Nearcast — Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 5, 2026

Summary: Nearcast does not create accounts, run advertising, or ship analytics SDKs. Saved places, regions, appearance, and alert preferences stay on your device. The app fetches public Canadian open-data feeds from your device over HTTPS. Nearcast does not continuously track your live GPS location.

Who we are

Nearcast is an independent iOS app designed and developed by SecurityGeekIO, based in Vancouver, Canada. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the Government of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, provincial wildfire agencies, or any emergency management organization.

Information we collect

We do not operate a Nearcast account system or backend that stores your personal profile. We do not sell personal data. We do not use third-party advertising or analytics SDKs in the app.

Data stored on your device

The following stays on your device unless you choose to share it yourself (for example via the iOS share sheet):

Saved places (names, coordinates, watch radius) that you add.
Selected provinces/territories and region monitoring choices.
Alert preferences (which hazard types to notify about).
Appearance (light/dark/system) and color theme.
Local notification bookkeeping so the same alert is not re-posted repeatedly.

You can remove this data by deleting places/settings in the app or by deleting the app.

Location

Nearcast is designed around places you save, not continuous live tracking. When you enter an address or city while adding a place, the device may resolve that text to coordinates using Apple’s geocoding services. The app does not require background location access for core use.

Network usage

Nearcast connects from your device to public HTTPS endpoints to refresh hazard information, for example:

Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) and related fire weather products
Provincial open-data fire and evacuation layers (coverage varies; evacuations are currently strongest for British Columbia)
Environment and Climate Change Canada GeoMet AQHI observations
Place weather forecasts from MET Norway’s open locationforecast API (where used)

Those services are operated by third parties and have their own terms and privacy practices. Nearcast does not log your feed requests on a SecurityGeek.io server as part of normal app use.

Notifications

If you enable notifications, Nearcast may show local notifications after the app refreshes live feeds and finds something new matching your preferences. These are not wireless emergency alerts (Alert Ready) and are not a substitute for official warnings. Delivery is not guaranteed if the app has not refreshed recently.

Permissions

Notifications (optional): to surface local alerts you configure in Settings.

Nearcast does not request camera, microphone, contacts, or continuous background location for its core features.

Children’s privacy

Nearcast does not collect personal information from anyone — children or adults.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update the date above and post the new version at this URL.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email nearcast@securitygeek.io.