Data Use & Privacy Policy

All observational records, compiled datasets, metadata, database structures, and related materials provided by the Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center are the exclusive property of the Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center. The Observatory has maintained continuous weather observations at the summit of Great Blue Hill since 1885, and the entirety of that record — its compilation, structure, curation, and organization — constitutes a proprietary database protected under applicable United States law, including copyright law and common law database protections.

All rights not expressly granted in this Policy are reserved by the Observatory. No access to or use of Observatory data shall be construed as a waiver of any rights or as a license to use data beyond the scope expressly stated herein.

This Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. For interactions with international users, this Policy shall apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable local law.

Users located outside the United States acknowledge that they are accessing Observatory data from a United States-based institution, that the data is maintained and served from within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that United States law governs the terms of access.

Any dispute arising from or related to this Policy or the use of Observatory data shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. By accessing Observatory data, all users — including those located outside the United States — consent to personal jurisdiction in Massachusetts and waive any objection to the venue or inconvenience of such forum.

The Observatory makes no representation that its data or services comply with the laws of any jurisdiction outside the United States. Users who access Observatory data from outside the United States do so at their own risk and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws to the extent applicable.

Observatory data are made available for the following limited, non-commercial purposes only:

• Personal study and analysis
• Educational classroom use
• Student projects
• Non-commercial academic research
• Publication of analyses, figures, models, or conclusions derived from the data, subject to the attribution requirements of Section 4

All other uses require prior written authorization from the Observatory. Permitted uses do not include any commercial, operational, consulting, or product development purpose.

Any use of Observatory data in any published, presented, or publicly distributed work must include the following verbatim acknowledgment:

Failure to include proper attribution is a material violation of this Policy and may constitute infringement of the Observatory's proprietary rights.

Unless explicitly authorized in writing by the Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center, Users may not:

• Resell, license, sublicense, or commercially exploit Observatory data in any form
• Redistribute the dataset in whole or in part to any third party
• Publish the dataset for download by third parties
• Host, mirror, or archive the dataset on any external website, repository, or storage service
• Upload the dataset to any public or institutional data repository
• Provide the data through APIs, automated services, or subscription platforms
• Incorporate the data into any commercial product, software, application, or service
• Use the data for operational decision-making within any commercial enterprise
• Use the data for training, fine-tuning, or evaluating any artificial intelligence or machine learning system intended for commercial use or external distribution
• Use the data to create derivative datasets that enable reconstruction or replication of the underlying observations
• Selectively present or misrepresent the data in any manner that could mislead others about the nature of the original observations

These restrictions apply to the original dataset and any dataset substantially derived from Observatory data. Removal of Observatory metadata, identifiers, or attribution information does not remove these restrictions.

Organizations or individuals seeking to use Observatory data for commercial, operational, consulting, or product development purposes must obtain a commercial license from the Observatory prior to any such use. Commercial use includes but is not limited to:

• Climate analytics services and platforms
• Weather data products or subscription services
• Infrastructure planning or risk modeling tools
• Insurance and actuarial applications
• Energy and utility forecasting
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning products
• Any product or service sold to third parties that incorporates Observatory data

Licensing inquiries should be directed to data@bluehill.org. Licensing fees support the continued operation of the Observatory and the preservation of its historic weather record.

Automated scraping, bulk harvesting, or systematic downloading of Observatory data is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization. The Observatory reserves the right to restrict, throttle, or block automated access at its sole discretion without notice.

Violation of this Policy may result in immediate revocation of data access, pursuit of legal remedies available under United States law, and referral to applicable authorities. The Observatory reserves all rights to seek injunctive relief, damages, and attorneys' fees in connection with any unauthorized use of its data. Acceptance of this Policy constitutes a binding agreement, and the Observatory shall be entitled to enforce it as such in courts of competent jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This section governs the collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal information collected from visitors to the Blue Hill Observatory website and users of its data services. The Observatory is committed to protecting user privacy to the extent consistent with its operational requirements and applicable law.

The Observatory may collect the following categories of information:

• Contact information (name, email address, organization) when voluntarily submitted via inquiry or licensing forms
• Usage data, including IP addresses, browser type, referring URLs, and pages visited, collected automatically through server logs and analytics tools
• Data download records, including the identity of users who register for dataset access

Information collected by the Observatory is used solely for the following purposes:

• Responding to inquiries and processing licensing requests
• Monitoring and enforcing compliance with this Policy
• Improving Observatory website performance and user experience
• Communicating Observatory news and updates to users who have opted in

The Observatory does not sell, rent, or share personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

The Observatory retains personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, or as required by applicable law. Data access records may be retained indefinitely for compliance and enforcement purposes.

The Observatory is located in the United States. If you are accessing Observatory data or services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country of residence.

By using Observatory data or services, international users explicitly consent to the transfer of their personal information to the United States and to the processing of that information in accordance with this Policy and United States law. The Observatory does not represent that its data practices satisfy the requirements of any non-US legal framework, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the UK GDPR. Users who require specific data processing agreements under non-US law must contact the Observatory in advance at data@bluehill.org before accessing data.

The Observatory website may use cookies and similar tracking technologies for analytics and functionality purposes. Users may disable cookies through their browser settings; however, doing so may affect website functionality. By continuing to use the Observatory website, users consent to the use of cookies as described in this Policy.

The Observatory implements reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access or disclosure. However, no data transmission or storage system is completely secure, and the Observatory cannot guarantee the absolute security of user information.

Observatory data services are not directed at children under the age of 13. The Observatory does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If such information is inadvertently collected, it will be deleted upon discovery.

The Observatory reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time at its sole discretion. Updated versions will be posted at bluehill.org. Continued use of Observatory data or services following any modification constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy. It is the User's responsibility to review this Policy periodically.

If any provision of this Policy is found to be unenforceable or invalid under applicable law, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and all remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

This Policy constitutes the entire agreement between the User and the Observatory with respect to the subject matter herein and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous agreements, representations, or understandings, whether written or oral.

Questions regarding this Policy, requests for data access, redistribution permissions, or commercial licensing should be directed to: