ARCHIVED: Privacy Policy
Effective: June 30, 2026
Effective Until: July 30, 2026
Fireloop ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information when you use the Fireloop app ("the App").
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide
When you create an account, we collect your email address, which is used to authenticate you via a one-time passcode. You may optionally provide a display name and a profile photo. When you post a sighting near an active fire, we collect the sighting type, an optional text message of up to 500 characters, an optional photo, and the GPS coordinates of your device at the time of posting. When you comment on a sighting, we collect your text message and your GPS coordinates at the time of posting.
Information Collected Automatically
Your device is assigned a push notification identifier (FCM token) which we collect even if you are not signed in, used solely to deliver wildfire alerts. If you grant location permission, we collect your approximate GPS coordinates while the app is in use to show nearby fires and send proximity-based notifications. Location permission is optional — core app features remain available without it, but proximity-based features and notifications will not function. Named locations you save in the app are synced to our servers to power location-based notifications for those areas. Your notification preferences and any fire IDs you have muted are synced to our servers. When you sign in, we record your IP address and user agent in your session for security and abuse prevention purposes. We also use Google Analytics to collect anonymized data about how the App is used, including screens viewed, features used, and session duration. This data does not identify you personally.
Information We Do Not Collect
We do not collect your contacts, photos library, microphone input, camera roll, or any data unrelated to wildfire awareness.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to create and maintain your account, authenticate you securely via email OTP, display your display name and avatar on your sightings and comments, show wildfire activity near your location or your saved locations, send push notifications about nearby fires, fire updates, and replies to your sightings based on your preferences, store and display your sightings and comments publicly within the App, deliver your uploaded photos to other users viewing a sighting, improve the App through anonymized analytics, and prevent abuse and enforce our Terms of Service.
We do not use your information for advertising. We do not sell your data to third parties.
3. How We Share Your Information
Publicly Within the App
Your display name, avatar, sighting type, sighting message, and sighting photos are visible to all users of the App. Your GPS coordinates at the time of a sighting or comment are used to verify proximity to a fire but are not displayed publicly.
With Service Providers
We share information with trusted third-party providers who help us operate the App. Railway provides cloud hosting and infrastructure for our backend servers and database. Cloudflare R2 provides storage for user-uploaded sighting photos. Firebase (Google) handles push notification delivery via Firebase Cloud Messaging. Resend handles transactional email delivery for authentication OTP codes. Google Analytics provides anonymized usage analytics. These providers process your data only as necessary to provide their services and are bound by appropriate data protection agreements.
Government Data Sources
The following government data sources power fire, air quality, smoke, and wind data in the App. No user data is sent to these services: the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC/WFIGS) for fire incident and perimeter data, InciWeb for official fire incident updates, AirNow (U.S. EPA) for air quality index data, NOAA HMS for satellite smoke polygon data, and the National Weather Service for wind data.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to comply with legal process, protect the safety of any person, or prevent fraud or abuse.
4. Air Quality Data Disclaimer
Air quality data displayed in Fireloop is sourced from the U.S. EPA AirNow program. This data is preliminary, not fully verified or validated, and is subject to change. It is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be used to make regulatory, medical, or emergency decisions. Always follow guidance from local emergency management authorities.
5. Data Retention
Account data is retained until you delete your account. Sightings and comments are retained until you delete them or delete your account. Photos are deleted from storage when the associated sighting is deleted or your account is deleted. Sessions expire automatically and are deleted in full when your account is deleted. Device tokens are retained while active and are disassociated from your account when you delete it. Analytics data is retained per Google Analytics' standard data retention policies.
When you delete your account, your email, display name, avatar, sightings, comments, and photos are permanently deleted from our systems.
6. Your Rights and Choices
You may update your display name and avatar at any time from your profile. You may permanently delete your account from your profile settings, which removes all personal data associated with your account. You may revoke location permission at any time in your device settings. You may adjust or disable push notifications at any time from within the App or your device settings. You may opt out of Google Analytics data collection by enabling the relevant privacy settings on your device.
7. Children's Privacy
Fireloop is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected] and we will delete it promptly.
8. Data Security
We use industry-standard security practices including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for all data in transit, token-based authentication, and access controls on our infrastructure. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected] or visit https://fireloop.live/privacy.