SnowSignal

Privacy policy

Updated October 11, 2026

SnowSignal is designed to work without a customer account. This policy describes the app and website, including optional Premium access and forecast alerts. We update this policy when our data practices change.

Information SnowSignal handles

• Favorite resorts, units, language and forecast preferences are stored on your device. Paid Premium access is evaluated from verified Apple transactions; any complimentary preview is a separate server-verified grant.
• To offer a complimentary Premium preview without signup, the app sends an Apple-signed app transaction to SnowSignal for verification. The service stores a hash of its app-specific transaction identifier and the preview start and expiry times, not your Apple email or password. This record prevents repeat previews after reinstalling with the same Apple Account. Raw signed transactions are not stored in the eligibility table or intentionally logged.
• For server-side paid verification, SnowSignal uses the verified app-specific identity to ask Apple for current subscription status. Its short-lived access cache stores a hashed identity/configuration key, check time and access expiry, not raw signed proofs, payment details or your Apple email. Subscription prices and app updates do not reset an existing paid period.
• When the app contacts the SnowSignal service, hosting infrastructure may process standard request information such as IP address, request time, route, device network information, and diagnostic logs for security and reliability.
• SnowSignal sends resort coordinates and requested forecast settings—not your identity—to weather providers through its backend.
• The current consumer app does not request precise device location, contacts, photos, advertising identifiers, or payment-card details.

Accounts and purchases

The consumer app does not require a SnowSignal account. Sign in with Apple is limited to authorized owner administration. Apple processes subscription purchases; SnowSignal does not receive your full payment-card details.

Providers and hosting

SnowSignal uses service providers for hosting, forecasts, resort data, imagery, maps, and optional live operating status. These providers process data under their own policies. When you choose to open a piste map, the original OpenSkiMap website loads in an in-app Safari browser and receives a direct request from your device. SnowSignal cannot read your activity in that browser. The native resort map uses Apple MapKit. SnowSignal caches applicable backend provider requests to reduce unnecessary repeated processing; it does not cache the third-party map website.

When resort pictures load, your device may contact Wikimedia directly for images or related metadata. SnowSignal lists optional nearby webcams from Windy and loads their preview images in its interface. Loading a preview makes a direct network request from your device to the image host, which can receive standard request information such as your IP address. SnowSignal does not embed the webcam player. Choosing a live or timelapse link opens its provider URL in Apple’s in-app Safari browser, where Windy and linked sites handle network and browsing information under their own policies. SnowSignal cannot read your activity in that browser. See Windy’s privacy policy and Wikimedia’s privacy policy. Enabled live-report sources include open·piste and Fnugg where a current supported report is available. Lumiplan is disabled for this release.

Analytics, advertising, and tracking

The current app does not include a third-party advertising or cross-app tracking SDK. SnowSignal does not sell personal information or track people across apps or websites for advertising or advertising measurement. Any future analytics, advertising, or embedded webcam change requires a privacy-policy and App Privacy update before release.

Retention and deletion

If you enable forecast alerts, SnowSignal sends your APNs device token, selected resort IDs, alert choices, language, units, timezone and quiet hours to its service over an encrypted connection. Tokens are encrypted at rest and used only to send your requested alerts through Apple. A random installation credential protects changes to your subscription. Raw signed Apple verification transactions are not retained in the alert subscription.

Disabling alerts and syncing with the service deletes the subscription and its alert history. If offline, deletion waits until the next successful sync. Alert records are scheduled for deletion after 30 days and subscriptions without a successful sync after 90 days through the service’s regular cleanup cycle, even when delivery is disabled. Notification permission can also be disabled in iPhone Settings. Uninstalling does not immediately notify the server; Apple token invalidation or retention cleanup removes the remaining subscription. Backup retention may outlast deletion from the active database.

Complimentary-preview eligibility records remain while the preview program operates, including after expiry or uninstall, to prevent duplicate grants. These records are included in database backups. They are not used for advertising or cross-app tracking. Contact support about server-side deletion; deleting local app data does not delete server eligibility history.

Paid-verification cache decisions are valid for no more than 60 seconds and never beyond verified access expiry; negative decisions are cached for 15 seconds. Cache records are scheduled for removal after 24 hours beyond cache validity through the six-hour cleanup cycle. This cleanup does not delete preview eligibility history. Backups may retain deleted records until their actual expiry.

Local preferences can also exist in device backups or shared widget storage. Removing the app is not a request to delete server records or cancel an Apple subscription. SnowSignal hosts its backend and database on Render. The Hobby workspace has seven-day dashboard-log retention under Render’s logging documentation. The configured managed database has a three-day point-in-time recovery window and seven-day managed logical-export retention. These periods do not establish retention for separate host infrastructure logs or provider records, which are governed by the respective providers. SnowSignal does not maintain additional analytics/ad services or routine customer-data log exports or backups outside Render and its support mailbox. Contact support privately with a privacy question or deletion request relating to server-side information.

Support emails and optional redacted screenshots are used to investigate and respond to your request, not for advertising. Do not send passwords, verification codes, payment details, installation credentials or Apple-signed transaction proofs. Server-side requests may require secure identity verification; an email address alone cannot identify the app's hashed eligibility record. We do not promise immediate self-service deletion or removal from backups before their verified expiry.

Routine support messages are retained for 90 days after a case closes, then removed through periodic manual cleanup. Owner-downloaded incident backup copies are removed within seven days after recovery is verified. Records required for a legal obligation may be retained longer for that documented purpose. These rules do not change Render-managed backup retention.

Children and safety

SnowSignal is not directed to children under 13. Forecasts and resort data are informational and are not a substitute for official avalanche, closure, patrol, or emergency guidance.

Contact

Email snowsignal365@gmail.com or open a request through SnowSignal support on GitHub.