Privacy Policy for Night Astro Planner

Last Updated: November 8, 2026

Night Astro Planner ("the App"), developed by Jeremiah Pierucci, is designed with a strict privacy-first architecture. We do not collect personally identifiable information, do not track users across other apps or websites, and do not sell or monetize personal data.

This Privacy Policy explains how data is handled when you use Night Astro Planner on iOS and iPadOS.

Location Data

We (the developer) never collect, store, or track your location on any server, and your data is never shared with advertising networks or data brokers. The App requests access to your device's location strictly to provide astronomical calculations and local observational planning:

• 100% On-Device Calculations: All astronomical algorithms, Julian date transforms, Meeus ephemeris equations, celestial trajectories, offline Bortle skyglow lookups, and 20-year historical sky climatology lookups are computed 100% locally on your device.
• Apple Maps & Apple Weather: To display satellite maps, reverse-geocode place names, and fetch 7-day astronomical weather forecasts, your selected observation coordinates are transmitted directly to Apple via Apple MapKit, CoreLocation, and Apple WeatherKit in accordance with Apple's Privacy Policy.
• NASA GIBS Light Pollution Tiles: To compute high-resolution Bortle and SQM light pollution ratings and render the Dark Sky heatmap, the App requests regional satellite map tiles from NASA Earthdata GIBS (gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov). Only the regional map tile index is requested—never your personal identity.
• Private iCloud Sync: If you bookmark custom observing locations, they are stored on your device and synced exclusively to your personal Apple iCloud account via Apple CloudKit. We have no access to your iCloud data.

Your location is never shared with advertising networks, telemetry brokers, or third-party marketers.

Astronomical Database Searches & Imagery

• Celestial Target Search: When searching for targets, queries are transmitted over HTTPS to scientific astronomical catalogs, including the CDS SIMBAD Astronomical Database, CDS Sesame, and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). These requests contain only the queried celestial identifier and no user identifiers or personal data.
• Survey & Reference Imagery: Astronomical survey tiles and reference photographs are streamed on demand from public scientific repositories, including CDS hips2fits, the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, and Wikimedia Commons / ESO / NASA.

Data Storage & iCloud Synchronization

• No Account Required: You do not need to create an account or provide an email address to use Night Astro Planner.
• Private iCloud Sync: If you enable iCloud on your Apple device, your custom saved locations, saved target lists, equipment profiles, and imaging session logs are synchronized across your devices via Apple CloudKit. This data is stored exclusively in your private, encrypted Apple iCloud container. The developer has no access to your private iCloud data or database records.

In-App Purchases & Subscriptions

Subscription and in-app purchase transactions are processed directly by Apple through Apple StoreKit. The developer does not receive, process, or store your credit card information, bank details, or billing address. All billing records are handled according to Apple's standard privacy and payment terms.

Third-Party Analytics & Tracking

Night Astro Planner contains:

• No third-party advertising frameworks.
• No behavioral tracking tools or data brokers.
• No cross-app tracking identifiers (IDFA).

The App's privacy manifest declares zero tracking and zero collected personal data types.

Data Retention & Your Rights (Data Deletion)

Because all your data is stored either locally on your device or in your private Apple iCloud container:

• You can modify or delete your saved targets, locations, equipment profiles, and session logs at any time directly within the App.
• You can purge cached forecast data at any time via in-app Settings.
• Deleting the App and removing its data from your Apple ID iCloud Storage permanently removes your data.

Children's Privacy

Night Astro Planner does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the European Union).

Contact Information

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this Privacy Policy or the App's data handling practices, please contact:

• Email: climbbike+radar@gmail.com
• Support: https://nightastroplanner.com/support/