Data Use Policy

Effective October 18, 2026 · This policy is part of the Terms of Use. It applies to the website, the API, MCP connections, exports and anything you build with SOS.city data.

SOS.city exists to help people and businesses understand their city: is the water safe, is the power out, is there a fire near the building, what permits are open, what grants are available. It does not exist to judge people.

Not for screening people (FCRA)

SOS.city is not a consumer reporting agency, and nothing from SOS.city is a consumer report. We don't collect information to judge people. We don't follow the accuracy, dispute and notice procedures that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and state laws like California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act require.

So you may not use SOS.city, in whole or in part, as a factor in deciding whether a person is eligible for:

• housing, including tenant screening, rental applications, lease renewals and evictions
• employment, including hiring, promotion, retention and volunteer or contractor screening
• credit, loans or insurance
• a licence, government benefit or other permissible purpose listed in the FCRA

You also may not resell or give SOS.city data to anyone for those purposes. If you need a consumer report, use a consumer reporting agency that complies with the FCRA.

For property managers (our first users): use SOS.city to run your buildings. That covers water and power alerts, fire and weather warnings, permits, code cases and inspections on your properties, and utility rates and programmes. Do not use it to screen applicants or tenants. Also note that fair housing laws, and local fair-chance housing ordinances in places like Los Angeles County, limit what you may consider about applicants even when you use a proper screening company.

Not for finding or tracking people

You may not use SOS.city to:

• find, locate, follow, watch, profile, dox, harass, threaten or intimidate anyone
• put together information about a specific private individual
• identify people from records that have had personal details removed, or link records to re-identify them
• target or exclude people based on race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, familial status, source of income, age or any other protected characteristic

Some sources are link-only: we point to the official page and never copy the data. Sex-offender registries, jail logs and arrest booking photos are link-only. Using registry information to harass or harm anyone may be a crime. Eviction records are shown only in aggregate, and California eviction records are masked as state law requires (Code of Civil Procedure §1161.2).

Respect each source's licence

Each record carries its source's terms. Where a source requires attribution, keep it. Where it requires share-alike (for example, OpenStreetMap's ODbL), follow it. Where we mark a source "check terms", read its terms before you copy its data. See Sources and Licences.

Don't rely on it in an emergency

Alerts and data can be delayed or wrong. Life-safety decisions belong to official channels. See Emergencies.

If you break this policy

We may suspend or close the account and revoke keys without a refund. We may also report illegal use to the authorities. If you learn that SOS.city data was used to screen or harm someone, tell us at legal@sos.city.

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