A quiet space, with clear information about your data
One Candle needs no account, name or email address and includes no advertising or behavioral analytics trackers. Anonymous participation still creates records needed for candles, allowances and totals. This page explains their uses and limits.
The essential cookie for your daily allowance
Your browser stores an essential cookie containing a random identifier and a signature used to validate it. It is HttpOnly, so page scripts cannot read it. Its lifetime is one year, renewed whenever your anonymous session and allowance are successfully retrieved. The server derives an anonymous hash from the identifier to recognize your browser’s allowance and retries without asking for your real identity.
What the database stores
Each candle record stores a derived anonymous visitor hash, the dedication, an optional country or region code, a timestamp and a request identifier to prevent duplicate counts. Separate records store the UTC date and daily allowance used, plus the rate-limit window’s start time and request count. Rate-limit records are updated as requests arrive. The hash links records belonging to the same browser identity; anonymous does not mean those records cannot be linked.
Preferences and pending requests in your browser
Your language preference is saved in a cookie with a maximum lifetime of one year. Your region choice, including choosing not to share a region, is kept in local browser storage with no automatic expiry. This tab’s session storage holds an unconfirmed request’s identifier, dedication and region for retries after a reload. It is removed after confirmation or an error that does not require a retry. Clearing browser data can remove these local records but does not delete candles already held on the server.
How GeoJS estimates your region
When you first open the map without a usable saved region choice or pending request, the browser contacts GeoJS directly to estimate your country, waiting up to three seconds. Clearing stored data may cause another lookup on a later map visit. GeoJS receives your network IP address through this connection. This site uses only the returned country code; it does not request precise device location or store precise coordinates. You can change the result or leave the region unspecified. An existing valid choice prevents this automatic lookup. GeoJS determines how it handles the information it receives.
Network addresses and our logs
Visiting the site requires IP addresses to be transmitted and processed by the servers providing the connection. The application does not store visitor IP addresses. This site’s current Nginx configuration excludes them from access logs and discards error logs that could contain them. Access logs still hold request details such as time, path and status. This describes our application and Nginx configuration; it does not mean GeoJS, internet providers or other network services do not receive or retain IP addresses.
Retention of anonymous records and backups
Anonymous candle and allowance records and other database records, along with database backups, currently have no automatic expiry or scheduled deletion and may remain stored indefinitely. A daily allowance reset, cookie expiry or clearing browser data does not automatically delete them. Backups support recovery and may contain these anonymous records; there is currently no fixed deadline for their deletion.
Choices you can make
You can switch language, change your region or leave it unspecified, and manage cookies and local storage in your browser. A region change affects only new candles submitted afterwards; recorded candles and pending retries keep their original region. Clearing the identity cookie loses the original browser identity and affects allowance tracking and retry recognition. Disabling the essential cookie prevents normal candle submission. Public displays contain aggregate counts, not visitor hashes or request identifiers.
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