AskGWINnett
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Privacy Policy

AskGWINnett is a civic information chat for Gwinnett County residents. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and what stays on your device.

Who we are

AskGWINnett helps residents look up public county information — parks, property, millage, meetings, elections, traffic, and similar topics — through a chat interface. It is an independent project and is not an official website of Gwinnett County government.

What we collect

We collect and process only what is needed to answer your questions:

  • Chat messages — the questions you send and the replies we return, so the assistant can answer follow-ups in the same conversation.
  • Chat logs — we keep a server-side log of questions asked and a summary of each answer (including which data tools were used, response timing, and your language setting). Logs are not tied to an account or identity, and we use them to find wrong answers and improve the service.
  • Feedback you choose to send — if you report a bad answer or use the Feedback form, we store what you submit (including the related question and answer, and your email only if you include it so we can reply). Feedback messages are also emailed to the site operator.
  • Optional location — if you ask for restaurants or shopping “near me,” your browser may share approximate coordinates for that request. We do not require an account or continuous tracking.
  • Technical signals — limited request data such as IP address and user agent, used by hosting providers for security, rate limiting, and basic operations.
  • Anonymous visit counts — we use Vercel Web Analytics to see how many people visit and which pages they view. It is cookieless, does not identify individual visitors, and does not track you across other sites.

We do not create user accounts, show ads, or sell your personal information.

What stays on your device

On your browser we may store chat history and your language preference in localStorage. You can clear the chat from the app; clearing site data in your browser removes these items. See our Cookie Policy for storage details.

How we use it

We use this information to:

  • Generate answers grounded in public data tools (county GIS, curated facts, news feeds, and similar sources)
  • Look up nearby restaurants or shopping when you ask (via Google Places)
  • Keep the conversation coherent across turns
  • Review logged questions and feedback to correct wrong answers and decide which topics to add next
  • Operate, secure, and improve the service

Service providers

Trusted third parties process data only to provide their part of the service:

  • Vercel — hosts the website and provides anonymous, cookieless visit statistics (Vercel Web Analytics).
  • API hosting (currently Heroku) — runs the AskGWINnett backend.
  • AI provider (currently Google Gemini) — generates answers from your chat messages and tool results. If you ask in a language other than English, your question is machine-translated to English for processing and the answer is translated back into your language.
  • Google Firebase (Firestore) — stores chat logs and feedback submissions.
  • Google Places / Maps — nearby restaurant and shopping lookups when you request them.
  • Public data sources — including Gwinnett County ArcGIS layers, GDOT, NWS, utility outage maps, and published county materials.

These providers have their own privacy policies. Data may be processed in the United States or other countries where they operate.

Data retention

Chat history on your device remains until you clear it or clear browser storage. Server-side chat logs and feedback submissions are kept while they are useful for improving the service, then deleted. Hosting and provider logs are retained only as needed for operations and security, subject to each provider’s practices.

Your choices

You can decline location permission, clear chat history in the app, or stop using the site. For questions about this policy, contact the site operator through the channels published with the AskGWINnett project.

Children

AskGWINnett is intended for a general audience seeking civic information. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children for marketing or profiling.

Cookies and similar storage

We rely mainly on browser local storage for preferences and chat history. We do not use marketing or advertising cookies. Details are in the Cookie Policy.

Terms

Your use of AskGWINnett is also governed by our Terms of Service.

Changes

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will post the current version on this page and update the “Last updated” date below when we make material changes.

Last updated: July 2026