Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 25, 2026

Who we are

Stormward is a US-only, best-effort supplemental alerting service operated from Virginia. It watches the National Weather Service for hazard warnings covering the homes you ask us to watch, checks on the people you are protecting, and, if they do not confirm they are safe, alerts you and the emergency contacts you designate.

What we collect

• Your account email address and sign-in method (magic link or Google).
• The people you protect ("loved ones"): a name, an optional relationship label, and an optional email address for that person, all provided by you.
• The homes you add for each person: a label and the precise latitude/longitude of each watched location.
• Emergency contacts you designate: their name and email address, which you provide.
• Mobile phone numbers you add for text alerts, yours or a protected person's, together with the consent record for each: whether it is verified, when consent was given, the IP address a code confirmation came from, and whether the number has replied STOP.
• Web push subscription tokens for the devices you enable push on.
• Delivery logs (which alerts we sent and whether delivery succeeded).
• Consent and audit records: an IP address and timestamp when you take certain actions (for example, adding a contact), used for security and anti-abuse.
• Billing identifiers from Stripe if you subscribe. We never see or store your card number.

Sensitive data (precise location)

The homes you add are precise geolocation, which is treated as sensitive personal data under Virginia and other US state privacy laws. We collect and use it only to watch those locations for hazard warnings and to tell an emergency contact where to check on someone. We do not sell it, share it for cross-context advertising, or use it to profile you.

Text messages and mobile opt-in data

Mobile phone numbers and text-message consent records are never shared with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes, and they are never sold. A number is passed only to Twilio, our messaging provider, and only so it can deliver a Stormward message to that handset. No other category of information in this policy is shared for marketing either, but we call this one out separately because mobile opt-in data carries its own rules.

A number is texted only after it is confirmed: by typing back a verification code, or by replying YES to a single opt-in request. Replying STOP blocks the number permanently. We keep the opt-out record even if you delete the number or close your account, because forgetting an opt-out would let the same number be texted again. How consent is collected is documented at stormward.app/sms-consent.

How your data is shared to make the service work

• The National Weather Service (api.weather.gov): to find warnings for a watched home, we send that home's coordinates to the NWS as a location query.
• The people you protect: if a person has an email on file, we email them a hazard alert with a one-tap link to confirm they are safe.
• You and your emergency contacts: if a person does not confirm they are safe, we email you and the emergency contacts you designated, including the affected home's location and a map link so someone can check on them.
• Service providers that operate the product on our behalf: Resend (email delivery), Twilio (text-message delivery), Stripe (billing), Neon (database), Vercel (app hosting), and Fly.io (the alerting engine).

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Information you provide about other people

When you add a loved one or an emergency contact, you are giving us another person's information. You confirm that you have the right to provide it and to have us contact them for safety purposes. Anyone we email as an emergency contact can opt out with the one-click link in any message. If someone wants their information removed, they or you can ask us through the contact form below.

Retention

We keep your account, people, location, contact, and delivery data for as long as your account is active. If you ask us to delete your data or close your account, we remove your personal data from our live systems, typically within 30 days; limited records may persist briefly in encrypted backups and in service-provider logs before they age out.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live (for example, under Virginia's Consumer Data Protection Act), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of your personal data, and to opt out of any sale, targeted advertising, or profiling. Stormward does not sell your data or use it for targeted advertising or profiling.

To exercise any of these rights, use the contact form below. We will verify your request and respond within the time the law allows (generally 45 days). If we decline a request, you may appeal by replying to our response, and we will explain our decision. We currently handle these requests manually rather than through a self-service tool. You can also turn off web push per device at any time.

Cookies

The signed-in app uses a small number of strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in, and no advertising cookies. Our public marketing pages use Google Analytics to understand aggregate traffic.

Children

Stormward is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

We use reputable infrastructure providers, encrypt data in transit, and limit access. No system is perfectly secure, and Stormward is a supplemental service, not a guaranteed one (see our Terms of Service).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product changes. We will revise the "last updated" date above, and significant changes will be reflected here.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or to exercise a data right: contact us.