Privacy Policy

Information used by the app

Helton’s Storm Chasing uses a location you enter or, with your Android permission, your phone's approximate or precise location. Location helps select a nearby radar, position the map, match weather warnings and identify nearby radar rotation signals. Phone location updates are requested only while the app is in the foreground. You can deny or revoke location permission and select a radar manually; location-based features may then require a manually saved point.

The app stores your saved coordinates, location type/time, selected radar, playback speed, opacity, spoken-alert preferences, cached warning information and announcement history in app-private storage on your phone. Cached warning records can include the location used for the query. The app does not ask you to create an account.

Weather and map requests

The app sends your selected alert coordinates to the U.S. National Weather Service to retrieve warnings for that point. Map and weather imagery requests go to OpenStreetMap, NOAA/NCEP and Iowa Environmental Mesonet for the area or station you view. Requested map tiles and image bounds can reveal the viewed geographic area. Nearby rotation matching is performed on the phone using the public IEM storm feed.

These providers receive ordinary internet connection information, including the requesting IP address and app/browser identification, and may process server logs according to their own policies. The developer does not control their infrastructure or retention periods. Requests made directly by the app use HTTPS. Opening an external information link is handled by your chosen browser or another installed app under that service's policies.

Spoken warnings

Speech uses an installed Android text-to-speech engine and an English voice marked as usable offline. The app does not include a cloud speech service or upload spoken-warning text to a developer-operated AI service. The speech engine is provided by your phone or another installed provider. The app does not request microphone access or record audio.

Advertising, analytics and accounts

This version contains no advertising SDK, analytics SDK, in-app account system or developer-operated warning server. It does not sell user data. Location and viewed-area requests described above still leave the device to provide weather and maps.

Retention and your choices

Saved settings and location remain on your phone until you replace them, clear the app's storage in Android settings or uninstall the app. Cached warning information is replaced as the app refreshes data, and announcement history is managed locally to limit repeat speech. Clearing app storage also removes your preferences. This app disables Android app-data backup.

You can change spoken-warning and rotation preferences in Settings and revoke location permission in Android settings. Closing or pausing the app stops ongoing location updates, speech and foreground checks. Data already received by independent weather/map providers is governed by those providers' practices; clearing local app storage does not erase their server logs.