Privacy Policy

Overview

AVSpot is a personal plane-spotting logbook. This policy explains what information the app collects, how it's used, and how you can delete it. AVSpot does not sell your data, does not show ads, and does not use advertising trackers. It does use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand, in aggregate, how the app is used.

AVSpot is available as an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android, and as a web app at app.avspot.app. This policy covers all of them.

Information We Collect

• Account information - your name, email address, and profile photo, provided by Google or Apple when you sign in.
• Sighting data - aircraft registrations, types, airlines, and timestamps you log, plus any notes or photos you choose to attach.
• Location data - the GPS coordinates of where you logged a sighting or spotting session, captured only while you're actively using the app to log something, never in the background. In the web app, your browser asks for your permission first.
• Push notification token - a device identifier used to deliver optional notifications, if you enable them.
• Crash reports - if the app crashes or hits a serious error, a report of what went wrong: the app version, device model, operating system version, and technical details of the error, tagged with a random identifier for this installation. Crash reports aren't linked to your account and are used only to find and fix bugs.
• Usage data - which screens you open and how often you use the app, along with the app version, device model, operating system, language, and approximate region (country or city, estimated from your IP address), tagged with a random identifier for this installation. Usage data isn't linked to your account, and AVSpot doesn't collect your device's advertising identifier. Screens are recorded by type (for example "a sighting"), never by which aircraft or sighting you viewed. In the web app, usage data is collected only if you allow it: the web app asks on your first visit, and Google Analytics then keeps that random identifier in a cookie. If you decline, the web app doesn't load Google Analytics at all.

How We Use Information

Your account and sighting data are used to build your personal collection - stats, your "Hangar" of spotted aircraft, and your session history. Aircraft registrations you log may be sent to a free public aviation registry (adsbdb.com) to identify the type and airline; only the tail number is sent, never anything about you.

Who Can See Your Data

Your sightings, sessions, photos, saved spotting locations, and collection are private to your account. AVSpot does not currently have any public profile or social features that expose your logbook to other users.

Third-Party Services

AVSpot relies on these services to work. Google Firebase stores your account and logbook on our behalf; none of the others receive your name, email address, or logbook.

• Google Firebase (Google LLC) - sign-in, and storage of your account data, sightings, and photos. Sign in with Google or Apple is used only to verify who you are.
• Firebase Crashlytics (Google LLC) - receives the crash reports described above.
• Google Analytics for Firebase (Google LLC) - receives the usage data described above.
• Firebase App Check (Google LLC) - confirms that requests to our servers come from a genuine copy of AVSpot. In the mobile apps it uses Apple App Attest or Google Play Integrity: your device's operating system provides an attestation for the app, which doesn't include your name, email address, or logbook. In the web app it uses Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise, which looks at information about your browser and device and how the page is used to tell people apart from automated traffic; that information is covered by Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
• Google Maps - shows the maps used to pick and view spotting locations. Google receives the map area being viewed and your device's IP address.
• adsbdb.com - a free public aviation registry. Our servers send it only an aircraft registration to identify its type and airline.
• Planespotters.net - a placeholder photo for an aircraft is loaded from their servers, so your device's IP address is visible to them when it loads. Only an aircraft registration or ICAO hex code is sent, never anything about you.
• OpenSky Network - when you look up which flight a sighting was part of, your device contacts OpenSky directly with the aircraft's ICAO hex code and the time of the sighting, so your device's IP address is visible to them.

Cookies and Browser Storage (Web App)

The web app at app.avspot.app stores a few things in your browser:

• Your sign-in session and app settings - kept in your browser's local storage so you stay signed in and your preferences (such as light or dark mode) are remembered. These are needed for the web app to work.
• Google Analytics cookies - set only after you choose Allow in the web app's cookie notice. They hold the random identifier described under Usage data, so visits can be counted in aggregate. You can change your choice at any time under Settings > Usage Analytics; turning it off stops collection and deletes these cookies.
• reCAPTCHA - Google's reCAPTCHA may set its own cookies as part of telling people apart from automated traffic.

AVSpot doesn't use advertising cookies. Signing out ends your session, and clearing your browser's site data for app.avspot.app removes everything stored there.

Data Retention & Deletion

We keep your data until you delete your account. You can delete your account at any time from Settings > Account > Delete Account. Deletion is permanent and erases everything AVSpot holds about you: your profile, every sighting and session, your collection, your saved spotting locations, your notification tokens, and all photos you uploaded (including the resized copies and your profile photo). It normally completes within a minute. Copies held in Google's Firebase backup systems are purged on Google's own schedule.

Shared aircraft reference data (types, airlines, and registrations) is not personal data and is not deleted, though it no longer counts your sightings.

Children's Privacy

AVSpot is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the app changes. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date at the top of this page.

Contact Us

Questions about this policy? Email contact@sonoranapps.com.