Privacy policy
Last updated: November 2026. Draft — review with counsel before launch.
The short version
LeadTime needs your location to show you the weather where you are. The free web app sends it to NOAA and the National Weather Service to fetch radar and forecasts, and to nobody else. If you turn on alerts, your location and a notification address are stored on LeadTime's server so it can watch the radar for you; turning alerts off deletes them. There are no ads, no advertising trackers, and we do not sell data.
What we collect, and why
| Data | When | Why | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approximate or precise location | While the app is open | Centre the radar; fetch your forecast and alerts | On your device only, unless alerts are on |
| Location and a push-notification address | Alerts turned on | Watch radar, lightning and warnings for your spot and notify you | Until you turn alerts off or the notification address stops working |
| Email address | Pro sign-in or purchase | Identify your subscription; receipts; support | While you have an account; deleted on request |
| Payment details | Purchase | Handled entirely by Stripe; we never see card numbers | See Stripe's policy |
| Settings (activity, ranges, voice key) | Always | Make the app yours; synced to your account if you sign in | On your device; on the server while signed in |
| Anonymous usage ping (random install id, location rounded to about 7 miles, activity, language, platform, version) | App open, every 10 minutes | Know how many people use the app and where, to keep the service running | 90 days after the last use |
| Group membership (your email, display name, who invited you) | You start or join a family group | Share alerts, locations and messages with people you chose | Until you leave or the group is disbanded |
| Shared location (GPS positions) | Only while you switch sharing on, for the hours you choose | Show you on your group's map | 24 hours, then deleted; deleted at once when you switch sharing off |
| Group messages (short text) | You or a group member sends one | Deliver it to the group | 24 hours, then deleted |
| Server logs (IP address, request, time) | Each request to our server | Keep the service running and secure | 30 days |
Family groups
A Pro subscriber can invite people to a group. Members see each other's display names and, only while a member has switched sharing on, that member's recent GPS positions and trail. Sharing always has an end time you choose (2 to 24 hours), can be switched off at any moment, and is shown clearly in the app while it is on. Messages are visible to the whole group and nobody else. Anyone can leave a group at any time; the owner can remove members; leaving deletes your positions immediately. We do not use group data for anything except delivering the feature.
Microphone and voice
Wake-word detection and command recognition run on your device, using the device's own speech engine. LeadTime does not record, store or upload audio. The wake-word engine (Picovoice Porcupine) counts activations against the access key for licensing; no audio leaves the device.
Third parties we send data to
- NOAA / National Weather Service — your coordinates, to fetch radar, forecasts, alerts, tides, lightning and river data. US government services; see their policies.
- USDA (SNOTEL), NIFC (wildfires), Open-Meteo, OpenStreetMap, OpenTopoMap, Waymarked Trails — map tiles and data for the layers you turn on; they receive the map area you're viewing.
- Stripe — payments.
- Google / Apple push services — deliver notifications to your device; they see that a message was sent, not its content.
- Anthropic — if briefings are written by the model (Pro), the weather facts for your location are sent to generate the text. No account identifiers are included.
Your choices
- Deny location and set your spot by tapping the map.
- Turn alerts off at any time (Settings → Data); this deletes your location from our server.
- Switch location sharing off (Settings → Family) at any time; leave a group at any time.
- Email privacy@getleadtime.app to see or delete anything we hold about you.
Children
LeadTime is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
We'll post changes here with a new date. Material changes will be announced in the app.