Privacy Policy – METAR Watch

Last updated: October 2026. This is a translation; in case of doubt, the German version prevails.

1. Controller

Bernd Ewert, Käthe-Kollwitz Weg 11, 73079 Süßen, Germany
Email: ds@goaround.org (see also the legal notice)

2. In brief

METAR Watch (iPhone, Apple Watch, widgets, Live Activity) requires no user account and contains no advertising, no tracking and no third-party analytics or crash reporting services. Personal data is processed only where this is technically necessary for the app's features. It is not combined into profiles, not sold and not used for advertising.

3. Location

Purpose: The app uses the device location to find the nearest airport with a METAR. It requests the location with reduced accuracy only (about 1 km, in the background about 3 km).

What is transmitted: To retrieve the weather stations in the area, the app sends a rectangle around the location (about ±55 km to ±330 km) to the goaround flight API (section 4). The app then determines the nearest station on the device. Because the location lies at the centre of the rectangle, it can be derived from the request within the stated accuracy. It is neither stored nor analysed on the server (section 4).

Background: Only if you enable the Live Activity and allow location access “Always” does the app also use the approximate location in the background. This keeps the display on the lock screen and the Apple Watch up to date. Turning off the Live Activity ends background use.

Legal basis: Access to the location is strictly necessary for the feature you requested (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). It takes place only after you have allowed it in the system prompt. The subsequent processing serves to provide the app (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

You can change or revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings (Privacy & Security → Location Services → METAR Watch). The app then continues to work with a manually chosen airport.

4. Weather and airport data (goaround flight API)

The app retrieves METAR, TAF, stations, airports and runway data exclusively via the goaround flight API (goaround.org). The server in turn obtains the weather data from aviationweather.gov (NOAA/National Weather Service, USA). The server makes these requests without any data of app users; the app itself does not connect to aviationweather.gov.

Data transmitted:

  • IP address of the device (technically unavoidable with any internet request)
  • Time and requested address, which depending on the feature contains: map area or rectangle around the location (section 3), airport/station code, search term and country filter of the airport search
  • App identifier with version number (user agent, e.g. “METARWatch/1.0”). The app does not send device data or identifiers that would make individual users recognisable.

Storage: The API uses the IP address briefly for rate limiting (protection against overload and abuse). For this purpose it is stored in hashed form for at most about one minute. The API does not store locations or search queries and does not create user profiles.
The web server is operated by STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany, as a processor (Art. 28 GDPR). STRATO may record requests in server log files (IP address, time, requested address, user agent); these are deleted after a short time.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (provision of the features you use). Rate limiting and server log files are based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the legitimate interest is secure and stable operation.

5. Map (Apple Maps)

The map view uses Apple's map service (MapKit). To load the map, the device connects directly to Apple servers, which receive, among other things, the IP address and the displayed map area. We have no influence on this processing; Apple's privacy policy applies: apple.com/legal/privacy. Apple also processes data in the USA; Apple Inc. is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (displaying the weather stations on a map).

6. Data on the device, Apple Watch and widgets

Settings (chosen airport, units), the most recently determined location and the most recently fetched METAR are stored only locally on your devices, so that widgets, the Live Activity and watch complications can display them. iPhone and Apple Watch exchange this data directly via Apple's WatchConnectivity. The Live Activity is updated by the app itself; there is no push server. We do not receive this data. It is removed when you delete the app.

7. Weather summary with Apple Intelligence

The optional rewording of the weather summary runs entirely on the device using Apple's on-device model. No data is sent to us or to third parties for this.

8. App Store and crash reports

Apple handles the download, purchase and updates of the app via the App Store and is itself responsible for this. If you have enabled “Share with App Developers” in iOS Settings, Apple provides us with crash reports and usage statistics. We cannot attribute them to any person. You can turn this off at any time in iOS Settings under Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.

9. Contact by email

If you write to us, we process your email address and the content of your message in order to answer your enquiry (Art. 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR). Once the enquiry has been dealt with, we delete the message unless statutory retention obligations apply.

10. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20). A message to ds@goaround.org is sufficient.

Right to object: You may object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (Art. 21 GDPR).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, for example the authority responsible for us: Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Baden-Württemberg, baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz.de.

Providing data is neither required by law nor by contract. Without location access, only the search for the nearest airport is unavailable. No automated decision-making, including profiling, takes place.

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