Privacy policy

The short version

• We never ask for your name, email address or any account details.
• We don't use cookies, analytics or advertising trackers, and we don't sell or share data for advertising.
• To show your sky we need a location. You choose it, and we send only the place you typed, or coordinates rounded to about 100 metres, to the mapping and weather services we use.
• Your last place is saved in your own browser so you don't have to search again. You can delete it under Cookies and browser storage.

Who we are

Night Sky is run by Adam Pritchard (“we”, “us”). We are the controller of the personal data described here under UK data protection law: the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. You can contact us about privacy at adamrprit@proton.me.

What we handle and why

The place you search for

As you type a postcode, zip code or town, the text goes to our server, which looks it up with Photon (run by komoot) and, if Photon finds nothing, Nominatim (run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation). Those services receive the search text from our server, not from your browser, so they don't see your IP address.

Your device's location, only if you share it

“Use my location” asks your browser for your position. Your browser asks your permission first, and nothing is shared unless you allow it. Your browser rounds the coordinates to about 100 metres before sending them to our server, which looks up the place name with Nominatim.

The place you're viewing

Once you've picked a place, our server uses its coordinates, rounded to about 100 metres, to get the weather forecast from Open-Meteo and to read light pollution from atlas data stored on our own server. As above, these requests come from our server, not your browser.

Information your browser sends automatically

Like any website, your browser sends technical information with each request: your IP address, your browser and device type, the page or data requested (which can include a search or rounded coordinates), and the time. Our hosting provider, Vercel Inc., processes this to deliver the site and keep it secure, and may keep it for a short time in server logs. We don't use it to identify you or follow you around the web.

The site's server code runs in Vercel Inc.'s London region, but Vercel Inc. is based in the United States and may also process this information there. See Vercel Inc.'s privacy policy.

Pictures from Wikipedia

When you open an object's details, its picture loads directly from Wikimedia's servers. As with any website you visit, the Wikimedia Foundation, which is based in the United States, then receives your IP address and browser details. See the Wikimedia privacy policy. The description text comes through our server, and that request contains only the object's name.

Our lawful basis

We rely on legitimate interests (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)): showing you the sky for the place you asked about, and keeping the site running and secure. We only use your device's location when you tap “Use my location” and allow it in your browser.

How long information is kept

• Searches and rounded coordinates. Our server caches the answers it gets from the mapping and weather services so that repeat lookups are fast. Place lookups are kept for up to about a week and weather for up to an hour. The cache stores the question and the answer, not who asked.
• Server logs. Kept for the period our hosting provider sets. See their privacy policy.
• The place saved in your browser. Kept on your device until you delete it.

Cookies and browser storage

We don't set any cookies. We keep one item in your browser's local storage: the last place you chose (its name and coordinates), so the map opens there next time. It stays on your device, and our server can't read it. Clearing your browser's site data removes it, or you can use this button:

Who receives information

• Photon (komoot, Germany) receives your search text, from our server, to suggest places.
• Nominatim (OpenStreetMap Foundation, UK) receives your search text or rounded coordinates, from our server, to find places and place names.
• Open-Meteo receives rounded coordinates, from our server, for the weather forecast.
• Wikimedia Foundation (USA) receives object names from our server for descriptions, and your IP address and browser details when your browser loads a picture.
• Vercel Inc. (based in the United States, running the site in its London region) receives technical request data, to run the site.

We also download public satellite orbit data from CelesTrak. Nothing about you is sent. Some of these services are outside the UK. The search text and rounded coordinates our server sends them don't identify you.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask to see, correct or delete personal data we hold about you, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive it in a portable form. Because we don't keep anything linked to you, we usually won't be able to find data about you, and the place saved in your browser is something you can delete yourself. To make a request, email adamrprit@proton.me.

If you're unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. We'd appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Children

Night Sky is suitable for all ages and doesn't need any personal details to use. Location sharing stays off unless you turn it on.

Changes to this policy

If the site starts handling information differently, we'll update this page and the date at the top. See also our terms of use.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: adamrprit@proton.me.