QuakeSense Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Location (optional): precise or approximate location is used for nearby results, distance, country selection, and place-based alert relevance.
Place profiles: names, coordinates, radius, sensitivity, quiet hours, and Travel Watch dates are stored locally.
Device-motion data: accelerometer readings are processed locally only when you enable device-motion monitoring.
Settings and safety state: filters, language, notification choices, checklists, felt reports, family places, and alert state are stored locally.
Felt reports: saved on your device; not sent to any server.
Wear OS snapshot: if you use the companion, event details and the selected profile name can sync between your paired devices. Exact profile coordinates are not included in that snapshot.
Notification delivery data: Firebase Cloud Messaging may process an app-instance token and basic device/app information to deliver notifications.

2. How We Use Data

Show earthquakes near you and in selected regions.
Compute distance, clearly labeled local-impact estimates, and notifications you opt into.
Sync a small earthquake snapshot to your paired Wear OS watch.
Maintain an offline earthquake cache and the safety, place, and alert settings you choose.

The current build does not run behavioral analytics or upload crash reports.

3. Data Sources

QuakeSense aggregates official public earthquake data from USGS, EMSC, GFZ/GEOFON, GDACS, ISC, GeoNet, and BMKG.

USGS Earthquake API
EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
GFZ/GEOFON
GDACS
ISC
GeoNet (Earth Sciences New Zealand)
BMKG (Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika)

These official public endpoints require no API keys. General and regional feed requests, including GeoNet and BMKG requests, do not include your location. Only when you explicitly request nearby data are your coordinates included as query parameters and sent directly to USGS or EMSC. They are never sent to the developer’s servers.

GeoNet data © Earth Sciences New Zealand, licensed CC BY 3.0 NZ. We acknowledge the New Zealand GeoNet programme and its sponsors NHC, Earth Sciences NZ, LINZ, NEMA and MBIE. BMKG is the source of Indonesia earthquake data.

4. Sharing

We do not sell personal data. Nearby queries can send coordinates directly to USGS or EMSC as described above. Phone–watch synchronization uses Google Play services Wearable Data Layer between your own paired devices. Firebase Cloud Messaging may process an app-instance notification token and basic device/app information to deliver earthquake notifications; QuakeSense does not send your saved profiles, contacts, or selected-place coordinates through that service. Opening an official felt-report link leaves QuakeSense, and you decide what to submit on that provider’s site.

5. Storage & Retention

Earthquake data cached locally for offline use; old cache is cleaned periodically.
Place profiles, family places, felt reports, safety state, operational settings, cache data, and location-related state remain on your device and are excluded from configured Android backup.
Configured Android backup includes only the language preference.
The latest paired-watch snapshot remains on the paired devices until replaced or app data is cleared.

6. Your Choices

Deny or revoke location at any time (you’ll still see global/country data).
Pause or delete place profiles and let Travel Watch profiles expire automatically.
Remove the Wear OS companion or disconnect the watch to stop paired-device sync.
Clear app data or uninstall to remove stored information.
Change or disable notifications in QuakeSense and Android settings.

7. Security

QuakeSense uses Android’s private app storage and standard platform protections. Network security configuration blocks cleartext traffic, so supported network requests use encrypted HTTPS connections.

8. Contact

If you have questions, contact: