Privacy Policy for Seismo

Last Updated: March 29, 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Seismo, your personal earthquake tracking and alert companion. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our mobile application (“App”). By using Seismo, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

To provide and improve our services, we collect the following types of information:

A. Location Data

Seismo relies heavily on location data to function properly. Depending on your permissions, we collect:

  • Precise Location (GPS): To accurately calculate the distance between you and recent earthquakes, and to determine if an earthquake’s radius affects your current location.
  • Background Location: If you opt into “Instant Alerts” and authorize background location access, we periodically collect your location to send you real-time push notifications when a critical earthquake occurs near you.
  • Approximate Location: Your selected regions or coarse location data.

B. Device & Technical Information

  • Push Notification Tokens: We collect your Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token to route custom earthquake alerts to your device.
  • Device Identifiers: Including your device type, OS version, and Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), subject to your App Tracking Transparency (ATT) preferences.
  • App Usage Data: Crash reports, performance data, and generic interaction metrics to help us fix bugs and improve the App.

C. Financial Information

We do not process or store your payment details directly. All purchases and subscriptions (Seismo Pro) are securely processed by Apple (App Store) and our subscription management partner, RevenueCat.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected data for the following purposes:

  • Core Functionality: To display earthquakes near you, calculate distances, and send personalized push notifications based on your exact coordinates.
  • Custom Alert Routing: Your FCM token and location are sent securely to our custom backend servers exclusively to determine when you should receive a push notification for a designated earthquake magnitude threshold.
  • Advertising: To serve personalized advertisements via Google AdMob (for users on the free tier).
  • Subscription Management: To verify your Seismo Pro access and unlock premium features.
  • App Improvement: To analyze crashes, optimize performance, and understand user behavior.

4. Third-Party Services

We partner with trusted third-party services that may collect, store, or process your data. These services have their own Privacy Policies:

5. App Tracking Transparency (ATT) & Advertising

If you are using iOS 14.5 or later, Seismo will ask for your permission to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising purposes.

  • If you accept: We will share your device identifier (IDFA) with our ad partners (Google AdMob) to show personalized ads.
  • If you decline: You will still see ads (if you are not a Premium user), but they will not be personalized based on your activity outside of Seismo.

6. Data Retention and Security

Your data is securely transmitted using standard encryption protocols. The location data and push tokens sent to our alert servers are strictly used to fulfill the real-time notification service. We retain this data only as long as necessary to provide the service. If you disable notifications or revoke location access, our servers will cease tracking your alerts.

7. Children’s Privacy

Seismo does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will immediately delete it from our servers.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy within the App and updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this document.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us.