Data sources

Shop records are only imported from sources that are registered with the platform together with their usage rights. Each source entry below lists what we are allowed to use and, where relevant, what we must exclude. The same registry is what a batch has to reference before it can be imported: a record whose source is not registered, or is disabled, is rejected rather than published.

Government licence registries

• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

  Source name: tx_state_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, phone, licence type and expiry.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information and financial data.

  Provider terms: https://www.texas.gov/terms-of-use/

• NYS Department of Taxation and Finance (Open Data NY)

  Source name: ny_state_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, phone, licence type and expiry.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Provider terms: https://data.ny.gov/terms

• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection

  Source name: nyc_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, phone, licence type and status.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Provider terms: https://opendata.cityofnewyork.us/terms-of-use/

• Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

  Source name: pa_state_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, licence type and expiry.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information and tax data.

  Provider terms: https://www.pa.gov/terms-of-use/

• Colorado Department of Revenue

  Source name: co_state_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP and licence type.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Provider terms: https://www.colorado.gov/terms-of-use

• Missouri Department of Revenue

  Source name: mo_state_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP and licence type.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Provider terms: https://dor.mo.gov/about/terms-of-use.php

• Louisville Metro Government

  Source name: louisville_ky_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, licence and business type.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Provider terms: https://data.louisvilleky.gov/terms

• City of Chicago BACP business licences

  Source name: chicago_license

  What we may use: Business name, address, city, state, ZIP, coordinates, licence type and status.

  What we exclude: Owner personal information.

  Registered for the platform; the provider entry is still being aligned with the source registry maintained by our planning team.

  Provider terms: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/narr/foia/data_disclaimer.html

Open data, commercial APIs and submissions

• OpenStreetMap contributors (Overpass API)

  Source name: osm_overpass

  What we may use: Name, address, city, state, ZIP, coordinates, phone, website and opening hours.

  Used under the Open Database Licence, with attribution: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors.

  Provider terms: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright

• Google Maps Platform

  Source name: google_places

  What we may use: Name, address, city, state, ZIP, coordinates, phone, website and opening hours.

  What we exclude: Reviews, ratings, user photos and popular times.

  Google's terms limit caching of this content to 30 days, so records from this source cannot be retained indefinitely.

  Provider terms: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms

• Yelp Fusion API

  Source name: yelp_fusion

  What we may use: Name, address, city, state, ZIP, coordinates and phone.

  What we exclude: Reviews, photos, ratings for display and the Yelp business page URL.

  Provider terms: https://www.yelp.com/developers/api_terms

• Editorial collection from public business websites

  Source name: web_search_public

  What we may use: Factual business details: name, address, city, state, ZIP, phone, website, shop type and opening hours.

  Only factual, non-copyrightable business data collected from publicly accessible business websites. Every record still goes through review before publication.

• Business owners (self-submitted)

  Source name: user_submitted

  What we may use: Everything the owner chooses to publish: name, address, phone, website, description, categories, facilities, social links and opening hours.

  Submitted through the application form and reviewed by an administrator.

  Provider terms: https://vapeshopsnearme.org/terms

• VapeShopsNearMe administrators

  Source name: admin_manual

  What we may use: Fields added or corrected by hand during review.

• Apify / Scrapesage (paid aggregator)

  Source name: apify_vape_leads

  What we may use: Nothing while it is disabled.

  Registered but disabled: imports from this source are rejected until it is explicitly enabled.

  Provider terms: https://apify.com/terms

Geocoding services

These services may only be used to place an address on the map. They are never recorded as the source of a shop.

• US Census Bureau

  Source name: census_geocoder

  What we may use: Coordinates and address-match quality only.

  Geocoding only. Never used as the source of a listing.

  Provider terms: https://www.census.gov/data/developers/terms-of-use.html

• OpenStreetMap Foundation (Nominatim)

  Source name: nominatim_osm

  What we may use: Coordinates and address-match quality only.

  Backup geocoder. Never used as the source of a listing.

  Provider terms: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/nominatim/

What is never ingested

• Ratings and reviews from third-party platforms such as Google or Yelp. They are excluded by licence terms and are never stored or displayed.
• Platform profile URLs. A shop's website field only accepts the business's own site.
• Owner personal information, financial data and anything a provider lists as out of scope.
• Photographs. Images submitted through the site go through review, and no images are taken from third-party platforms.

Attribution

OpenStreetMap data is used under the Open Database Licence ((c) OpenStreetMap contributors). Google and Yelp content, where it is used at all, remains subject to their respective terms and attribution requirements.

Corrections

If a record from one of these sources is wrong, use the correction route on the shop page or contact us. See also how it works and our preview terms.