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SnowScope privacy policy
Version 1.5 — 2 November 2026. Publisher: Atlas Labs. Contact: atlaslabsdaba@gmail.com.
SnowScope shows snow maps, snow forecasts, summit information and ski-touring information. We collect as little as possible: no analytics SDK of our own and no selling of data. Free users may see ads (see "Advertising"); during the current test phase every feature is free and no ads are shown.
What the app sends, and why
| Data | When | Where it goes | Why | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IP address, requested resort / map area | Every screen that loads data | Our server (access logs) | Serve forecasts, security | 14 days |
| Random install id (no name or e-mail) | First start | Our server | Keeps favourites and alert settings without an account | Until you delete your data |
| Account: e-mail address, password (hashed), e-mail verification status | Only if you create an account | Google Firebase Authentication (our provider) and our server (e-mail + account id) | Sign-in, e-mail verification, restore Pro and settings on a new phone | Until you delete the account |
| Favourite resorts, alert rules, phone time zone | When you use favourites or alerts | Our server | Powder alerts, no alerts at night | Until you delete them or your data |
| A map point you tap | When you ask for the snow or forecast there | Our server | Return the values | 14 days (logs) |
| Your position (GPS), one point | When you ask Summit AI for the climb time "from where you stand", or tap "my location" in the trip planner | Our server | Compute the route and times from your position | Not stored (14 days in logs) |
| Your phone's approximate location (rounded to about 2 km, on the phone and again on our server) | Only if you switch on "Powder near you" alerts (opt-in, off by default) | Our server | Send you at most one alert a day when fresh snow is coming within the distance you chose | Ignored after 7 days without an update; erased when you turn the alerts off or delete your data |
| Push token (Firebase Cloud Messaging) | If you allow notifications | Our server + Google Firebase | Deliver the alerts you set | Until the token stops working |
| Google Play purchase token | When you subscribe to Pro or buy "Remove ads" | Our server + Google Play | Verify the purchase | While it is valid, then as required by law |
| GPS track of a ski day | Only while a recording you started runs | Stays on your phone | Distance, vertical, GPX export | Until you delete it; leaves the phone only if you share the file |
| Camera image | Only while the Summit AI camera or Measure snow is open | Stays on your phone (the camera preview is not stored or sent) | Draw summit names over the view; frame your measurement | Not kept. Photos and clips you save or share are your own files |
| Snow-depth photo (Measure snow) | Only when you measure | Our server, which reads the depth and deletes the photo right away | Measure snow depth | Not kept |
| Snow report on the community snow map: depth, how it was measured, time, spot (exact, or only the ~500 m square if you choose "approximate"), its altitude, the nearest resort, your photo (optional, location data removed from the image) and a display name (optional, else "Skier") | Only if you publish after measuring (you are asked the first time; you can switch it off) | Our server; shown to everyone on the "Snow reports" map | Show real snow depths to other skiers; improve our snow map | Until you delete the report (tap it → Delete) or your data |
| Public profile: username, display name, short "about you" text, home resort, and season numbers and badges computed from your published snow reports | Only if you switch on "Show my profile to everyone" (off by default; needs an account with a confirmed e-mail or phone) | Our server; shown to everyone in the app (profile page, author name on your snow reports, "Fresh snow reports" feed) | Let other skiers see and follow your snow reports | Until you switch it off and delete it (Public profile → Delete) or delete your data |
| Follows: which public profiles you follow, with a one-way hash of your install or account id; the number of followers of a profile | When you tap Follow | Our server (the follower list itself is never shown; only the count) | Show the reports of the skiers you follow | Until you unfollow or delete your data |
| Abuse reports on public profiles, with a one-way hash of your install or account id | When you report a profile | Our server | Hide abusive profiles (three reports hide a profile) | Until you delete your data |
| "Useful" taps and abuse reports on snow reports, with a one-way hash of your install id | When you tap them | Our server | Count useful reports once per person, hide abusive ones | Until you delete your data |
| App language and phone time zone | With every request / device registration | Our server | Answer in your language, no alerts at night | Until you delete your data |
