Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 2026-04-07
Last Updated: 2026-04-22

Who We Are

Vasilis Kotrogiannis operates the Weatherius weather website and Android app ("the App", "we", "our", "us").

This Privacy Policy explains what information is processed when you use the App, why it is processed, and what controls you have.

What Information We Process

We process only the information needed to provide weather and map functionality in the current version of the App:

• Location search text you enter (for example, city/place queries).
• Map-selected coordinates (when you tap/click a point on the map).
• Place details returned by geocoding providers (such as city, region, country, latitude/longitude, timezone).
• Weather request parameters (such as selected location, units, model, and forecast options).
• Technical request metadata handled by infrastructure and external providers (for example IP address, user-agent, request time, and route).

What Is Not in the Current Active App Flow

• No account registration or login.
• No in-app profile management.
• No user contact form or user-submitted message collection inside the active app UI.
• No device GPS/geolocation API use in the active code path (location comes from search input or map click).

How Location and Weather-Related Data Is Handled

When you search for a location or select a point on the map, the App uses that input to:

• Resolve place information (search/autocomplete/reverse geocoding).
• Request weather and marine forecast data for the selected location.
• Render forecast, map, and related weather views in the app.

Browser and App Storage (Cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage)

The current app uses local browser/app web storage for functionality:

localStorage

• Theme preference (light/dark).
• Forecast skill/blend diagnostic state (weather.skillBlend.v1).

sessionStorage

• Active selected location for session restore.
• Last known weather snapshot for resilience/fallback display.

Cookies

The current app code does not intentionally set first-party cookies directly.

Third-party services or infrastructure providers may use their own cookies or similar technologies under their own policies.

Vercel Web Analytics

If enabled for this project, we may use Vercel Web Analytics for aggregate traffic monitoring.

• Vercel Web Analytics is designed to use anonymized, aggregated data and does not rely on third-party cookies. Vercel documentation states visitor sessions are identified via request-derived hashing and are automatically discarded after 24 hours.

For details, see Vercel's official documentation: Web Analytics Privacy & Compliance.

Third-Party Services We Use and Why

The App relies on external services to function:

• LocationIQ (via our proxy endpoint, depending on build): location search, autocomplete, reverse geocoding.
• Open-Meteo: weather forecast, marine forecast, and archive weather data.
• NOAA weather.gov: observed weather data for supported regions.
• Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA / AMeDAS): observed weather data for supported regions in Japan.
• MeteoSwiss Open Data: Swiss weather station and forecast data for locations inside Switzerland only.
• Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) via BrightSky: observed weather data for locations in Germany.
• SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute) Open Data: observed weather data for locations in Sweden.
• Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) Open Data: observed weather data for locations in Finland.
• Estonian Weather Service (Riigi Ilmateenistus): observed weather data for locations in Estonia.
• OpenFreeMap / OpenMapTiles / OpenStreetMap ecosystem: map rendering and tiles.
• CDN providers (for example unpkg, jsDelivr): delivery of frontend libraries.
• Vercel (hosting/serverless infrastructure): hosting and API proxy execution.

These providers receive only the data needed to return requested functionality.

Data Sources and Attribution

Weatherius uses observed weather data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) AMeDAS network for locations in Japan. This data is sourced from the JMA website and is processed and adapted by Weatherius to select the nearest representative station and normalise field values for display.

Attribution per JMA data usage rules:

• Source: Japan Meteorological Agency website (https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/amedas/)
• Japanese: 気象庁「アメダス」を加工して作成 （出典：気象庁ホームページ）

JMA data is used in accordance with the JMA copyright and terms of use. JMA organisation logos and symbol marks are not used.

For locations inside Switzerland, Weatherius may use MeteoSwiss Open Data for station and forecast enhancement.

Attribution for Swiss MeteoSwiss-powered data:

• Swiss weather data source: MeteoSwiss
• Source: MeteoSwiss

According to MeteoSwiss Open Data terms, these data may be reused commercially when the source is acknowledged. MeteoSwiss publishes this Open Data under CC BY 4.0.

Reference: MeteoSwiss Open Data Terms of Use.

This attribution is informational only and does not imply endorsement, partnership, or approval by MeteoSwiss.

For locations in Germany, Weatherius may use weather observation data from Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) accessed via the BrightSky open API. DWD open data is published under CC BY 4.0. BrightSky is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with DWD.

• DWD data source: DWD Open Data
• BrightSky API: brightsky.dev

For locations in Sweden, Weatherius may use observation data from SMHI (Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut) Open Data. SMHI open data is published under CC BY 4.0.

• Source: SMHI Open Data

For locations in Finland, Weatherius may use observation data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI / Ilmatieteen laitos) Open Data service. FMI open data is published under CC BY 4.0.

• Source: FMI Open Data

For locations in Estonia, Weatherius may use observation data from the Estonian Weather Service (Riigi Ilmateenistus). This data is published as open data by the Estonian state.

• Source: Riigi Ilmateenistus

How Long Data Is Stored

• localStorage: kept until you clear app/browser data.
• sessionStorage: kept for the active session (typically cleared when the session ends).
• In-memory caches: temporary, reset on reload/restart.
• Application database retention: the current active proxy routes are designed as pass-through and do not intentionally persist user records in an app database.
• Infrastructure/provider logs: may be retained by hosting and third-party providers under their own retention policies.

Your Choices and Controls

You can:

• Avoid entering location searches or map selections.
• Clear app/browser storage (localStorage/sessionStorage) from your browser/device settings.
• Limit network access or stop using the App at any time.
• Contact us with privacy questions (see Contact section).

Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to children under 13.

If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us and we will review and address the request.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect app, operational, or legal changes.

When we update it, we will revise the "Last Updated" date above.

Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Vasilis Kotrogiannis
vskotrogiannis@gmail.com

Weatherius Privacy Policy