Cave formations take millennia to grow. Careless data sharing can bring vandals within a week. The KEEP treats data stewardship as foundational — not a policy disclaimer.
Cave formations take millennia to grow. A careless coordinate posted publicly can bring vandals within a week. The KEEP treats data stewardship as foundational — not a policy disclaimer, but the reason the access system exists at all.
Wild cave coordinates are not public. Every new site is private until an admin or trustee explicitly sets its visibility. Show caves are the only category public by default.
Sensitive site locations are only visible to verified, approved accounts. Pending users see public information only. Trust is granted incrementally as it is earned.
Every export is scoped to your access level and watermarked. Bulk exports of sensitive locations require trustee or admin privileges. There is no public API serving raw coordinates.
Site records include decontamination status fields and WNS-positive flags. Cavers can log decon procedures per visit. Closures and seasonal restrictions display prominently.
The claim-based data model preserves every version of every fact. Sensitive location corrections don't erase the old record — they supersede it with a full audit trail.
Documents and sites you upload are not shared, sold, or aggregated for external use. Group-shared data is visible only to group members. You control every visibility setting.
Responsible disclosure guidelines: The KEEP encourages cavers to report significant discoveries to their local grotto and regional trustee before entering data. Significant new passages, previously undocumented entrances, and sensitive biological sites should be shared with land managers before any public record is created. The platform supports this workflow — data can be added privately and promoted to wider visibility only when the caver and their trustee agree the time is right.
Every site record has its own visibility setting — independent of your role.
Visible to anyone, including unauthenticated visitors. Show caves only by default. Requires explicit promotion by an admin or trustee.
Visible to all verified members regardless of role or location. Not public, but available to the full registered community.
Visible only to the site creator, their groups, and users with explicit access grants. The default for all newly added wild cave sites.
Invisible to all non-administrators. For sites requiring the highest level of protection — sensitive archaeological, biological, or at-risk locations.
The KEEP encourages cavers to share significant discoveries with their local grotto and regional trustee before entering data into any system. Significant new passages, previously undocumented entrances, and sites with sensitive biological or archaeological features should be discussed with land managers before a public record is created.
The platform is built to support this. Data can be added privately, reviewed by a trustee within their region, and promoted to wider visibility only when the caver and their trustee agree the timing is right. The workflow doesn't require a race to publish.
Site records include decontamination status fields and WNS-positive flags. Cavers can log decontamination procedures per visit. Seasonal closures and WNS-related restrictions display prominently on field cards and exports. The platform supports — but does not enforce — NSS decontamination protocols.
Creating an account takes a minute. Access is granted after a brief review.
Always free. No commercial agenda. Built for the caving community.