| Share link / install source: the referral code and campaign of the link you installed from (from Google Play), with a one-way hash of your install id | First start, if you installed from a shared link | Our server | Count installs per shared link or partner creator; give you the referral discount | Until you delete your data (anonymous counts kept) |
| Days the app was opened (date only), with a one-way hash of your install id | Once a day when you open the app | Our server | Check that installs from shared links are real (Snow Challenge, referral discount) | Until you delete your data |
| Opens of a shared SnowScope link | When someone opens the link page | Our server (count per link, resort and day only, no IP or id) | Count shares | Kept as anonymous counts |
| Snow Challenge entry: display name, photo or post link, optional e-mail, language | Only if you enter the challenge | Our server | Run the contest (judging, contacting and paying the winner, credit when reposting) | Deleted after the contest |
| Crash report (error text, app version, phone model) | Only after the app crashed | Our server | Fix bugs | 90 days |
| Crash report via Firebase Crashlytics: crash stack trace, app version, phone model, Android version and a Crashlytics installation id | Only if you switch on "Send crash reports" in About (off by default) | Google Firebase Crashlytics (our provider) | Fix crashes | 90 days (Firebase retention); switching it off deletes reports not yet sent |
Location is used only while you use the map's "my location", record a track, open the Summit AI camera, ask for a climb time, measure snow (to put a report you publish on the map) or keep "Powder near you" alerts on (coarse location only, about 2 km). SnowScope has no background-location permission. A snow report is published only when you choose to; "Approximate location" keeps only the ~500 m square, never the exact point. Deleting your data or account deletes all your snow reports and their photos.
Services the phone contacts directly
They see your IP address and the area requested, nothing else from us: the map-tile provider, public terrain-tile servers, GitHub Pages (the app's server address), Cloudflare (which carries the traffic to our server) and, while the precipitation radar layer is on, RainViewer (the radar pictures). Weather data is fetched by our server, so the weather providers do not see you. The full list of data providers is in the app under About & credits.
Crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics)
"Send crash reports" in About is off by default. Only if you switch it on, a crash sends the crash stack trace, app version, phone model, Android version and a Crashlytics installation id to Google Firebase Crashlytics, which acts as our provider; Firebase keeps crash reports for 90 days. Switching it off stops collection and deletes reports not yet sent.
Accounts (Firebase Authentication)
Creating an account is optional. We use Google Firebase Authentication to store your e-mail address and password (hashed) and to send the verification e-mail (some account features, such as keeping Pro on a new phone, need a verified e-mail); Google acts as our provider and does not use this data for its own purposes. Your account id links your favourites, alert rules and purchases on our server. You can delete the account in the app (Profile → Delete account) or at https://wassim1313.github.io/snowscope/delete/ — this erases the Firebase user and everything stored on our server for it.
Advertising (free version only)
When advertising is active (not during the current test phase), free users may see Google AdMob ads. Google may use the advertising ID, the IP address (approximate location) and ad interactions to show and measure ads, and reports crashes and diagnostics of its own ad code to Google; in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland we ask for your consent first (Google's consent form) and you can change it in About → Privacy options. Without consent you get non-personalised ads. Pro subscribers and users who bought "Remove ads" see no ads. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Purchases
SnowScope Pro (monthly or yearly subscription) and "Remove ads" (one-time purchase) are handled by Google Play; we never see card details. We store the Google Play purchase token to verify the purchase. Cancel a subscription any time in Google Play → Subscriptions. Users who installed through a referral link may get a discount; this is read from the referral code only.
Hotel and chalet links
"Hotels & chalets nearby" opens a partner site (Stay22, which forwards to Booking.com or a similar site) in your browser with only the place, dates, number of guests, language and currency in the link — never your account, id or position. Those sites have their own privacy policies; we may earn a commission from bookings.
