Tonight, Above You shows what is in the sky above you and where to point your phone to find it. We do not collect, store or sell any personal data. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking. We have no server, so we never receive anything you do in the app.
This policy explains what stays on your phone, when something leaves it, and the permissions the app may ask for.
What stays on your phone
The app works things out on your phone. These stay on your device:
- The positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars, meteor rates, eclipses and other events, which are all calculated on the phone.
- Your location, when you allow it, so the app knows which sky you are under.
- What you keep in Yours: saved objects, sky memories, the night you were born, your message to Andromeda, your meteor counts and the photons you have “caught”.
- Your first name, if you choose to give it, for greetings.
- Your settings and reminders. Notifications are scheduled locally on the phone.
- The camera picture in Look Up. It is shown live and is never recorded or sent unless you take a photo yourself. A photo is only saved or shared when you tap Save or Share.
- Your phone’s motion, and your head movement if you use headphones that report it.
Deleting the app deletes all of it.
When something leaves your phone
Only in these cases, and with Online sky if you turn it on (see the next section).
Place names (Apple)
When it’s used: To show the name of your town, and when you search for a place.
What happens to the data: The app asks Apple’s geocoding service (Apple Maps). Apple handles that request under its own privacy policy.
Things you choose to share
When it’s used: When you share a meteor count, a sky invitation, a poster or an image.
What happens to the data: It goes wherever you send it, through the standard iOS share sheet. A meteor-count report contains the times, your position rounded to about 1 km, and your counts, so that scientists can use it.
Links to other sites
Some screens open other websites, for example MicroObservatory, the Virtual Telescope Project, Las Cumbres Observatory, Globe at Night, AAVSO, the International Meteor Organization and NASA’s Sungrazer project. Those sites have their own privacy policies.
Online sky (off until you turn it on)
Live features only work after you turn on Online sky and confirm. The app then contacts these free public services directly from your phone. Turning Online sky off stops all of them.
Like any website, these services can see your device’s IP address when it connects. Requests carry no cookies, no account and no identifier, and are not stored by us, because we never receive them.
MET Norway (api.met.no)
When it’s used: For weather and cloud cover.
What happens to the data: It receives your position, rounded to about 1 km.
Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data
When it’s used: For the shape of the land on your horizon.
What happens to the data: It receives the map tile your position falls in.
NASA GIBS (Black Marble)
When it’s used: For the dark-sky finder.
What happens to the data: It receives the map tile your position falls in.
CelesTrak
When it’s used: For the Space Station’s orbit.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you. The request is the same for everyone.
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
When it’s used: For aurora and solar flare information.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA alerts (GraceDB)
When it’s used: For gravitational-wave alerts.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
The Astronomer’s Telegram
When it’s used: For new-star (Blaze Star) reports.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
NASA Deep Space Network
When it’s used: To show which spacecraft Earth is talking to.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
NASA SDO and ESA/NASA SOHO
When it’s used: For live images of the Sun.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
NASA/JPL Photojournal (assets.science.nasa.gov)
When it’s used: For real sounds from space.
What happens to the data: Nothing about you.
Permissions the app may ask for
The app only asks when you use a feature that needs it. You can say no, and you can change your mind at any time in Settings › Tonight, Above You.
Location (while using the app)
When it’s used: To work out your sky, and to follow your walk in Walk the solar system.
What happens to the data: It is used on your phone. It is optional: you can choose any place by hand instead. Your position only leaves the phone as described above (rounded to about 1 km for weather, or as a map tile), and only when Online sky is on.
Notifications (optional)
When it’s used: For the dusk reminder and the alerts you switch on.
What happens to the data: These are scheduled locally on your phone. No push server is involved.
Camera (optional)
When it’s used: To show the real sky behind the star chart in Look Up.
What happens to the data: Nothing is recorded unless you tap Photo.
Add to Photos
When it’s used: Only when you tap Save to Photos on a picture you took.
What happens to the data: The app can add pictures to your library. It cannot see your library.
Motion
When it’s used: To know where your phone is pointing. If you wear AirPods or other headphones that report head movement, the sound guide also turns with your head.
What happens to the data: Motion and head movement stay on your phone.
Children
The app is suitable for everyone. We do not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children.
Your rights
Because we do not hold any personal data about you, there is nothing for us to access, correct, export or delete. You can remove everything the app keeps by deleting the app, and stop all online requests by turning off Online sky.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new date.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email [email protected].