Privacy and terms

Searches

When you search, the name and place you typed are sent to our server, which asks a web search provider (the Brave Search API) for matching pages and returns the links to you. The provider receives the words of your query, not your IP address or anything about your browser, under Brave's Search API privacy policy. Our server caches the results of each distinct query for up to 7 days so a repeat of the same search does not cost another provider call; the cache holds the query text and the results, never who searched. To keep the service free and for people rather than scripts, the search is protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks that a browser is being used by a person without a puzzle in most cases and sends no personal data to us; a passed check sets a short-lived, strictly necessary cookie, ol_human, that lasts 30 minutes and holds a signed expiry, nothing about you. We also count searches per connection for one hour and in total per day and per month; those counters hold a number, not a history. The service runs on a fixed monthly budget; once it is spent, searching pauses and the page offers to email you when it reopens. If you leave your address there, we store it with the words of that one search and use it for that one notice, nothing else; write to us to have it removed.

Every result is a link to another website. We do not copy, host, edit or remove obituaries, and we are not responsible for the content, accuracy or availability of the pages we link to. Contact the publishing site about anything on it.

What we collect

We use Plausible Analytics and Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used: pages visited, the referring site, country, device and browser type, and one event that records that a search ran, whether a place was given, and how many results came back as a band (none, a few, many); the name you searched for is never sent to analytics. Plausible is cookieless and keeps no personal data. Google Analytics is provided by Google, which processes this data on our behalf under its data processing terms; it sets the cookies listed under Cookies and storage below and does not store IP addresses. We keep Google Analytics data for 14 months. We run it with Google signals and ad personalization turned off and do not use it for advertising; in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland it runs without cookies until you accept Analytics. See Google's Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can switch both off: turn Analytics off in the cookie preferences and neither tool counts your visits, and the Google Analytics cookies are removed.

There are no accounts, no tracking pixels, no fingerprinting, and no ad networks.

Cookies and storage

The site sets one first-party cookie on every page, ol_consent, which records the choice you make in the cookie notice so we do not ask again, and one on the search API only, ol_human, described above. It lasts 180 days, is mirrored in your browser's local storage under ol-consent, and holds nothing about you beyond that choice. If you allow Functional storage, two more local-storage entries remember your preferences: ol-theme, whether you chose the dark or the light look, and ol-lang, the language you last picked (so a page in another language can offer yours back; we never redirect). Decline Functional and neither is stored. Plausible sets no cookies; Google Analytics sets two, only while Analytics is on: _ga, Google Analytics: a random identifier that lets us tell a returning browser from a new one when counting visits (2 years), and _ga_0KLK1CD4G8, Google Analytics: keeps the state of the current visit (2 years). If you leave the notice unanswered it closes itself after about twenty seconds and records what is already running: Essential on, Functional off, Analytics on. In the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google Analytics stays cookieless until you accept Analytics. Nothing new starts at that moment, and Your privacy choices in the footer of every page reopens your preferences at any time.

Hosting

The site runs on Cloudflare's network. Like any content delivery network, Cloudflare may keep short-lived operational logs (such as IP address and requested URL) for security and abuse prevention; those are governed by Cloudflare's privacy policy. We keep a small sample of our own request logs for a few days to fix errors; they are not used to profile anyone.

Terms of use

ObitLookup is provided free of charge and as is, without warranty of any kind. Results come from third-party websites and a third-party search provider; they may be incomplete, out of date or wrong, and we make no promise that a notice exists or can be found. Use the search for personal, family-history and research purposes; do not use it to harass anyone, to build a database of people, or to send automated queries. We may limit, suspend or change the service at any time. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss arising from use of the site or of the sites it links to. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States, and any dispute will be heard in the courts of Palm Beach County, Florida, except where consumer law in your country gives you rights that cannot be waived.

Children

The site is not directed at children under 13 and we knowingly collect no personal data from anyone, children included.

Questions

Email hello@obitlookup.com. We read everything.