Sideshore Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 8, 2026

Sideshore is a wind forecast and live-station app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, made by Juan Carlos Estévez Rodríguez (JCTec), an independent developer. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use Sideshore.

The short version: Sideshore has no account, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking and no server of its own. Everything you create in the app stays on your device. I don't collect, see, sell or share any of your personal data.

Who is responsible

Juan Carlos Estévez Rodríguez (trading as JCTec) is the developer of Sideshore and the data controller for the purposes of the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Contact: juancarlos_tec@proton.me

Data I don't collect

Sideshore does not collect, and I never receive:

• your name, email address or any other contact details (there is no sign-up or account);
• your location;
• usage analytics, telemetry or behavioural data;
• advertising identifiers, or any data for tracking you across apps and websites;
• the spots, alerts, notes or settings you create.

Sideshore contains no third-party analytics, advertising or tracking SDKs.

Data stored on your device

The things you create in Sideshore are saved only on your device, in the app's private storage:

• your saved spots, including any webcam address you add to a spot;
• your rider profiles and app preferences, such as units;
• your wind alerts;
• notes you write about a spot;
• a temporary cache of weather data, so the app works quickly and offline.

This data is not synced to iCloud or to any server operated by me. It is included in your device's own backups (iCloud Backup or a backup to your computer) if you have those turned on, under your Apple account's settings. Deleting Sideshore deletes all of this data from your device.

Location

If you allow it, Sideshore uses your device's location while you are using the app, only to centre the map on where you are. Your location is used on your device and is never sent to me or to any weather service. Sideshore asks for "While Using the App" permission only; it does not track your location in the background. You can say no, and change your choice at any time in Settings (System Settings on a Mac) ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Location Services. The app works fully without it: you place spots on the map yourself.

Notifications and background refresh

Wind alerts are delivered as local notifications, which your device schedules itself. Sideshore asks for notification permission the first time you save an alert that notifies you, and you can turn notifications off in your device's settings at any time. To re-check an alert before it fires, the app may refresh weather data in the background, using the same weather requests described below. No push notification service or server of mine is involved.

Weather data and other network requests

To show forecasts and live readings, Sideshore downloads public weather data directly from your device. These requests go to the following services, which I don't operate:

• Open-Meteo (forecasts)
• U.S. National Weather Service / NOAA, including the National Hurricane Center, the National Data Buoy Center, Tides and Currents (CO-OPS), nowCOAST and AviationWeather.gov
• U.S. Geological Survey water data
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Iowa Environmental Mesonet (Iowa State University)
• MeteoAlarm (European weather warnings)

A request contains the coordinates of a spot you saved or of the area of the map you are looking at (never your device's own location), plus a standard app identifier with Sideshore's version and a developer contact link. It contains no information about you. As with any internet connection, these services can see your device's IP address when it contacts them; they handle it under their own privacy policies.

Maps. The map is provided by Apple's MapKit. Map tiles and related data come from Apple and are covered by Apple's privacy policy (apple.com/legal/privacy).

Webcams. If you add a webcam address to a spot, Sideshore loads the still image directly from that address. That website can see your IP address, as when you open it in a browser.

Sharing

When you tap Share on a spot, Sideshore hands a short text summary (spot name, verdict and current reading) to the system share sheet. Where it goes next is up to you; nothing is sent unless you choose a destination.

Crash reports from Apple

If you have chosen in your device settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may provide me with crash reports and basic diagnostics for Sideshore. Apple anonymises these before I can see them, and I use them only to fix bugs. You can turn this off in Settings (System Settings on a Mac) ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Analytics & Improvements.

Children

Sideshore is suitable for all ages and collects no personal information from anyone, including children.

Your rights

Because I don't collect or hold personal data about you, there is nothing for me to access, correct, export or delete on my side. All your Sideshore data is on your device and under your control: you can edit or delete it in the app, or remove it completely by deleting the app. If you live in the EU, the UK or another place with data protection laws, you still have every right those laws give you, including the right to contact me with questions and to complain to your local data protection authority.

Changes to this policy

If Sideshore's handling of data changes, for example a future version that adds optional iCloud sync, I'll update this policy and the effective date above before that version is released. Material changes will also be mentioned in the app's release notes.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your privacy in Sideshore:

Juan Carlos Estévez Rodríguez (JCTec)
juancarlos_tec@proton.me