Privacy Policy

What Northwise does with your location and other data, who receives it, how long it is kept and how to have it deleted.

Effective 5 October 2026 · Last updated 5 October 2026

Location

Northwise asks to use your location only while the app is in use. You can change or withdraw this at any time in the iPhone Settings app › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Northwise. Without it, the compass can still point to magnetic north, but true north, coordinates, weather, sun and moon times, air quality and the map need your location.

On your iPhone, your location is used to show your coordinates, to correct the compass to true north, to work out sunrise, sunset and moon times, to show where you are on the map, to measure the distance and direction to your saved places, and for the readouts you choose (such as altitude and speed). This all happens on the device.

What stays on your iPhone

Your saved places, your settings and your home-screen layout are stored only in Northwise’s private storage on your iPhone. The last weather forecast and air-quality readings are also kept on the device so they can be shown when you are offline. We have no copy and no way to see any of this. Like other app data, it is included in your iPhone’s own backup (iCloud Backup or your computer), which Apple or your computer handles. Deleting the app deletes it from the device.

• Compass and motion sensors. Heading, magnetic field and the sun compass are read from your iPhone’s sensors on the device.
• Sun, moon and field guide. Calculated or stored in the app; no connection needed.
• Torch, SOS and voice guidance. Run on your iPhone. SOS only flashes the torch and plays sound or vibration on your phone; it does not contact anyone.

What leaves your iPhone, and why

1. Weather (Apple Weather)

To show the forecast, the app asks Apple Weather (Apple’s WeatherKit service) for the weather at your location. This request goes from your iPhone to Apple, and Apple’s privacy policy applies. We do not receive your location or the forecast. The last forecast is cached on your iPhone.

2. Air quality (our server and OpenAQ)

To show nearby air-quality readings, the app sends your approximate location, rounded to about 1 km, to our server, which is operated by The Apptor and hosted by Render. Our server looks up nearby monitoring stations from OpenAQ, a public air-quality database (data licensed under CC BY 4.0), and keeps the results for 30 minutes so nearby requests can be answered without asking again. OpenAQ receives only the rounded location from our server. It never sees your IP address.

Like most web servers, ours keeps standard logs (such as your IP address and the time of the request) to keep the service secure and working. These logs are kept for up to 30 days, and we do not link them to you or to any other data.

3. Place names and the map (Apple)

The place name shown above your coordinates comes from Apple’s location services: iOS sends your location to Apple and receives the name of the place back. The map is Apple Maps, which loads the map for the area you are viewing from Apple. Apple’s privacy policy applies; we do not receive this data.

4. Google Maps, only if you tap it

If you tap Open in Google Maps, the app hands your coordinates to Google Maps (the app or website). Nothing is sent to Google unless you tap it, and Google’s own privacy policy then applies.

5. Sharing and copying

When you share your location or copy coordinates, they go only where you send or paste them (for example Messages or Mail).

6. Purchases (Apple)

Payments for Premium are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see your card, payment details or Apple Account. The app only checks, on your iPhone, whether Premium is active. We do not use RevenueCat, Firebase or any other purchase or analytics service.

7. When you contact support

If you use the form on this website (or the in-app form, where available), we receive:

• your email address (so we can reply) and, if you give it, your name;
• the topic and your message;
• if you choose to include them, app details such as the app version, iOS version, device model, app language and whether you have Premium.

The request is sent over an encrypted connection to our support service, saved in our database (Cloudflare D1) and delivered to our support inbox by email, all run by Cloudflare. To stop abuse, we also keep a one-way hash of your IP address (not the address itself) for 24 hours to limit how many messages can be sent in a short time. If you email us directly instead, we receive your email address and whatever you write.

We use these details only to answer you and to fix the problem you report. We keep support messages for up to two years so we can follow up on repeat problems, then delete them. You can ask us to delete yours sooner.

Who receives data

Render and Cloudflare act as our service providers (processors) and may only use the data to provide their service to us. Apple, OpenAQ and Google provide their services under their own terms and privacy policies. We do not share data with anyone else unless the law requires it. Some of these providers are based in the United States; where data moves outside the UK or EU, it is protected by the providers’ standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.

This website

This website does not use cookies, analytics or tracking. It is hosted by Cloudflare, which processes standard connection data (such as your IP address) to deliver and protect the site, and its fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address when the fonts load.

Why we are allowed to use it

For people in the UK and EU, the legal bases are: performing our contract with you (providing the features you use, such as air quality, providing Premium you bought, and answering your support request) and our legitimate interest in keeping our server and support form secure and free of abuse (server logs and the IP hash). Using your location is also up to you: the app only receives it if you allow it in iOS, and you can turn it off at any time.

How long we keep it

Your choices and rights

• Location: allow, limit or turn it off in iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Northwise.
• Saved places and settings: delete places in the app, or delete the app to remove everything.
• Support requests: email [email protected] from the address you used, and we will send you a copy or delete it.
• Air-quality requests and server logs: these are not tied to an account or your identity, so we usually cannot find them for a particular person, and they are deleted automatically within the periods above.

Depending on where you live (for example under the UK GDPR, EU GDPR or California law), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or object to the use of your personal data, and to complain to your local data-protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). We reply to requests within one month.

Children

Northwise is a general-audience app and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the EU). If you believe a child has sent us their details through the support form, contact us and we will delete them.

Security

Data stored by the app on your iPhone is protected by iOS’s own data protection. Everything Northwise sends over the internet is encrypted in transit, and support requests are stored in a database that only our support service can access.

Changes to this policy

If we change what Northwise collects or shares, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change reaches the app. Significant changes will also be noted in the App Store release notes.

Contact

Questions about privacy: [email protected], or use the support form. Northwise is developed by The Apptor.