct, erase, restrict or transfer your data where applicable, or to object to processing, email organism.world@proton.me. You may also lodge a complaint with your data protection authority, including the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens in the Netherlands.