Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 20, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how TerraWarn ("TerraWarn", "we", "us") handles information across the TerraWarn mobile app and terrawarn.com (together, the "Service"). If anything here is unclear, email us at terrawarnlive@gmail.com.

1. Information we collect

What we collect depends entirely on how you use TerraWarn:

• Guest mode: No account is created and no personal information is sent to us. Preferences, your medical card, family list, and emergency contacts are stored only in your device's encrypted local storage.
• Account (optional): If you register, we collect your email address, a securely hashed password, and an optional display name. We never store your password in plain text.
• Location: With your permission, we use your device's foreground location to show nearby hazards and facilities (hospitals, shelters, pharmacies). Your coordinates are sent to our server (or, as a fallback, directly to OpenStreetMap's public facility lookup) only at the moment you request nearby results — we do not log or store a history of your coordinates.
• Medical Profile: If you choose to fill one in, your blood type, allergies, conditions, medications, mobility needs, and any notes you add. This is stored locally always, and additionally synced to our server only if you're signed in, so you can recover it on a new device.
• Family Circle & emergency contacts: Names, relationships, and a safety status (like "Safe" or "Needs help") that you or a household member sets manually. TerraWarn does not currently transmit any family member's live or precise location.
• Profile photo: If you pick one from your photo library, it's copied to local app storage on your device only. It is never uploaded to our servers.
• Advertising & analytics identifiers: Your device's advertising identifier (used to serve and measure ads via Google AdMob, subject to your consent choice), and basic engagement data (app opens, sessions, device/OS type, approximate region) collected automatically by Google's Firebase Analytics and, on this website, Google Analytics.

2. How we use this information

• To show you relevant hazards, alerts, and nearby facilities.
• To sync your medical card, contacts, and family list across your devices, if you have an account.
• To keep your account secure (authentication, session management).
• To operate and measure the free advertising that keeps TerraWarn free to use.
• To understand aggregate app and site usage, so we know what to fix or build next.
• To respond when you contact us.

We do not use your medical or location data to build an advertising profile, and we never sell any of your information to anyone.

3. Advertising, analytics & third-party services

TerraWarn is funded by non-intrusive advertising instead of a paywall on safety information. The following third parties process limited data on our behalf:

• Google AdMob: Serves ads in the mobile app. Where required (EEA, UK, and similar regions), we ask for your consent via Google's User Messaging Platform before any personalized ad or identifier is used; you can change your choice anytime from Settings → "Manage ad privacy options." On iOS, we also request App Tracking Transparency permission before using your advertising identifier for personalization.
• Google AdSense: Serves ads on terrawarn.com, using cookies and similar technologies subject to the same consent principles.
• Firebase (Google): Powers basic app analytics (installed via Google's Firebase SDK). We do not currently send it any custom events — it collects Google's default set of engagement and device data.
• Google Analytics: Measures traffic and usage on terrawarn.com only — not the mobile app.
• Map & hazard data providers: USGS, NASA EONET, OpenStreetMap (via the Overpass API), OpenFreeMap, and Esri World Imagery supply the public hazard and map data shown in the app and on the live map. Requests to these providers do not include any of your personal or account information — only the map area or coordinates needed to answer the request.

Each of these providers processes data under its own privacy policy; we encourage you to review Google's at policies.google.com/privacy.

4. How we store and protect information

• Locally on your device, sensitive data (medical card, contacts, family list, auth tokens) is kept in encrypted secure storage provided by your operating system.
• When you have an account, synced data is stored in a PostgreSQL database (hosted on Supabase, in the United Kingdom) and is only reachable through an authenticated connection tied to your account.
• Passwords are hashed (never stored in plain text) and session tokens are short-lived and rotated.

No method of storage or transmission is 100% secure, but we design the Service to keep as little of your data as possible on our servers in the first place.

5. Data sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We only share it with:

• The service providers listed above (Google/AdMob/AdSense/Firebase/Analytics, Supabase, OpenStreetMap), strictly to operate the Service.
• Law enforcement or regulators, only if we're legally required to.
• A successor organization, if TerraWarn is ever acquired or merged — your data would remain subject to this policy or one you're notified of in advance.

6. Data retention

Guest-mode data lives only on your device until you delete the app or clear its data. Account data is retained until you delete your account, at which point your profile, medical card, emergency contacts, and family list are permanently deleted from our servers — this cannot be undone. Data stored only on your device is not affected by deleting your account.

7. Your rights & choices

• Export your data: Settings → "Export my data" bundles your account, contacts, family list, and medical card into a file you control and share yourself — we don't transmit it anywhere on your behalf.
• Delete your account: Settings → "Delete account" permanently erases your account and all synced data from our servers.
• Manage permissions: Revoke location, photo, or notification access anytime in your device's system settings.
• Manage ad choices: Settings → "Manage ad privacy options" controls ad personalization consent.
• Regional privacy rights: If GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA, or a similar law applies to you, you may also have rights to access, correct, restrict, or object to our processing of your data. Contact us at terrawarnlive@gmail.com to exercise any of these.

8. Children's privacy

TerraWarn is intended for users 18 and older and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

9. International data transfers

TerraWarn is operated with a global user base. Account data is stored on servers located in the United Kingdom, and our third-party providers (Google, Supabase) may process data in other countries in which they operate. Where required, we rely on those providers' own legal safeguards for cross-border transfers.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as TerraWarn changes. We'll update the "Last updated" date above, and if a change is material, we'll make a reasonable effort to notify you in the app.

11. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data — email terrawarnlive@gmail.com. See also our Terms of Service.