Lookout Privacy Statement

Last modified: July 9, 2026

Lookout is a platform for unifying and sharing data for outbreak response, public health, and research. Lookout is provided and controlled by Ben Fry LLC d/b/a Fathom Information Design, a Massachusetts limited liability company (“Fathom,” “we,” or “us”).

While Fathom does not collect any data related to your use of the Lookout software, this Privacy Statement explains what information Fathom collects when you visit this informational website (the “Site,” which includes all pages within the lookout.bio web domain), how we use that data, and when and with whom we share it.

This document does not cover the privacy policies for the Lookout software itself when used in a deployment.

Topics

What data do we collect?

The Site does not collect personal data or personally identifiable information.

As part of routine data collection for us to understand our audience, the Site does collect:

  • Your anonymized IP address;
  • The date and time of the request;
  • The title and URL of the page being viewed;
  • URL of the page that was viewed prior to the current page (referrer URL);
  • The screen resolution being used;
  • The time in your time zone;
  • The files that were clicked and downloaded;
  • The links to an outside domain that were clicked;
  • The time it takes for webpages to be generated by the web server and then downloaded by you (page generation time);
  • Your approximate location: country, region, city, approximate latitude and longitude;
  • Your browser’s main language (Accept-Language header) and user agent (User-Agent header); and
  • Your browser, operating system, type of device being used (desktop, tablet, mobile, etc.), brand, and model.

If you don’t want us to collect this information, you can opt-out by clicking [here].

How do we collect your data?

We collect data when you visit the Site.

The Site uses Matomo to collect and analyze traffic and help us to improve your user experience. Matomo is an open source web analytics platform. A web analytics platform is used by a website owner in order to measure, collect, analyze and report visitors’ data for purposes of understanding and optimizing their website. Learn more about how Matomo tracks information.

How will we use your data?

The Site collects data in order to:

  • Respond to a specific inquiry from you or provide you with access to the Services;
  • Provide, administer, maintain, improve, individualize, and evaluate the Site, the Services, or Web Domain;
  • Develop new products and services;
  • Maintain and improve the functioning and security of the Site, the Services, Web Domain, and our software, systems, and network;
  • Respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; in response to a request for cooperation from law enforcement or another government agency; to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding actual or suspected violations of our Terms of Service, illegal activities, fraud, security or technical issues, misuse of the Site, the Services or Web Domain, or other misconduct, or to enforce our Terms of Service; as otherwise may be required by applicable law; or to protect our rights, property, or safety or those of others;
  • Share anonymized or aggregated information with the public and with third parties, including but not limited to researchers and partners; and
  • Achieve any purpose described elsewhere in this Privacy Statement.

We will not sell your data.

How do we store your data?

Data is stored securely on a server accessible only from our internal network. We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational controls to protect data from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access or disclosure. Unfortunately, sending any information, including personal data and personally identifiable information, via the internet is not completely secure. Given the nature of communications and information processing technology, Fathom cannot guarantee that data during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise in our care will be absolutely safe from intrusion by others.

What are your data protection rights?

Fathom would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

  • The right to access – You have the right to request from us copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
  • The right to rectification – You have the right to request that Fathom correct your personal data if you believe it is inaccurate. You also have the right to request Fathom to complete the data you believe is incomplete.
  • The right to erasure – You have the right to request that Fathom erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that Fathom restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to Fathom’s processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to data portability – You have the right to request that Fathom transfer the personal data that we have collected on your to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

By email:        lookout@fathom.info

By mail:          Ben Fry LLC

c/o Fathom Information Design

300 Cambridge Street, Floor 5

Boston, MA 02114

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information. When you visit our websites, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology. For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org.

How do we use cookies?

We only use first-party cookies. We use cookies to help us learn how well the Site performs. We also use cookies to understand, improve, and research features, and services, including to create logs and record when users access our Site from different devices.

We provide the list below to give you transparency into the cookies used by the Site. While we do our best to keep this table updated, please note that the number and names of cookies and other technologies may change from time to time.

Cookies Source Purpose Lifespan
_pk_id lookout.bio For storing anonymized information, such as a unique visitor ID 13 months
_pk_ref lookout.bio For storing attribution information, namely the referrer you initially used to visit the website 6 months
_pk_ses, _pk_cvar, _pk_hsr lookout.bio For storing analytics-related data for the visit 30 minutes
_pk_testcookie lookout.bio For checking whether your browser supports cookies A few seconds
matomo_sessid chronicle.lookout.bio For storing your data collection preference and ensuring website security 30 minutes

How can you manage your cookies?

You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and this website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our website features may not function as a result.

Collecting data from children

We do not aim the Site at or knowingly collect personal data or personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.

Privacy statements of other websites

The Site contains links to third-party websites that are not under our control. We are not responsible for the collection and use of your information by them or for their content. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and terms of use of each website, application, and resource you visit or use.

Changes to our privacy statement

We may make changes to this Privacy Statement at any time. We will post notice of changes to the Privacy Statement on this webpage, and by accessing the Site after the modifications to this Privacy Statement have been posted, you agree to be bound by the modified Privacy Statement. Accordingly, you should periodically revisit this page to review the then-current Privacy Statement.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or requests about this Privacy Statement or our handling of your information, you may contact us at lookout@fathom.info.

How to contact the appropriate authority

Should you wish to report a complaint or if you feel that Fathom has not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact your local supervisory authority.