Community content
Snow reports you publish (depth, photo, spot, time, name) are public and may be shown in the app, on the web map and in share cards. You can delete each report yourself. Reports are moderated: three abuse reports hide a report, and we can remove content that breaks the Terms of use. Measurements also improve our snow map in aggregated form, without any identity. A public profile is optional and off by default; when it is on, your username, display name, "about you" text, home resort and season numbers are public, and your published snow reports show your name with a link to the profile. Spots on a profile and in the feed are only the ~500 m square, never the exact point. Usernames and texts are checked for offensive words; three abuse reports hide a profile. Days on snow from your recorded ski days are shown only on your phone and on story cards you choose to share; they are never sent to us.
The SnowScope website (snow map and resort pages)
The website works without an account. Like any website, it is served by GitHub Pages, which sees your IP address; the map tiles come from the map provider (Mapbox or OpenFreeMap) and the fonts from Google Fonts.
- Ads (free visitors only): the website shows Google AdSense ads. Google may use cookies, your IP address (approximate location) and ad interactions to show and measure ads. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google's own consent message asks you first; without consent you get non-personalised (limited) ads. "Cookie settings" at the bottom of the page changes your choice. Signed-in Pro members and buyers of "Remove ads" see no ads.
- Hotel links: "Stay near …" and "Hotels map" open or load Stay22 (which forwards to Booking.com or a similar site) with only the place, dates, number of guests and language. The hotels map is loaded only when you tap it. These are sponsored links: we may earn a commission from bookings. For free visitors who accept cookies (or outside Europe), the Stay22 script also turns hotel links on the page into Stay22 links and may set Stay22 affiliate cookies.
- Signing in (optional): the website uses the same Google Firebase Authentication account as the app (e-mail + password, or Google). After you sign in, your browser sends Firebase's sign-in token to our server to check whether you have Pro; nothing else about your browsing is sent to us.
- Stored in your browser: whether you signed in before, your last Pro status (so ads stay off while we check), and the last region you looked at. Clearing the site data removes them.
- Tapping the map for a value is computed in your browser from files of the website; for Pro layers the point is sent to our server (14 days in logs, as in the app).
Delete your data
In the app: Menu → About → "Delete my data" (or Profile → "Delete account" when signed in). This erases everything stored on our server for your install or account, including your published snow reports and their photos, your public profile, its followers and the profiles you follow, and your Firebase account. A single snow report can be deleted from its card on the map. Uninstalling the app removes what is stored on the phone. You can also use https://wassim1313.github.io/snowscope/delete/ or write to atlaslabsdaba@gmail.com; we answer within 30 days.
Your rights (GDPR / UK GDPR / CCPA)
Access, correction, deletion, portability and objection: atlaslabsdaba@gmail.com. Controller: Atlas Labs (contact above). You may also complain to your data-protection authority.
Safety
Snow and weather values are forecasts and estimates, not measurements. Summit AI climb times, difficulties and routes are estimates from terrain and trail data. SnowScope never replaces the official avalanche bulletin, a mountain guide or your own judgement; the danger levels shown are copied unchanged from the official services, with a link to their bulletin. See the Terms of use.
Changes
We update this page and its version when the app's data use changes. Previous versions: 1.0 (25 Oct 2026, first release), 1.1 (27 Oct, ads and hotel links), 1.2 (27 Oct, community snow reports), 1.3 (29 Oct, accounts via Firebase, Summit AI position, "Powder near you" alerts, one-time Remove ads), 1.4 (31 Oct, optional public profile, follows and profile abuse reports, opt-in Crashlytics crash reports, radar pictures loaded from RainViewer), 1.5 (2 Nov, website: AdSense ads, Stay22 hotel links and maps, optional sign-in).
Terms of use · Delete data / account · atlaslabsdaba@gmail.com