403 Forbidden
The HTTP 403 Forbidden status code indicates that server understood the request but is refusing to authorize access to the requested resource. This status code is most likely an indicator that the user account or IP address of the requester has been blocked due to a violation of the OpenAQ platform Terms of use or rate limit abuse.
A 403 response is the correct server behavior when access is legitimately restricted. The OpenAQ API is properly enforcing access controls and usage policies. This indicates an authorization issue rather than a server malfunction.
How to Resolve
Section titled “How to Resolve”403 restrictions due to policy violations or account suspensions will not be automatically lifted and require manual intervention. Contact dev@openaq.org to resolve the issue, providing details about your use case and recent API activity.