Data sources, licenses & attribution
CityAlert is an aggregator: every incident on the map comes from a public feed, an open-data portal, a media RSS feed, or a community submission. This page lists each source, the license it is used under, and the attribution it requires. For how feeds are normalized and refreshed, see About.
Facts vs. expression — how media aggregation works
Copyright protects the expression of a story — its words, photos and structure — not the underlying facts. CityAlert stores only incident facts: a headline, a publication time, an approximate geocoded location, an inferred category, and a link back to the original article. We never copy, store or republish article text or images. Every media-sourced incident links to the publisher's site, driving readers to the original reporting. If you are a publisher and would like your feed removed or adjusted, see our takedown process.
Government & open-data feeds
| Source | License | Required attribution | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| USGS earthquake feed (GeoJSON) | US public domain (17 U.S.C. §105) | U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program | earthquake.usgs.gov |
| GDACS events API (UN OCHA / EU JRC) | Free to use with attribution | Source: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) | gdacs.org |
| NASA EONET natural events | US public domain | NASA Earth Observing System Data — EONET | eonet.gsfc.nasa.gov |
| NWS alerts API (api.weather.gov) | US public domain | National Weather Service / NOAA | weather.gov |
| NIFC WFIGS wildfire incident locations | US public domain | National Interagency Fire Center — WFIGS / IRWIN | data-nifc.opendata.arcgis.com |
| Environment and Climate Change Canada alert feeds | ECCC data-use terms — reproduction permitted with attribution | Environment and Climate Change Canada | weather.gc.ca |
| BC Wildfire Service active fires | Open Government Licence – British Columbia | BC Wildfire Service, Province of British Columbia | OGL–BC |
| CWFIF — Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (NRCan) | Open Government Licence – Canada | Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, Natural Resources Canada | cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca |
| Vancouver PD GeoDASH crime data (current + archive 2003–present) | City of Vancouver Open Government Licence — attribution required; commercial redistribution confirmation requested from VPD | Vancouver Police Department — GeoDASH Open Data | geodash.vpd.ca |
| Seattle Fire real-time 911 + SPD crime reports | City of Seattle open-data terms | City of Seattle Open Data | data.seattle.gov |
| San Francisco PD incident reports | City & County of San Francisco open-data terms | DataSF — City and County of San Francisco | data.sf.gov |
| LAPD crime data | City of Los Angeles open-data terms | City of Los Angeles Open Data — LAPD | data.lacity.org |
| Chicago PD reported crimes | City of Chicago data-portal terms | Chicago Data Portal — Chicago Police Department | data.cityofchicago.org |
| Austin PD incident reports | City of Austin open-data terms | City of Austin Open Data | data.austintexas.gov |
| NYPD complaint data | NYC Open Data terms of use | NYC Open Data — New York City Police Department | data.cityofnewyork.us |
| NOPD calls for service | City of New Orleans open-data terms | City of New Orleans Open Data — NOPD | data.nola.gov |
| DC Metropolitan PD crime incidents | District of Columbia open-data terms | Open Data DC — Metropolitan Police Department | opendata.dc.gov |
| Toronto Police Service Major Crime Indicators | Toronto Police Service / City of Toronto open-data licence | Toronto Police Service — Major Crime Indicators Open Data | data.torontopolice.on.ca |
| Raleigh PD daily police incidents | City of Raleigh open-data terms | City of Raleigh Open Data — Raleigh Police Department | data.raleighnc.gov |
| Halifax Regional Police occurrence data | Halifax Regional Municipality open-data licence | Halifax Regional Municipality Open Data | halifax.ca/open-data |
| data.police.uk street-level crime (Met Police, London) | UK Open Government Licence v3.0 | data.police.uk | data.police.uk |
| Polisen events API (Sweden) | Swedish Police Authority open API — open government terms | Polisen — Swedish Police Authority | polisen.se |
| RCMP media releases (North Okanagan) | Government of Canada web content — reproduction permitted with acknowledgment, not for official reproduction of the RCMP | Royal Canadian Mounted Police / Government of Canada | rcmp-grc.gc.ca |
