This policy explains what the Earthquake Monitor Map app for iPhone and iPad (“the app”) does and does not do with your information. It applies to the iOS app only. The Android app is a separate application with its own privacy policy, and a separate policy covers the niroshpg.com website.
There are no user accounts, no advertising, and no analytics or tracking SDKs, and we operate no server that receives data from the app. The only data leaving your device is what is technically required to load earthquake feeds from USGS and to display maps through Apple’s MapKit. The app does not use Google Maps or any Google service. If you choose to use your location, it is used on your device to centre the map and to work out which earthquakes are nearest you, and it is not sent to any server we operate. Everything else happens on your device.
We do not collect or receive your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, identity, advertising identifier, or app-usage analytics. We operate no server that receives data from the app. The app contains no third-party SDK for advertising, attribution or analytics. Its App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected, and the privacy manifest bundled inside the app declares no collected data types and no tracking.
The app displays maps using MapKit, the mapping framework built into iOS and iPadOS. Map tiles and related map data are served by Apple, which receives the information needed to serve them — including the map regions your device requests and the network information inherent to any such request, such as your device’s IP address. That processing is performed by Apple as described in the Apple Privacy Policy. We receive none of it. When you use “Near me”, the map is centred on your area, so the map regions requested from Apple reflect roughly where you are.
Earthquake information is downloaded directly from the public real-time feeds published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS, earthquake.usgs.gov). These requests carry no personal information about you beyond the network information inherent to any web request (such as your device’s IP address, visible only to USGS and its content delivery network and handled under their own privacy policies). Earthquake Monitor Map is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representing USGS or any government agency.
If you tap “Near me”, the app asks for While Using the App location permission. It never requests Always or background location, and it asks iOS for kilometre-level accuracy rather than precise GPS. Your location is used for two things: to centre the map on your area, and to work out which earthquakes are nearest you (calculated on your device). Your coordinates are not saved to any server and are never sent to a server we operate. Because the map is then centred on your area, Apple receives the corresponding map regions as described under “Maps” above. You can decline the permission or revoke it later in iOS Settings; browsing the world and placing a watch area manually both work without it. Any “watch area” you define is a place you pick on the map yourself and is stored only on your device.
If you enable notifications, iOS periodically wakes the app in the background — at times iOS chooses, and which it does not guarantee — to check the public USGS feed, and the app shows a local notification for earthquakes that match the filters you have set. Notifications are generated on your device. There is no push server: the app does not register for Apple Push Notification service, and no device token is created or transmitted. Your filter settings and any watch area you define are stored only on your device and are never transmitted. The app is not an earthquake early-warning or emergency-alert service and must not be relied on for safety decisions.
Your settings and a local cache of recently retrieved earthquake data are stored on your device only, inside the app’s own container. They are removed when you delete the app.
The app does not track you as defined by Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy. It does not access the advertising identifier and does not link any data with third-party data for advertising or measurement, so it never presents a tracking permission prompt.
The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children under 13.
The app stores no personal data on any server, so there is nothing for us to delete. On-device data is removed when you delete the app. If you have any question or request about data, email niroshpg@gmail.com.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new effective date.
Questions about this policy: Nirosh Gunaratne — niroshpg@gmail.com