Geoprivacy, or location privacy, controls how precisely other people see where you found something. It protects sensitive sites, rare species and places like your home.
The Three Levels
Open
- Your exact map pin and coordinates are shown.
- The address and what3words address are shown.
Best for: common species in public places such as parks, woods and nature reserves.
Obscured
- The map shows an approximate point placed randomly a few kilometres from the real spot (currently up to about 5km). The point is always on land, so coastal finds don’t appear in the sea.
- Coordinates and what3words are hidden. Only the general area, such as the nearest town, is shown.
- The approximate point stays the same when you edit the observation, so saving it again doesn’t give away more about the real location.
Best for: uncommon species, private land or anywhere you’d rather not pinpoint.
Private
- No map, coordinates, address or what3words are shown to others.
- GPS data in your photos isn’t used to fill in the location, and it’s removed from your photos when they’re stored.
Best for: rare or vulnerable species, your garden, or any site you want to keep confidential.
Who Can See the Exact Location?
| Open | Obscured | Private | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other members and visitors | Exact | Approximate | Hidden |
| You | Exact | Exact | Exact |
| Identifiers and administrators | Exact | Exact | Exact |
Identifiers can see exact locations so they can check that an identification fits the habitat and area.
Choosing Your Setting
- Set a default in your settings. See Setting Your Default Privacy.
- Change it per observation when recording or editing. See Changing Privacy Per Observation.
| Situation | Suggested setting |
|---|---|
| Common species in public woodland | Open |
| In your garden | Obscured or Private |
| Rare species that could be over-collected | Obscured or Private |
| Private land visited with permission | Obscured |
| Species of conservation concern | Obscured or Private |
Protected Species
For legally protected UK fungi, a minimum setting is applied automatically when you submit: Private for Schedule 8 species and Obscured for Section 41 species. See Protected Species and Location Privacy.
Geoprivacy Elsewhere
- NBN Atlas: Open observations are shared with full precision, Obscured ones only with their approximate point, and Private ones aren’t shared at all. See NBN Atlas Data Sharing.
- iNaturalist: you choose a separate setting when you export. See Understanding iNaturalist Geoprivacy.