Privacy Notice

1. Scope

This Notice applies to My Weather Gauge websites, location-based weather pages, community station features, and related services that link to it (the “Site”). Third-party websites and services have their own privacy practices.

2. Information handled

Weather searches and device-local preferences

City, ZIP-code, and location-page requests are used to retrieve geographic, forecast, and official weather-alert results. Selected coordinates are sent through the Site to the applicable weather provider, including the National Weather Service for supported U.S. locations. Saved locations, unit preferences, wind-alert thresholds, and the audible-warning choice currently remain in browser storage on the visitor’s device unless a feature expressly states otherwise. A short-lived device record of warning identifiers helps prevent the same warning sound from repeating after a refresh. Clearing browser data may remove these choices.

Request and security information

The Site and its infrastructure may process IP address, browser and device details, timestamps, requested pages, referring pages, approximate region derived by service providers, diagnostic events, and authentication status to deliver pages, protect the Site, prevent abuse, and troubleshoot failures. Application rate limiting converts a network address into a keyed, non-reversible short-lived bucket identifier; the application database does not store the raw address for this purpose. Expired counters are removed during later protected requests.

Signed-in station contributors

The Site may receive an account identifier, email address, and display name from the authentication provider. It stores station provider, selected device identifier, station label, sharing preference, contributor-chosen public name and approximate locality, consent records, synchronization status, and cached observations.

Provider credentials

Ambient Weather API and application keys, WeatherLink v2 API keys and API secrets, and Ecowitt application and API keys are transmitted over an encrypted connection, verified server-side, encrypted before database storage, and not returned to the browser after connection. They are used only to retrieve authorized station metadata and readings, refresh the connection, and diagnose provider failures.

3. How information is used

• Provide forecasts, weather utilities, saved preferences, connected-station readings, and sharing features.
• Authenticate contributors and enforce ownership, visibility, and privacy choices.
• Retrieve, normalize, cache, and display authorized observations.
• Secure the Site, prevent abuse, diagnose failures, and enforce the Terms.
• Measure and improve reliability and usability using appropriately limited operational information.
• Comply with law and respond to valid legal requests.
• If activated with appropriate notice and consent, fund the Site through advertising or affiliate relationships.

4. Browser storage, cookies, and similar technologies

The Site uses browser storage for functions requested by visitors, including saved locations, display units, alert thresholds, audible-warning preferences and recently sounded warning identifiers, language choice, and whether a home-screen app prompt was recently dismissed. The Site’s first-party product-event measurement does not set an analytics cookie or persistent visitor identifier. Hosting, authentication, and security providers may still process cookies, IP addresses, browser details, or similar information for delivery, sign-in, abuse prevention, and diagnostics.

At the date above, third-party advertising tags are not enabled in the Site code. The advertising code is technically prevented from loading unless advertising is expressly enabled and a Google-certified consent management platform has been configured and marked ready. When advertising is activated, visitors for whom consent or an opt-out is required will receive the applicable choices through that platform, and a “Privacy and cookie settings” control will allow available choices to be revisited.

5. Advertising and measurement

The Site records a limited set of first-party product events, such as page views, successful or failed location searches, webcam plays, station sign-in and connection outcomes, sharing changes, cross-site tool clicks, and client or provider error categories. The analytics record contains the event type, broad page context, success or failure, selected network destination when applicable, source site, and timestamp. It does not intentionally store the raw city or ZIP search, full URL or query string, weather or station readings, precise location, station credentials, account email, IP address, user agent, or a persistent visitor identifier. Event records are retained for up to 90 days for aggregate product and reliability analysis.

Links to related Karnig Ventures weather tools may include standard referral parameters identifying My Weather Gauge as the source, referral as the medium, and the weather-network campaign. The destination site may process those parameters under its own notice. If Google or another advertising provider is activated, third-party vendors may place or read cookies, use web beacons or IP addresses, and process visits to this Site and other sites to deliver, limit, measure, or personalize ads, subject to visitor choices and applicable law. Google explains how it uses information from partner sites at Google’s partner-sites notice. Google advertising personalization can be managed through Google Ads Settings.

