Privacy Policy
Effective Date: September 26, 2026
GaugeWatcher is built and run by one person, Andrew Althage, in Colorado, United States (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what information GaugeWatcher collects, why, who else receives it, and what you can do about it. It covers the GaugeWatcher iPhone app and its widget, the GaugeWatcher Mac app, and the gaugewatcher.com website.
The short version: you don’t create an account, we don’t show ads, we don’t track you across other apps or websites, and we don’t sell your information.
1. Information We Collect
We collect only what a feature needs to work. Most of it is tied to random or pseudonymous identifiers, not to your name.
Information stored on our servers
| Feature | What we receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Favorites sync | A random device identifier, the gauges you’ve favorited, and your GaugeWatcher iCloud identifier (see below) | Keeping your rivers in sync across your devices |
| Flow alerts | Your device’s push notification token, the gauge, your flow range and alert settings, any custom name you give the gauge, your device’s time zone, your iCloud identifier, and your anonymous purchase identifier | Sending you alerts at the right time and checking whether your subscription covers them |
| Widget updates | Your widget’s push token and the gauge it shows | Keeping the widget current |
| Gauge reports and in-app contact form | Your email address, your message, the gauge (for reports), and your app version, OS version, and device model | Replying to you and fixing the problem you reported |
| Server logs | IP address, request time, and the request made | Keeping the service secure and running |
Your iCloud identifier. If you’re signed in to iCloud, the app reads an identifier that Apple generates specifically for GaugeWatcher. It doesn’t reveal your Apple ID, name, or email address, and other apps can’t use it to recognize you. We use it only to connect your own devices to each other.
Information that stays on your device
- Location. If you allow it, the app uses your location to show nearby gauges on the map. Your location is processed on your device and is not sent to our servers.
- Your rivers, ranges, and settings are stored on your device. The parts listed in the table above are also stored on our servers.
Information collected by Apple and other providers
- Weather comes from Apple Weather (WeatherKit). The app asks Apple for weather at a gauge’s location, not at your location.
- Maps are provided by Apple (MapKit).
- Push notifications are delivered through Apple Push Notification service.
- Purchases are processed by Apple. We never see or store your payment details. We use RevenueCat to manage subscriptions. RevenueCat receives an anonymous purchase identifier, your purchase and subscription history, and basic device and app information.
Mac app only
The Mac app uses two things the iPhone app does not:
- Analytics (PostHog). The Mac app sends pseudonymous usage events to PostHog: screens viewed, gauges viewed (identifier, name, region, and coordinates), error messages, and general usage patterns. We use this to find bugs and improve the app.
- GaugeBot. GaugeBot runs on your Mac using Apple Intelligence. Your questions are not sent to any cloud AI service. If you choose to rate a GaugeBot response with a thumbs up or thumbs down, the question and response are sent to our servers. GaugeBot questions may also appear in analytics events.
The website
- Contact form. When you use the contact form on gaugewatcher.com, we receive your email address, the topic you choose, and your message. The form is processed and stored by our website host, Netlify.
- Hosting logs. Netlify may log your IP address and browser information when you visit. The website doesn’t use analytics, advertising cookies, or tracking scripts.
2. How We Use Information
We use information to:
- Provide the app’s features, such as syncing your rivers and sending alerts
- Check your subscription status
- Reply to your messages and reports
- Find and fix bugs, and keep the service secure
- Understand which features people use (Mac app analytics only)
- Meet legal obligations
We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not build profiles of you for anyone else.
3. Who Else Receives Information
We share information only with providers that help us run GaugeWatcher, and only for that purpose:
- Apple. App Store purchases, iCloud identifier, push notifications, weather, and maps. See Apple’s Privacy Policy.
- RevenueCat. Subscription management. See revenuecat.com/privacy.
- Render. Hosts our servers and database in the United States. See render.com/privacy.
- Netlify. Hosts the website and its contact form. See netlify.com/privacy.
- Monitoring and email providers. These help us keep our servers healthy and deliver messages. They receive technical data such as logs.
- PostHog. Mac app analytics only. See posthog.com/privacy.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect the rights, safety, or property of our users, the public, or GaugeWatcher, or as part of a sale or transfer of GaugeWatcher. If GaugeWatcher is transferred, this policy will continue to apply to your information.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not use your information to track you across other companies’ apps or websites.
4. How Long We Keep It
- Favorites, alerts, and widget registrations stay on our servers until you remove them in the app. Registrations for devices that stop responding are removed over time.
- Messages and gauge reports are kept for as long as we need them to respond and keep a record of support history.
- Server logs are kept for a short period set by our hosting and monitoring providers.
- Analytics and GaugeBot ratings from the Mac app are kept for no longer than 12 months.
You can ask us to delete your information sooner (see Section 6).
5. Where Information Is Stored
Our servers and most of our providers are in the United States. If you use GaugeWatcher from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States. Where the law requires it, we and our providers rely on appropriate safeguards for these transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
6. Your Choices and Rights
Choices you can make in the app:
- Turn off location access in your device’s Settings. The map will still work.
- Delete an alert, or turn off notifications, to stop sending alert data.
- Remove GaugeWatcher’s widget to stop widget updates.
- Delete the app to remove the information stored on your device.
Your rights. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Find out what personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it
- Correct inaccurate information
- Have your information deleted
- Object to or restrict how we use your information
- Withdraw consent you’ve given
- Complain to your local data protection authority
These rights come from laws such as the EU and UK GDPR, Canada’s PIPEDA, New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, and U.S. state privacy laws, including California’s. We’ll honor these requests wherever you live, even where the law doesn’t require us to.
To make a request, use our contact form and choose “Privacy request.” Most of our information is tied to device identifiers rather than your name, so we may ask for details that help us find it, such as the email address you used or your device’s GaugeWatcher identifier. We’ll respond within 30 days. We won’t treat you differently for exercising your rights.
Legal bases (EU/UK). We process information to provide the features you ask for (performance of a contract). We also process it in our legitimate interests in running, securing, and improving GaugeWatcher, and to meet legal obligations.
7. Security
We use reasonable measures to protect your information. These include encrypted connections, access controls, and collecting as little as we can. No system is completely secure, and we can’t guarantee the security of information sent over the internet.
8. Children
GaugeWatcher is not directed to children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, contact us and we’ll delete it.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy. When we do, we’ll post the new version here and change the effective date. If we make a significant change to how we use your information, we’ll give notice in the app or on this site before the change takes effect.
10. Contact
Andrew Althage, Colorado, United States