Privacy Policy

You sign in with Apple or Google. From your sign-in provider we receive your name, email address, and a user ID, and we store them in our database (PlanetScale Postgres). If your provider supplies a profile picture URL, we store that too. We never see or store a password.

Rareflight uses your precise location, while the app is in use, to find aircraft flying near you. Your coordinates are sent to our server (a Cloudflare Worker) with each request for nearby aircraft. Application logs record request paths, status, duration, and coarse search-area tiles for troubleshooting. They omit the location query string and redact coordinate fields; they do not deliberately record your precise GPS coordinates.

When you collect an aircraft, we store that sighting permanently, including the aircraft's coordinates at that moment, your distance to it, and your own location at the time of the spot. Deleting your account removes all of your sightings, including these stored locations.

If you set a profile photo, it is uploaded to our storage (Cloudflare R2) and served from a public URL that anyone with the link can view. Photos you take of aircraft while spotting stay on your device only; they are never uploaded.

The AR view uses your device's motion sensors (compass, gyroscope) to aim at aircraft. Sensor data is processed entirely on your device and never transmitted.

We use Expo's EAS Observe service to measure app startup, screen loading, update downloads, and technical performance. Reports include a random installation identifier, session information, app and operating-system versions, device model, language, screen names, and performance measurements. Expo also receives your IP address when your device sends these reports.

We filter aircraft selections, location parameters, and sign-in parameters from navigation reports. We do not attach your account ID, name, email, photos, or precise location to performance reports. The installation identifier is pseudonymous and is not an advertising identifier. Expo retains metrics for at least 60 days; deleting your Rareflight account does not automatically delete these separate performance records.

Rareflight has no advertising SDK. We do not sell your data or use it to track you across other companies' apps or websites for advertising.

The map is powered by Mapbox. Loading map tiles sends requests from your device to Mapbox, which exposes your IP address to them; we have disabled Mapbox's usage telemetry. App updates are delivered through Expo's EAS Update service, which your device contacts to check for updates.

To show live aircraft, our server queries adsb.lol, plus ADS-B Exchange, AirLabs, or adsb.fi when enabled under their usage terms. It also uses adsbdb for flight routes and Planespotters for aircraft photos. Position searches use a coarse area center rather than your exact GPS coordinates. These services receive aircraft identifiers and search areas from our server, without your name, email, or account ID.

Your display name, profile photo, level, and sightings are visible to users you add as friends. If you report another user, we store the report (who reported whom, the reason, and any detail you provide) so we can review it.

You can delete your account in the app under Settings → Delete Account. This permanently removes your account, sightings, XP, friendships, and profile photo from our systems.

If we add new data collection (for example an analytics SDK), we will update this policy and its effective date before the change ships.

Questions? Email hello@rareflight.app or see the support page.