WhatTheHail! (“we,” “us,” the “App”) helps drivers see and avoid hail storms. This policy explains what data the App uses and how. We designed the App to collect as little as possible.
Plain-language summary: We use your location to show nearby hail, alert you, and plan storm-aware routes. We don’t make you create an account, we don’t sell your data, and we don’t store your location history on our servers.
Information we use
Location. With your permission, the App uses your device’s location (and, if you enable Storm Watch, location in the background) to show hail and severe-weather conditions near you, send alerts when hail threatens your location, and calculate and monitor storm-aware routes.
Subscription status. If you subscribe, your subscription is managed by Apple and our payment provider (RevenueCat). We receive only whether your subscription is active — never your payment details. Apple processes all payments; we never see your card information.
Diagnostics. Crash and performance reports are provided by Apple if you opt in via iOS settings. These are not linked to your identity.
We do not require an account, and we do not collect your name, email, phone number, contacts, photos, or advertising identifiers. The App contains no third-party advertising or analytics/tracking SDKs.
How your location is handled
Your location is sent to our backend only to look up weather and routing for that area, and is used transiently to answer the request. We do not store your location history. Location values may be temporarily cached (rounded to roughly 2 km) to improve performance, and may appear in short-lived server logs for debugging.
To provide maps, search, and navigation, the App uses Mapbox. Mapbox receives location data to render maps and calculate routes and may collect usage/location telemetry under its own privacy policy.
Weather and hazard data come from public sources — the U.S. National Weather Service (weather.gov), NOAA MRMS, and the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Point queries send approximate coordinates to these services to retrieve local conditions.
Notifications
The App uses local notifications (generated on your device) for hail alerts and Storm Watch. We do not operate a remote push server, and notifications are not used for marketing.
Data sharing and sale
We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it with third parties except the service providers named above (Apple, RevenueCat, Mapbox, and the public weather data sources), strictly to operate the App.
Data retention
We do not maintain user accounts or a database of user location history. Operational caches and logs are short-lived. Subscription status is retained for the life of your subscription via Apple/RevenueCat.
Children
The App is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your choices
You can grant, limit (e.g., “While Using”), or revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings. Some features (background Storm Watch, alerts) require location to function.
You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple ID settings.
Safety notice: WhatTheHail! is an informational aid and is not a substitute for official National Weather Service warnings or for safe driving judgment. Weather data may be delayed or inaccurate. Always follow official alerts and never interact with the App while driving.
Changes
We may update this policy; material changes will be reflected by the “Last updated” date above.