| NASA FIRMS VIIRS active fire hotspots | NASA public data — acknowledgment requested | NASA FIRMS — Fire Information for Resource Management System | firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov |
| US municipal open-data portals — police incidents & 911 calls (Cincinnati, Kansas City, Baton Rouge, Detroit, Charlotte, Tampa, Rochester, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Boise, Tucson, Tempe, Henderson, Atlanta, Las Vegas) | Each city's open-data licence (Socrata/ArcGIS portals) | The publishing city's police/open-data portal | coverage notes |
| Canadian municipal/regional police open data (York, Peel, Montréal, Edmonton, Ottawa, Regina, BC CityProtect) | Each municipality's open-data licence / OGL variants | The publishing police service or municipality | coverage notes |
| International disaster agencies (NOAA/NWS tsunami, NSW RFS, Emergency Victoria, QLD, WA DFES, GeoNet NZ, BMKG Indonesia, AFAD Türkiye, JMA) | Government open-data/public-alert feeds | The issuing agency (shown per incident) | coverage notes |
| Mexico open data (CDMX crime portal, SASMEX seismic alerts) | Government open-data/public-alert feeds | CDMX Gobierno / CIRES SASMEX | coverage notes |
Media & RSS aggregation
In regions without incident-level police open data (Vernon / North Okanagan, Los Cabos, Metro Manila), CityAlert geocodes safety-relevant headlines from local RSS feeds. Aggregation is limited to headline + derived location + link — the copyright-defensible core described above.
| Source | License | Required attribution | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castanet (Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Salmon Arm RSS) | © Castanet — headline + link aggregation only, no article text stored | Castanet | castanet.net |
| Vernon Morning Star RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | Vernon Morning Star | vernonmorningstar.com |
| Tribuna de México RSS (Los Cabos coverage) | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | Tribuna de México | tribunademexico.com |
| Colectivo Pericú RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | Colectivo Pericú | colectivopericu.news |
| The Cabo Sun RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | The Cabo Sun | thecabosun.com |
| BCS Gobierno RSS (Baja California Sur state government) | Gobierno del Estado de BCS — public notices, headline + link only | Gobierno del Estado de Baja California Sur | bcs.gob.mx |
| Philstar RSS (Nation) | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | Philstar | philstar.com |
| GMA News Online RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | GMA News Online | gmanetwork.com/news |
| Manila Times RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | The Manila Times | manilatimes.net |
| Abante Tonite RSS | © publisher — headline + link aggregation only | Abante Tonite | tonite.abante.com.ph |
| Regional publisher RSS (news panel — Global/CityNews, Postmedia, Seattle Times, KTLA, ABC7, Gothamist, WTOP, BBC, SVT, et al.) | Headlines + links only; articles remain © the original publisher | Linked publisher (each item shows its source) | takedown/corrections |
| GDELT DOC 2.0 API (news fallback + place search) | Free open API; articles remain © the original publisher | GDELT Project | gdeltproject.org |
Maps & geocoding
| Source | License | Required attribution | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenStreetMap data + Nominatim geocoding (place search & article geocoding) | Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) | © OpenStreetMap contributors | openstreetmap.org/copyright |
| OpenFreeMap basemap tiles (MapLibre 'liberty' style) | Free public tiles; built on OpenMapTiles + OpenStreetMap data | © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors | openfreemap.org |
| MapLibre GL JS map renderer | BSD 3-Clause | MapLibre | maplibre.org |
Place search and article geocoding use the public Nominatim service under the OSM Foundation Nominatim usage policy (max 1 request/second, cached permanently). At scale we plan to self-host or move to a paid geocoder.
Platform & planned sources
| Source | License | Required attribution | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community reports | User-submitted under the CityAlert Terms of Use | CityAlert community | /terms |
| Statistics Canada police-reported crime statistics (planned) | Statistics Canada Open Licence | Statistics Canada | statcan.gc.ca/licence |
Use of this data
CityAlert is an informational tool only — do not rely on it for safety decisions, and always follow official emergency channels. Media-sourced incidents are approximate and selective. See the Terms of Use for the full disclaimer, and Contact for correction or takedown requests.