Privacy Policy
Snoflo was built to give you climate awareness for the outdoors without taking anything from you in return. This page explains exactly what that means, in plain language.
The short version
If you read nothing else, read this.
We don't collect
- Your real name
- Your phone number
- Your precise location
- Browsing or in-app behavior
- Advertising IDs
We do receive
- Map tile requests (anonymous)
- Search queries you type
- Crash reports (no PII)
- Web traffic logs (IP, brief)
- Email + favorites (only if you sign up)
We never
- Sell your data
- Track you across other apps or sites
- Share with data brokers
- Read your messages
- Show ads to Premium subscribers
01 Who this policy applies to
This Privacy Policy covers the Snoflo iOS app (the "App") and the website at snoflo.org (the "Site"), together referred to as "Snoflo", "we", "us", or "our". It applies to anyone who downloads the App or visits the Site.
Snoflo surfaces public snowpack, streamflow, weather, reservoir, avalanche, and recreation data from U.S. federal agencies. Browsing the map is anonymous — no account required. Saving favorites and configuring push alerts requires a free account, which collects only an email and a password (described below).
The free tier of Snoflo is supported by display advertising; a Premium subscription removes ads entirely. We do not sell user data to anyone, ever — including our ad partners. Section 06 covers exactly how the ads work and what they can and can't see.
02 Information we collect
We deliberately collect as little as possible. Here's the complete list of what we do receive — and the narrow technical reason for each.
Anyone using Snoflo (no account)
Map tile requests
When the App or Site loads the map, your device requests vector and raster tiles from Mapbox and from our backend. These requests carry your IP address (necessary for the response to reach you) but no personally identifying information from us.
Search queries
If you type a place name, station name, or river name into the search box, that text is sent to our search service (the same `/api/search` endpoint the iOS app uses) to look up matches across SNOTEL, USGS, ski areas, and other databases. We don't store the query text on our side beyond brief request logs used for diagnostics. If you search a place name, that may also be passed to Mapbox's geocoding service, processed under their privacy policy.
Crash reports
If the App crashes, iOS may send anonymous diagnostic reports to Apple, and we may receive an aggregated subset through Apple's developer dashboard. These reports describe what code path crashed; they don't contain your location, contacts, photos, or any personal content.
Web server logs
Like most websites, our server briefly logs the IP address, user-agent string, and URL of each request. We use this only to diagnose outages, detect abuse, and rate-limit misbehaving clients. Logs are rotated within 14 days.
Only if you create a free account
Creating an account is optional. It unlocks favorites, push alerts, and a few other features. If you sign up, we collect:
Email address & password
We need an email so we can send password resets and security notices. We need a password so we can authenticate you. Passwords are stored as a one-way salted hash — we cannot read your password, and we cannot retrieve it for you. If you forget it, you'll reset it.
Favorites
The SNOTEL stations, USGS gauges, ski areas, paddle runs, and other features you save. We store these on our servers so they sync across devices (web + iOS). They're tied to your account and never shared.
Alert preferences & push tokens
The thresholds you set on a station ("notify me when this gauge passes 200 cfs", "alert me on fresh snow over 6 inches") and the device push token we use to deliver those notifications. Push tokens are issued by Apple and are scoped to Snoflo — no other developer can use them.
What we don't collect: we don't ask for your real name, phone number, address, age, or demographics. We don't read your contacts, photos, or calendar. We don't use any third-party analytics tools (no Google Analytics, no Mixpanel, no Segment, nothing of that kind).
03 Location data
The App has a "Nearby" feature and a recenter button that use your current location to show conditions around you. iOS will ask your permission the first time you use either. Here's exactly what happens when you do:
- iOS provides your device's coordinates to the App in memory.
- The App passes those coordinates to the Mapbox map view to recenter the camera, and to our `/api/nearby` endpoint to fetch the closest stations and gauges.
- Coordinates sent to our backend are used only to compute the nearby query result and are not stored or logged with your account.
We use the NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription permission, meaning location is only available while the App is open and visible. We do not request NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription or any background-location access.
You can revoke location permission at any time from Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Snoflo. The App still works fine without it — you just won't be able to one-tap recenter or use the Nearby feature.
04 Push notifications
Push alerts are off by default. They turn on when you (a) create a free account and (b) configure a threshold on a saved favorite (e.g. "tell me when Lower Boulder Creek crosses 200 cfs", "alert me on fresh snow above 6 inches at Berthoud Summit").
When you tap a station's "Alert me" button for the first time, iOS will ask permission to send notifications. If you grant it, your device gives us an opaque Apple Push Notification (APNs) token that we associate with your account. We use that token only to deliver the alerts you configured.
You can revoke notifications at any time from Settings → Notifications → Snoflo, or by removing the alert from inside the App. When you do, your device's APNs token becomes invalid and Apple drops it; we never receive a "you turned this off" event but we no longer have a working token to send to.
05 Third-party services
Snoflo uses a small number of third parties to deliver the maps and data. Each one is named here so you can read their privacy practices directly.
Mapbox
The App and Site embed the Mapbox SDK to render basemaps and to perform place-name geocoding. Mapbox processes anonymous tile-request and search telemetry under its own privacy policy. We never share personal information with Mapbox because we don't have any to share for anonymous users; for signed-in users we still don't pass your account identity to Mapbox.
