Terms of use

Using this site

These terms govern use of the Chart People website and Chicago Data dashboard on this site. If you do not agree with them, please do not use these services. Chart People is an independent project and is not an official City of Chicago website.

The dashboards are public and do not require an account. Optional analytics permission is separate from these terms and is not required to use the site. See our privacy policy and cookie policy.

Data and interpretation

The site provides informational visualizations of published records, not legal, medical, financial or public-safety advice. Do not use a chart as the sole basis for decisions affecting a person’s health, safety, rights or access to services.

Published records may be delayed, incomplete, reclassified or corrected. Coverage, retrieval dates, filters and definitions matter. A count of reported incidents is not a population-adjusted rate or proof of causation. A business-license record can be a renewal rather than a new business.

Zeros and missing observations have different meanings. A fitted trend describes selected observations under stated assumptions; it is not a prediction or guarantee. Verify important conclusions against the cited source and relevant expertise.

Reports and source rights

You may share dashboard exports for informational use. Keep source attribution, dates, filters and coverage notes with the report so others can understand what it represents. Do not present an altered report as an unchanged Chart People export.

Underlying datasets and third-party content remain subject to their publishers’ applicable terms and rights. Public access to a dashboard does not grant ownership of those materials or a license to the private repository, backend implementation or branding. Do not imply endorsement by Chart People or a source publisher.

Acceptable use

Do not attempt unauthorized access, bypass service safeguards, interfere with other users, introduce malicious code, or make requests at a volume that disrupts the service. Do not use the site to harass, discriminate against or unlawfully identify people.

We may limit requests or suspend access to protect the service. Public API availability does not promise unlimited capacity, permanent endpoints or a service-level agreement.

Availability and liability

The site, data and reports are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the extent permitted by applicable law, we do not warrant their accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, or uninterrupted availability.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, Chart People and its contributors are not responsible for losses resulting from reliance on the site, source errors, interruptions or linked third-party services. Nothing in these terms excludes liability or limits rights that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

Projects and data access may change or be withdrawn. Operation Metro Surge has been retired due to data integrity concerns; its dashboard, downloads and related data services are no longer available. Historical COVID-19 pages are separately hosted and may no longer function.

Changes and contact

We may revise these terms and will update the date on this page. Review them when using the service after a change. For questions, corrections, permissions or a concern about these terms, use the footer’s contact link.