Privacy Policy — Horizon Alert

Short version: Horizon Alert has no accounts, no analytics, and no third-party tracking. It uses a coarse approximation of your location to figure out what's visible in your sky, and that work happens on your device. We don't run servers that collect your data, because we don't collect your data.

1. Who we are

Horizon Alert ("the app", "we", "us") is an iOS application that notifies you when celestial and orbital events — rocket launches, International Space Station passes, eclipses, and meteor showers — are visible from your location. This policy explains what the app does and does not do with information on your device.

2. The data we don't collect

We want to be explicit, because most apps are not:

No accounts. There is no sign-up, no login, no email address, and no password. We never ask who you are.
No analytics. We do not use any analytics or telemetry SDKs. We do not measure screens viewed, buttons tapped, sessions, crashes attributed to you, or any other usage metric tied to you or your device.
No third-party tracking. The app contains no advertising identifiers, no tracking pixels, and no third-party tracking SDKs. Nothing in the app attempts to build a profile of you or follow you across other apps or websites.
No cookies. The app is native; it sets no cookies. This marketing website sets none either.
No data sale. We have no personal data to sell, share, or rent, and we would not do so if we did.

3. Location

To tell you what's visible from where you are, the app needs an approximate location. We use coarse location only — a reduced-accuracy region rather than a precise GPS coordinate. iOS lets you grant precise or approximate location; Horizon Alert is designed to work with approximate location, which is enough to determine your horizon, local darkness, and viewing geometry without identifying your exact address.

Your location is processed on your device. It is used locally to compute event timing, sky positions, and visibility, and to request the small amounts of public data described below. We do not store your location on a server, associate it with an identity, or retain a history of where you've been.

4. Information the app requests from others

To do its job, the app fetches publicly available data from third parties — for example, launch schedules, orbital elements, eclipse and meteor-shower timing, and weather/cloud-cover and sun-position data for your area. When the app requests this information, the third party providing it may receive a network request that includes a coarse location or region and standard technical details (such as an IP address) inherent to any internet request. We send the minimum necessary and do not include any identifier for you.

These providers operate under their own privacy policies. We do not control, and are not responsible for, their practices. We choose providers that serve public astronomical and weather data and select coarse rather than precise queries wherever possible.

5. Notifications

If you enable notifications, iOS delivers alerts to your device through Apple Push Notification service or local notifications scheduled on-device. Notification content is generated on your device. Enabling or disabling notifications is entirely under your control in iOS Settings.

6. Maps

The Nearby map is rendered using Apple Maps (MapKit) on your device. Map usage is subject to Apple's privacy practices. We do not receive your map interactions.

7. Payments

Horizon Alert is a paid app. Your purchase is handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see your name, payment card, or billing address. Apple's handling of your purchase is governed by Apple's privacy policy.

8. Children's privacy

Horizon Alert is not directed to children under 13, and because we collect no personal information, we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.

9. Your control

You can revoke location or notification permissions at any time in iOS Settings. Because the app stores its working data on your device, deleting the app removes that data.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and, where appropriate, note the change in an app update. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the revised policy.

11. Contact

Questions about privacy? Email hi@horizonalert.com.

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