SkiesLIVE Explore the Cosmos
Get the Stargazing App Get the app App

Legal

Privacy Policy

How SkiesLIVE collects, uses, and protects information across our website, accounts, and applications.

Effective date: May 20, 2026
Last updated: May 20, 2026 (app diagnostic and crash reporting)
Applies to: skieslive.com, SkiesLIVE user accounts, SkiesLIVE mobile apps (Android and iOS), the SkiesLIVE Windows application, observatory services at account.skieslive.com, and installed web apps (PWAs) offered by SkiesLIVE.

1. Who we are

SkiesLIVE (also known as SeeTheSkies) operates an astronomy and observatory platform that includes a public website, live observatory data, gallery content, member accounts, and companion applications for Android, iOS, and Windows.

For privacy-related requests, contact us using the details in Section 14.

2. Scope

This policy describes how we handle information when you:

  • Browse or interact with skieslive.com and related pages (gallery, observatory, all-sky camera, targets, sensors, and similar features).
  • Create or use a SkiesLIVE account on account.html (sign in, registration, profile, and application settings).
  • Install or use our Android, iOS, or Windows SkiesLIVE applications.
  • Use our observatory sensor progressive web app (PWA) or enable browser notifications.
  • Connect to services hosted at account.skieslive.com (for example live observatory WebSocket feeds and notification APIs).
  • Join our community channels such as Discord.

Third-party platforms (app stores, Discord, YouTube, weather data providers, and your device operating system) have their own privacy policies. This policy covers SkiesLIVE-controlled services only.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Information you provide

Depending on how you use our services, you may provide:

  • Account information when you register or sign in: email address, display name, and password. Passwords are stored only in hashed form—we never store plain-text passwords.
  • Profile and preference settings you save in your account or SkiesLIVE apps (see Section 4).
  • Staff credentials (authorized operators only): used to access protected upload, moderation, or management features.
  • Communications: messages you send us through Discord or other community channels.
  • Notification preferences: choices you make when enabling push or browser notifications (for example lightning alerts or observatory updates).

3.2 Information collected automatically

When you use our website or applications, we may automatically collect:

  • Session and usage data: session identifiers, pages or features viewed, timestamps, and interaction signals (such as heartbeat updates used to show how many people are currently viewing live content).
  • Device and technical data: browser or app user agent, operating system, app version, language, and general device type.
  • Network data: IP address (used for security, abuse prevention, session management, and approximate location where available).
  • Approximate location: city, region, country, or coarse coordinates inferred from IP address or supplied by client software where location features are enabled.
  • Observatory and sensor telemetry: environmental readings from our observatory. This data describes site conditions, not you personally, but your app or browser requests and displays it.
  • Gallery interaction data: anonymous view counts for telescope gallery images.
  • Local storage on your device: cached forecast data, session tokens, notification cooldown timestamps, and similar technical caches stored in browser localStorage, app storage, or service worker caches.

3.3 Mobile and desktop application data

Our Android, iOS, and Windows applications may additionally collect or access:

  • Push notification tokens: platform-specific identifiers used to deliver alerts you opt into.
  • Network connectivity status: to maintain live observatory feeds and retry connections.
  • Location (only if you grant permission in the app): to personalize sky conditions, targets, or related observing features. You can deny or revoke this permission in your device settings.
  • Crash and diagnostic reports from SkiesLIVE apps — see Section 3.4.

3.4 App diagnostic and crash reports

When a SkiesLIVE mobile or desktop app encounters certain errors or crashes, it may send a diagnostic report to our servers so we can investigate stability issues. You do not need to be signed in for a report to be uploaded; if you are signed in, we may link the report to your account using the same device identifier we use for app sync and support.

Depending on the error, a report may include:

  • Device identifier — a stable ID generated by the app (sent in the request header or body).
  • Technical context — app version, build number, platform (Android, iOS, Windows, or desktop), operating system version, and similar non-content metadata supplied by the app.
  • Error details — severity (for example fatal, error, or warning), exception or error type, message, stack trace, recent in-app activity breadcrumbs, and optional log excerpts.
  • Timestamps — when the error occurred and when we received the report.
  • Account link (when signed in) — your SkiesLIVE user ID so staff can correlate reports with your linked devices or support history.

We truncate large fields (such as stack traces and log excerpts) before storage and apply rate limits per device to reduce abuse. Reports are deduplicated by a unique event ID so the app can safely retry uploads after offline periods.

If you open a support ticket and choose to attach diagnostic reports, we store references to those report IDs with the ticket so authorized staff can review the matched summaries during investigation.

We use diagnostic data to fix bugs, monitor reliability, and detect widespread outages. Authorized SkiesLIVE staff may browse reports in our internal admin tools. When fatal errors increase sharply in a short window, we may send internal email alerts to our operators (these alerts describe aggregate error patterns and sample technical details—they are not marketing messages and are not sent to other users).

We aim to minimize personal information in diagnostic reports. Please avoid including free-form text that identifies you or others unless necessary when describing a problem in a support ticket.

3.5 Information we do not intentionally collect

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use third-party advertising trackers on skieslive.com based on our current site configuration. We do not intentionally collect government ID numbers, payment card data, or health information through our public astronomy services.

4. Website accounts & app sync

If you create a SkiesLIVE account on the website or sign in from a SkiesLIVE app, we store and process the following categories of data to operate your account and sync settings across devices.

4.1 Account & identity

  • Email address — used to sign in, verify your account, and send password-reset messages.
  • Display name — a nickname shown in your account hub and synced to apps (not your legal name).
  • Password — stored as a one-way hash (bcrypt). We cannot read your password after you set it.
  • Email verification status — whether you have confirmed ownership of your email address.
  • Account status — such as active, suspended, or banned if moderation action is required.
  • Role — member accounts use the standard user role; authorized staff may have elevated roles for site operations.
  • Sign-in history — last login time for your account dashboard.

