Privacy
What is collected
Only what is needed to tell who you are and whether you may use Ashtronomy Astro Studio. Specifically:
- Your email address, and an account identifier issued by Firebase Authentication. Used to identify your account and to match it against the beta invitation list.
- Which sign-in method you used — Google, Apple, or email and password.
- Your access level and status, and the dates your account was created and last updated.
- Details of the computers you sign in on: a name, the operating system and platform, the version of Astro Studio last seen, and the first and last time each was used. This exists so you can see where your account is in use, and so that a fixed limit on the number of computers can be applied.
- Your email address on the waiting list, if you sign in without an invitation.
Passwords are never seen by this site. Sign-in is handled entirely by Firebase Authentication.
What is not collected
There is no analytics, no advertising, no tracking pixels and no third-party scripts of that kind on this site. Your astronomical images and any files you open in Astro Studio stay on your own computer; they are never uploaded.
No payment information is collected. Astro Studio is a free beta and nothing is sold through this site.
Who else handles it
- Google, through Firebase Authentication, verifies who you are and sends verification and password-reset emails. Google receives your email address and sign-in activity.
- Cloudflare hosts this site and stores the account and device records described above.
- GitHub serves the installer downloads, so GitHub sees a request when you download the software.
Your information is not sold, rented, or shared with anyone else.
Where it is stored
Account records are held in Cloudflare's Oceania region. Firebase Authentication and the download files are hosted on infrastructure that may be located overseas, including in the United States. Where information is held outside New Zealand it is held by providers who are required to protect it to a comparable standard.
How long it is kept
Account and device records are kept while your account exists. Deleting your account removes them immediately.
One exception, stated plainly: if you were invited to the beta, your email address remains on the invitation list after you delete your account, so that the invitation is not consumed by the deletion. Email the address above if you would like it removed as well.
Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time from your account page. This erases your account record, your device records and any waiting list entry, and then removes your sign-in credentials from Firebase. There is no recovery afterwards.
Signing in with Apple
If you use Sign in with Apple and choose Hide My Email, Apple gives this site a relay address rather than your real one. That is fine — but invitations are matched on email address, so a hidden address cannot be matched to an invitation sent to your real one.
Your rights
Under the Privacy Act 2020 you may ask for a copy of the personal information held about you, and ask for it to be corrected if it is wrong. Email the address above and I will respond within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied with how a request is handled, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
Changes
This page will be updated if what is collected changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.
Contact
Questions about this page, or a request to see or correct what is held about you: support@ashtronomy.net