Foundation Ranker is an independent planning aid, not an official UK Foundation Programme service. This notice was updated 25 September 2026.
Who is responsible
Neil Sardesai operates this site as an individual. For privacy questions or requests to access, correct or delete your data, email nas60@cam.ac.uk. No company registration details apply.
What the site handles and why
| Information | Purpose and lawful basis | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking and map choices during this visit | Let you use the planning tool. New choices remain in page memory unless you sign in to save the supported settings to your account. | Until you leave or reload the page, unless saved to your account. |
| Google email address and Firebase user ID; synced ranking/map settings | Provide the optional Google sign-in and cross-device sync you request (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b), performance of the service you choose). We do not use these details for marketing. | Until you delete your Foundation Ranker account or request deletion, subject to any provider backups or operational records. |
| Location/postcode searches and chosen travel destination | Find a place and calculate routes when you ask (Article 6(1)(b)). Searches are not saved to your account. The site may reuse short-lived route results for other visitors without keeping their typed search terms in a shared cache key. | New searches are held in page memory only. Shared road-route results can be cached for up to seven days and rail-route results for up to six hours at a hosting edge location. Providers may keep operational logs under their own policies. |
| IP address, browser/network request information | Delivered to the hosting service and necessary third-party services to serve the map, authentication and requested lookups; security and service operation (Article 6(1)(f), legitimate interests in running and protecting the service). | According to the relevant provider's operational-log policies; the site has no separate visitor-analytics database. |
You do not need a Google account to use the map. Google sign-in is required only if you want account sync. There are no marketing sign-up forms or service-email mailing lists.
Services receiving information
- Cloudflare Pages and Pages Functions deliver the site and handle location and travel requests, including a short-lived shared route cache.
- Google Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore handle optional sign-in and synced settings.
- OpenStreetMap tile servers receive map-tile requests, including network information such as your IP address, when the map loads.
- Postcodes.io and Photon/Komoot receive the location search text needed to resolve a place. Do not enter sensitive information into a search field.
- OSRM public routing service receives route coordinates when you request custom driving comparisons. National Rail receives station codes and journey details for rail comparisons via the site's service.
- Buy Me a Coffee receives browser request information if you click the support button and leave this site for buymeacoffee.com; its own privacy terms then apply. The button image is served by this site.
Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Their locations, contracts and any required international-transfer safeguards need periodic review. Contact the controller for current details.
Your choices and rights
When signed in, use the top-right Account menu to download or delete your Foundation Ranker account data. Deletion removes the app's saved settings and Firebase sign-in account, not your Google account. Older versions of this site may have stored your ranking or travel cache locally with your consent; this version stops writing those optional browser records and removes them after a successful account sync. You can also clear this site's browser data in your browser settings.
You may request access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability or object to processing by emailing nas60@cam.ac.uk. Rights are subject to legal conditions; requests are normally answered within one month. You may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
The chance model is a planning estimate. It does not make an official allocation decision or produce a decision with legal or similarly significant effects.
Changes to this notice
Material changes to how data is used will be reflected here. If optional storage or tracking is introduced, the site will seek a choice before enabling it where required.