4.2 Profile & application preferences

When you save settings under Account → Application settings on the website (or the equivalent screen in SkiesLIVE apps), we store preferences that may include:

  • Alert master switch — pause all alerts without losing your settings.
  • Geomagnetic (Kp) alerts — whether enabled and your chosen threshold.
  • Space weather storm alerts — watch/warning notifications you opt into.
  • ISS pass alerts — whether enabled, minimum elevation, and lead time before a pass.
  • SkiesLIVE YouTube live alerts — notify when we go live on YouTube.
  • Location for alerts & sky data — device location (when permitted in the app) or a manual home location you enter (latitude, longitude, and optional label).
  • Bortle sky brightness — automatic estimate or a manual value you choose for light-pollution context.
  • Timezone and locale — used to schedule alerts and display times correctly.
  • Email preferences — optional marketing or product-update emails you choose on the website.

Preferences are versioned so the website and apps can resolve sync conflicts when you change settings on more than one device.

4.3 Linked devices

When you sign in from a SkiesLIVE app, we record a device identifier you or the app generates, your platform (Android, iOS, Windows, or desktop), an optional device label, and when the device last synced. This lets you see which installs are linked to your account. Push notification tokens for delivering alerts are stored on our separate alerts infrastructure, not in your main account profile.

4.4 Sessions, tokens & email links

  • Login sessions — hashed session tokens, expiry time, browser or app user agent, and IP address used to keep you signed in securely on the website.
  • Email verification & password reset links — single-use hashed tokens sent to your email, expiring after a short period (typically about one hour for password reset).

You can sign out of the website at any time from your account page, which invalidates your current session. You may request account deletion by contacting us (see Section 14).

5. How we use information

We use collected information to:

  • Provide, operate, and improve the website, applications, live observatory feeds, and sensor displays.
  • Create and manage SkiesLIVE accounts; authenticate sign-in; sync preferences between the website and apps.
  • Send transactional email (verification, password reset) and optional marketing or product updates you opt into.
  • Deliver notifications you request (for example lightning, geomagnetic, ISS pass, or YouTube live alerts).
  • Show aggregate live viewer counts and maintain service reliability.
  • Authenticate authorized staff and protect administrative features.
  • Cache and display weather and sky-quality forecasts (including data from third-party forecast services).
  • Display community gallery content sourced from connected services such as Discord.
  • Investigate crashes and errors using app diagnostic reports; link reports to support tickets when you attach them.
  • Notify authorized staff when fatal error rates spike so we can respond to widespread issues.
  • Comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

7. Sharing and processors

We may share information only as needed to run our services:

  • Hosting and infrastructure providers that store website data, account databases, APIs, and WebSocket services (including account.skieslive.com).
  • Email delivery providers to send verification, password reset, and optional newsletter messages.
  • Forecast and astronomy data providers (for example sky condition APIs used to display observing quality).
  • Platform providers: Apple, Google, and Microsoft for app distribution and push notification delivery when you use their app stores or notification systems.
  • Community and media platforms where you choose to engage (Discord, YouTube).
  • Legal and safety — if required by law, court order, or to protect rights, safety, and integrity of our services.

We do not sell personal information to data brokers.

8. Retention

We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes above, including:

  • Active visitor sessions — typically up to 30 minutes of inactivity for live viewer tracking.
  • Account data — retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward unless you request deletion.
  • Login sessions — until they expire or you sign out.
  • Email verification & password reset tokens — until used or expired (typically within about one hour).
  • Application preferences — retained while your account is active so apps and the website stay in sync.
  • App diagnostic reports — retained for a reasonable period to investigate bugs, monitor stability, and respond to support tickets that reference them, then deleted or anonymized when no longer needed.
  • Sensor readings — retained to display historical observatory charts.
  • Notification queue data — short-term retention for delivering pending alerts to devices.
  • Local device caches — controlled by your browser or app until cleared by you or the application.

9. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information, including HTTPS for web traffic, hashed passwords, hashed session and email tokens, and access controls for staff areas. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; please use a strong, unique password for your SkiesLIVE account.

10. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export personal information we hold about you; object to or restrict certain processing; withdraw consent for optional features; and lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

You can also:

  • Manage your account — update your display name, password, and application settings at account.html.
  • Disable notifications in your browser, operating system, or app settings, or turn off the master alert switch in application settings.
  • Revoke location access in device settings for mobile and desktop apps.
  • Opt out of marketing email in your account email preferences or via unsubscribe links.
  • Clear local storage and cookies in your browser to remove cached session identifiers and forecast data.
  • Support tickets — when reporting a problem, you choose whether to attach diagnostic report IDs from your device.
  • Uninstall applications to stop app-specific data collection on your device.

To exercise privacy rights or request account deletion, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your request before acting on it.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents may have rights to know, delete, and correct personal information, and to opt out of sale or sharing (we do not sell personal information). You may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf.

11. Children

Our services are intended for a general audience interested in astronomy. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in certain jurisdictions) without appropriate parental consent. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. International transfers

SkiesLIVE may process information in countries other than where you live. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers consistent with applicable law.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised version on this page and update the effective date above. For material changes, we may provide additional notice in the app or on the website.

14. Contact

For privacy questions, access requests, or deletion requests:

When contacting us, describe your request and the service you used (website account, Android, iOS, or Windows app). We will respond within a reasonable timeframe as required by applicable law.