Apple (App Store, TestFlight, APNs)
Distributing an iOS app necessarily involves Apple. When you install Snoflo via the App Store or TestFlight, Apple processes your install under its privacy policy. We see only what Apple shows in App Store Connect: aggregate install counts, crash counts, and (if you opt in to share with developers) anonymous diagnostic data. Push notifications are routed through Apple Push Notification service (APNs).
U.S. federal data agencies
Snoflo's snow, water, weather, and recreation layers are sourced from public-agency feeds — including USGS, USDA NRCS (SNOTEL), NOAA / NWS, NOHRSC, USBR, USACE, FEMA, NIFC, NASA FIRMS, USFS, and the U.S. Drought Monitor. The App fetches pre-published tilesets and JSON from our backend rather than calling those agencies directly, so no information about you is sent to any government service.
Hosting infrastructure
The Site, the App's API endpoints, and our tile-building pipeline run on commodity cloud infrastructure (server logs as described above). Our hosting provider does not have access to anything beyond standard server-level diagnostics. Account passwords sit in our database hashed; the hosting provider cannot read them.
06 Advertising
Snoflo's free tier is supported by display advertising. Ads pay for the federal-data ingestion pipeline, the servers, the AI briefings, and the team — without making us reach for the more invasive funding model of selling user data.
What ads we show
Ads appear in the web app and (where applicable) in the iOS app for users on the free tier. They are typically standard display banners served via a reputable ad network. We do not run pop-ups, interstitials, autoplay video ads, or "sponsored" map pins disguised as data.
What our ad partners can see
The ad network can see what any web visitor or iOS app session can see at the network level: your IP address, the page or screen you're on, your device type and user-agent, and a non-identifying ad-network identifier (where one exists). They use that to serve a relevant ad and to measure delivery.
What they cannot see: your Snoflo account email, your saved favorites, your alert preferences, your search queries, or your precise location. We never pass account-linked data to ad partners.
Ad-free with Premium
Snoflo Premium removes ads entirely. No banners, no third-party ad-network calls, no ad cookies. Premium subscribers also get the professional features described in our Terms of Service. Pricing and free-trial details live there.
Opting out
Even on the free tier, you have control. On iOS you can disable Apple's advertising identifier from Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising; on the web you can use any standard ad-blocker, and Snoflo will continue to function normally. You can also subscribe to Premium to remove ads entirely.
08 How long we keep data
- Web server logs: rotated within 14 days, then permanently deleted.
- Crash reports: retained for as long as the bug exists, typically a few weeks; deleted once resolved.
- Account data (email, password hash, favorites, alert preferences): retained for the life of your account. Deleted within 30 days of account deletion.
- APNs push tokens: retained while you have at least one active alert configured. Tokens that fail to deliver three times in a row are pruned automatically.
- Email correspondence (if you contact us): retained until the conversation is closed, then archived for up to 12 months for reference, then deleted.
- Anonymous browsing data: nothing persists. Once a request is served and the log line ages out, it's gone.
09 How we protect data
All traffic between the App, the Site, and our backend uses HTTPS with TLS 1.2 or higher. Account passwords are stored as one-way salted hashes using an industry-standard algorithm — we cannot read your password, even with full database access.
We follow standard infrastructure hardening practices on our servers (least-privilege access, automatic security updates, no shared accounts, encrypted backups).
That said, no system is perfectly secure. If we ever detect or suspect a breach that affects user data, we'll publish a notice on this page within 72 hours of discovery and notify any affected account holders by email.
10 Your rights
If you've never created an account and never emailed us, we likely have nothing about you on file beyond ephemeral request logs — most data-subject rights are automatically satisfied. If you do have an account, you can:
- Access the data tied to your account via Account settings.
- Delete your account at any time, which removes your email, password hash, favorites, and alert preferences within 30 days.
- Export your favorites and alert preferences by emailing info@snoflo.org.
If you live in a jurisdiction with specific privacy rights (such as GDPR in the EU/UK or CCPA/CPRA in California), you have the right to:
- Know what personal information we have about you (most likely just an email + favorites).
- Correct inaccurate information.
- Request deletion of any such information.
- Opt out of "sale" or "sharing" of personal information (we never sell or share).
- Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.
To exercise any of these rights, email info@snoflo.org. We respond to verifiable requests within 30 days.
11 Children's privacy
Snoflo is rated 4+ on the App Store and contains nothing inappropriate for children. That said, the App is designed as a climate intelligence tool for adults (skiers, paddlers, anglers, ranchers, water managers), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 13. Our account-creation flow does not ask for age, and we do not target the App to children.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please email info@snoflo.org and we will delete the account and any associated data promptly.
12 International users
Snoflo is operated from the United States. The data layers in the App are U.S.-focused (the underlying federal agencies cover the U.S. and its territories). If you use the App from outside the U.S., your tile and search requests will be routed to U.S.-based or Mapbox-region servers as required to deliver the maps.
Where required by local law, we rely on standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms with our service providers to lawfully transfer the minimal data described in this policy.
13 Changes to this policy
If we update this Privacy Policy, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes (e.g., a new third-party service, a new category of data collected, a meaningful change in retention), we'll surface a notice in the App on next launch and on the Site's homepage for at least 30 days. Account holders will receive an email summarizing the change.
14 Contact us
Questions, complaints, or data-subject requests? Reach out at info@snoflo.org.
For general feedback about the App, you can also email info@snoflo.org or use the feedback button inside the App.
Still have a question?
We read every email. Replies usually come within a couple of business days.