Legal notice and publisher identification
Important: this website is not an emergency service
The Prison Directory is an informational guide and does not receive or handle emergencies. If you or someone near you is in danger, call your country's emergency number immediately: 112 (European Union), 911 (USA, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic), 999 (United Kingdom), 000 (Australia), 123 (Colombia), 133 (Chile), 190 (Brazil) or the local equivalent.
Contents
1. Publisher identification
In accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce and Portuguese Decree-Law no. 7/2004, prisondirectory.org (“Prison Directory”) is owned, edited and operated by:
| Publisher and owner | VORTICEPACIFICO ENGENHARIA LDA |
|---|---|
| Tax ID (NIF / NIPC) | PT518972895 |
| Registered office | Viana do Castelo, Portugal (European Union) |
| Business activity | Digital engineering, information systems, electronic publishing and civic portals |
| General and editorial contact | info@vorticepacifico.com |
| Legal notices and data protection | legal@vorticepacifico.com |
2. Independent nature of the directory
Prison Directory is an independent, privately published civic directory. Neither this website nor its publisher, VORTICEPACIFICO ENGENHARIA LDA, is part of, represents or is affiliated with:
- Any national, federal, state, regional, provincial or municipal government;
- Any prison service, juvenile justice institution, immigration authority or law enforcement body;
- Any court, prosecutor's office, or body supervising or defending the rights of persons deprived of liberty.
This website does not manage visits, communications, parcels, deposits, appointments or procedures relating to inmates, and it is not a channel for contacting them or the facilities. For any procedure, always contact the competent authority.
3. Purpose and scope
The purpose of the directory is to help families, lawyers, students, journalists, researchers, social organisations and the general public locate prisons, local jails, juvenile centres, immigration detention centres and other correctional establishments, organised by country, region or state and municipality, together with their public contact details where available.
4. Persons deprived of liberty: what we do not publish
The directory contains only institutional information about establishments. We do not publish names, photographs, case files, procedural status, individual location or any other personal data of inmates, staff or victims, and we do not offer search tools for incarcerated persons.
5. Nominative use of official names
The names of establishments, authorities and public bodies that appear in the directory belong to their respective owners. They are mentioned for identification and information purposes only (legitimate nominative use, supported by Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark and similar provisions in other legal systems) and do not imply sponsorship, endorsement, association or any relationship with those entities.
6. Data origin and reliability
Profiles are compiled from open data of OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, ODbL), obtained through its public Overpass API and Nominatim services. We do not fill gaps with invented or estimated information: if a data point is not in the source, it is not shown.
As the information is contributed by a community of volunteers, it may be incomplete, outdated or contain errors; phone numbers, addresses, capacities and hours may change without notice. VORTICEPACIFICO ENGENHARIA LDA does not guarantee their accuracy. Always verify the data with the competent prison administration before travelling or carrying out any procedure.
7. Correction, update and removal of profiles
Prison administrations, facility managers and anyone with a legitimate interest may request, free of charge, the correction, update or removal of a profile by writing to legal@vorticepacifico.com or info@vorticepacifico.com, stating the web address (URL) of the profile and the requested change. We will handle requests as soon as possible. As the source data comes from OpenStreetMap, a permanent fix is also achieved by editing it at openstreetmap.org.
8. Applicable law and jurisdiction
This legal notice and any dispute arising from access to or use of this website are governed by the laws of the Portuguese Republic and European Union regulations. The courts of the judicial district of Viana do Castelo (Portugal) have jurisdiction, without prejudice to the mandatory consumer protection rights users may have.