The Site will not send station credentials, account email addresses, precise station coordinates, or information intended to identify a particular person to an advertising provider for ad targeting. See the Advertising Disclosure for labeling and editorial practices.

6. Disclosure, sale, and sharing

Information may be processed by hosting, authentication, security, database, weather-data, station-provider, monitoring, and future advertising or measurement providers as needed to perform their services. Station credentials and selected device identifiers are transmitted only to the contributor-selected provider—Ambient Weather, WeatherLink, or Ecowitt—to verify access and retrieve authorized readings. Public or unlisted station information is disclosed according to the contributor’s chosen visibility setting. Information may also be disclosed when required by law, to protect rights and safety, to investigate abuse, or in a business transaction subject to appropriate protections.

My Weather Gauge does not currently sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Some U.S. state laws may treat future targeted-ad disclosures as a “sale” or “sharing.” If those practices are activated and those laws apply, the Site will provide the required notice, opt-out method, and non-discrimination protections before activation, including honoring legally required preference signals where applicable.

7. Station visibility and location privacy

Private stations are not available through public station endpoints. Unlisted stations are visible to anyone with the share link but excluded from the public directory. Public stations are eligible for directory listing and search indexing. Public output is limited to a contributor-chosen station name, approximate city or region, provider label, normalized observations, freshness information, and reliability notices.

Contributors must not enter a street address or information identifying a residence or individual in public labels. The Site does not intentionally publish provider credentials, account email addresses, device identifiers, home addresses, or precise station coordinates.

8. Retention and deletion

Device-local preferences remain until removed through the Site, browser settings, or storage clearing. First-party product-event records are retained for up to 90 days. Connection records and encrypted credentials are retained while a station remains connected. Disconnecting deletes the active connection record and removes it from Site-controlled sharing and discovery. Limited copies may remain temporarily in backups, security logs, browser caches, search indexes, or third-party systems under their retention practices. Operational logs and consent records may be retained as reasonably necessary for security, dispute resolution, legal compliance, and enforcement.

9. Security

The Site uses safeguards designed for the information handled, including authenticated contributor routes, access controls, encryption in transit, encrypted provider credentials at rest, minimized public responses, and revocable connections. No system can guarantee absolute security. Contributors should revoke provider keys and disconnect immediately if they suspect compromise.

10. Privacy choices and requests

Contributors can review connection status, change visibility, edit public labels, remove shared access, and delete a connection through the dashboard. Depending on location and legal applicability, individuals may have rights to request access, deletion, correction, portability, restriction, or an appeal; to opt out of certain sales, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling; and to receive equal service after exercising a right. Identity and authority may need to be verified, and legal exceptions may apply.

Submit a request to Webmaster@KarnigVentures.com with the subject “Privacy Request,” or follow the instructions on the Contact page. Describe the right you wish to exercise and provide the email associated with your contributor sign-in, if applicable. Do not send provider credentials or unnecessary sensitive documents. We will acknowledge and respond within the period required by applicable law and explain any available appeal process if a request is denied.

11. Children

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and contributor accounts are not intended for them. The Site does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Advertising must not be personalized based on activity known to come from children.

12. International processing and updates

Information may be processed in the United States and other locations where service providers operate. Privacy rights vary by jurisdiction. Material updates will be identified by a revised effective date and, when appropriate, additional notice or renewed consent.

13. Operator and contact information

My Weather Gauge is operated by Karnig Ventures in the United States. The default privacy, legal, accessibility, advertising, and site-support contact is Webmaster@KarnigVentures.com. Formal notices and requests for a postal service address may be submitted through that channel. Individuals may also lodge a complaint with an applicable privacy or consumer-protection authority. This Notice describes the Site’s current configuration; material changes to providers, advertising, analytics, or contributor practices will be reflected in an updated effective date and additional notice when required.

14. Audible and device warning controls

If a visitor enables audible warnings or device notifications, the related preference or permission is stored by the browser or installed web app. While the Site is open, a new qualifying warning may be passed to the Site’s service worker for an on-device notification. The current version does not maintain a server-side push subscription and cannot promise notification delivery after the Site is closed or suspended.