A renewed pledge to keep all our user’s charts online

David Kokkelink

Yesterday, Google announced that it will be shutting down Google Fusion Tables within the next twelve months. As of December 2019, all charts and maps created with Fusion Tables will stop working. A similar thing happened when the visualization tool Graphiq was acquired by Amazon last year, who then took down all of their users’ embedded graphics.

We find it unacceptable that a chart stops working after the tool that created it dies. Journalists and other users worldwide have put their trust in us as toolmakers, and we promise to honour that trust. Our users should see their embedded charts working on their websites, no matter what happens to us.

Datawrapper charts & maps should and will never look like this.

So we decided to formalize a policy to prevent our users from ever having to face a situation like the one faced by Google Fusion Tables or Graphiq users.

As of today, we guarantee the following for all charts and maps published with Datawrapper:

• Regardless of any future changes to our business model or pricing, we will never delete or disable any charts or maps that were published with Datawrapper and embedded in articles.
• In the case of an existential threat to the company that prevents us from being able to provide our service, we will be sure to enable all users and customers, regardless of their plan level or subscription status, to download and self-host their charts – ensuring their uninterrupted display.
• Should such a situation occur, we will be sure to notify all affected users and provide acceptable workarounds with as much notice as possible.
• We have made financial reserves to ensure that we can continue to host your published charts, even in the case that our business outlook should worsen.

These changes are effective immediately and will be formalized as part of our terms of service. Please feel free to reach out to support@datawrapper.de with any questions and we’d be happy to advise.

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David Kokkelink

(he/him, @DavidKokkelink) is a co-founder and co-CEO of Datawrapper. Originally a software developer, he works across our customer-facing and product development teams to make sure Datawrapper is headed in the right direction. David lives in Berlin.

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