RigTonightPrivacy
RigTonight is a personal project. There are no accounts, no advertising, and the site sets no cookies. This page explains everything the site does with information about you.
Who runs RigTonight
The data controller under the UK and EU GDPR is:
Amogh Kulkarni
2507-5 Mariner Terrace, Toronto, ON
Canada
Email [email protected] about anything on this page. There's no data protection officer; this project is too small to need one.
Stored only in your browser
Your current rig, saved rigs, custom parts you've added, observing site (name, coordinates and light pollution setting), settings such as night mode, whether you've closed the notice about this page, and a short-lived copy of the weather forecast are kept in your browser's local storage. They never reach us. Clearing your browser's site data for RigTonight deletes them.
Cookies and consent
The site sets no cookies, and the visitor statistics below don't use cookies or similar identifiers. The local storage above only holds what you ask the app to remember, so there's nothing to opt in to and no consent banner; a one-time notice says so and links here. That describes this version of the site. If a later version sets cookies or stores anything else that isn't needed for the app to work, we'll update this page first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.
Sent to other services so the app can work
| Service | What it receives | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo | Your site's latitude and longitude, rounded to 0.01° (about 1 km) | Weather, seeing and air-quality (transparency) forecasts |
| Photon by komoot | The place name you type, or your rounded coordinates if you use "current location" | Place search and naming your site |
| CDS Strasbourg (Aladin Lite) | The sky position of the target you preview | Survey images of the sky |
| ESA ESASky | The sky position of the target you preview | The same survey images, from ESA's copy, used when CDS is slow or down (both are asked, and the first to answer is used) |
The image estimate ("What your image could look like") is worked out in your browser from the survey image; nothing extra is sent for it.
These requests come from your browser, so the services also see your IP address, as any website does. "Use my current location" asks for your browser's permission first, and the coordinates stay on your device apart from the rounded values above.
Hosting and visitor statistics
The site is hosted on Cloudflare, which processes requests (including IP addresses) to serve and protect it. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits and pages. It uses no cookies and doesn't track you across sites.
Short rig links
When you open the share card, the site makes a short link (like rigtonight.com/r/Ab3dE9k) for your rig. Only the parts list is stored, with Cloudflare: part names, filters and the seeing setting. If the rig uses custom parts, their names and specs travel in the link too (and in the full link in your address bar), so anyone who opens it sees the same parts; don't put anything personal in a part's name. It holds no location, account or personal details, and anyone with the link can see that rig.
The waitlist
If you join the waitlist, we store your email address, where on the site you signed up, the date, and a record that you confirmed the address is your own (with the version of the sign-up wording you agreed to). It's stored with Cloudflare and used only to email you about the launches listed with the form. It's never sold or shared. Every email will say how to leave the list, and will include our postal address.
Emails you send us
Problem reports and messages to [email protected] are kept in that mailbox to answer you and fix the problem. Reports pre-fill the page address (which contains your rig, not your location) and your browser version. You can edit both before sending.
Why we use it: the legal basis
| What | Legal basis (UK and EU GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Forecast, place search and sky previews | Needed to give you the feature you asked for (art. 6(1)(b)). Only rounded coordinates, the place you type or a sky position are sent. |
| Hosting, security and visitor statistics | Our legitimate interest in running a secure, working site and knowing which pages are used (art. 6(1)(f)). The statistics are cookieless and don't identify you. |
| Short rig links | Needed to make the link you asked for (art. 6(1)(b)). They contain only parts (with any custom parts' names and specs), filters and seeing. |
| The waitlist | Your consent (art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time, by the link in any email or by emailing [email protected]; that doesn't affect emails already sent. |
| Emails you send us | Our legitimate interest in answering you and fixing problems you report (art. 6(1)(f)). |
We don't make automated decisions about you, and we don't build profiles.
How long it's kept
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Browser storage | Until you clear it. It's on your device, not ours. |
| Requests to the forecast, place search and sky services | We keep nothing. Each service has its own retention, linked in the table above. |
| Cloudflare request data | We don't keep server logs. Cloudflare keeps request data for security for a short time under its own policy. Web Analytics keeps only aggregated counts. |
| Short rig links | As long as the site runs, so links you've shared keep working. A link holds only a parts list, nothing about you. |
| Waitlist entry | Until you leave the list. |
| Emails you send us | Up to 24 months after the conversation ends, then deleted. |
Where it's processed
| Who | Where | Safeguard |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. (hosting, short links, waitlist, statistics) | United States and Cloudflare's global network | EU–US Data Privacy Framework and its UK extension, plus Standard Contractual Clauses in Cloudflare's data processing addendum |
| OpenMeteo GmbH (forecasts) | Switzerland | EU and UK adequacy decisions for Switzerland |
| komoot GmbH (Photon place search) | Germany | Inside the EU |
| CDS, Université de Strasbourg (sky images) | France | Inside the EU |
| European Space Agency, ESAC (ESASky sky images) | Spain | Inside the EU |
| Cloudflare Email Routing, then Google (Gmail) for messages to our addresses | United States | EU–US Data Privacy Framework and its UK extension, plus Standard Contractual Clauses in each company's data processing terms |
Your rights and how to reach us
Under the UK and EU GDPR you can ask to:
- see what we hold about you, and get a copy (access and portability)
- correct it if it's wrong
- delete it, including your waitlist entry
- restrict how we use it, or object to uses based on legitimate interest
- withdraw consent for the waitlist at any time
Email [email protected]. We'll reply within one month and won't charge you. If you're unhappy with our answer, you can complain to your data protection authority: in the UK, the ICO; in the EU, the authority in your country.
The site isn't aimed at children under 13.
If this policy changes, the date below changes too.