Privacy Policy

QuakeAlert Privacy Policy and Terms of Service QuakeAlert Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
Updated May 24, 2019
QuakeAlert (the “app”) is owned, operated, and maintained by Artisan Global LLC (“us”, “we”, “our”). We respect your right to privacy and share your concern about the privacy and security of any data that may be accessed by QuakeAlert.
We’ve made our best effort to describe our privacy policy in clear, simple language. If you have any questions or concerns, our contact information is listed at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

Nearby Alerts

For clarity, we would first like to explain what Nearby Alerts are and how they work:
  • Nearby Alerts are push notifications sent via Apple’s Push Notification Service. They inform you when an earthquake has occurred within a 50, 100, or 150-mile radius of your last known location.
  • To protect your privacy, your device location is aggregated to a 0.1 degree grid cell. One grid cell is approximately 10km x 10km at the equator. This calculation happens on your device.
  • Raw latitude / longitude coordinates are discarded. We only send the 10km grid cell identifier to our servers.
  • The 10km grid cell is only used for sending Nearby Alerts.
We think this approach strikes the right balance between location privacy and location accuracy for Nearby Alerts.

Use of Location Information

QuakeAlert allows you to choose between three levels of location information usage: Never, While Using the App, and Always (i.e. – Background).
When the app is granted “While Using” permission, QuakeAlert uses your foreground device location to provide the following functionality:
  • Display the distance from your current location to each earthquake in the list.
  • Sort the earthquake list by distance.
  • Display your current location on the map (i.e. – the blue dot).
  • Center the map on your current location when you tap the GPS button.
  • If subscribed to Nearby Alerts, update our push notification service with the aggregated 10km grid cell for sending Nearby Alerts.
  • If you have not purchased an upgrade or subscription to remove ads, your foreground location will be sent to advertising partner(s) when requesting ads to display in the app. Location is not sent to advertising partner(s) in the European Union. You can opt-out of location based advertising as described below.
When the app is granted “Always” permission, QuakeAlert uses background location to provide the following additional functionality:
  • If subscribed to Nearby Alerts, update the push notification service with the aggregated 10km grid cell for sending Nearby Alerts.
  • Background location may be shared with third party advertising partner(s) to serve location-based ads in QuakeAlert and other apps. However, background location will not be shared if any of the following criteria are met:
    • Your device has an active QuakeAlert Premium subscription to remove ads
    • Your device is currently located in the European Union
    • Limit Ad Tracking is enabled for your device
    • Your device has opted out of location-based advertising in QuakeAlert > Settings > Privacy Options
QuakeAlert is designed to minimize battery usage when “Always” permission is enabled, by adhering to the following principles:
  • Background location updates are only enabled if you are subscribed to Nearby Alerts and have the “Always” permission enabled.
  • Background location updates only use Apple’s Significant Change API, which is the least granular and most battery efficient method available.
  • Background location updates do not use Continuous GPS or Bluetooth Beacons.
  • A network request to update the push notification service is only sent if the aggregated 10km grid cell actually changed as a result of the Significant Change update.
  • If background locations are shared with advertising partner(s), they are batch uploaded every few hours.

Collection of Information

QuakeAlert may collect and share device and usage data that may include:
  • Device make, model, operating system, locale, time zone, country code, location, and similar device information.
  • Information about your use of features, functions, or notifications on the device.
Device and usage data collected by QuakeAlert is anonymous and not tied to any personally identifiable information.

Use of Information

Information collected by QuakeAlert is only used to send you earthquake alerts, improve the app, or serve advertising.
We may use the information collected in various ways, such as:
  • Send you information related to the use of the app, which may include notifications or in-app messages.
  • Calculate aggregate, anonymous usage metrics and analytics to improve the app and prioritize new features.
  • Monitor and analyze trends, usage and activities within the app.
  • Troubleshoot support requests.
  • Provide you with interest-based and/or location-based advertisements in QuakeAlert and other apps.

Sharing of Information

While you are using the app, depending on your privacy settings in QuakeAlert and the iOS Settings app, the following information may be shared with advertising partner(s) to provide you with interest-based and/or location-based advertisements:
  • Advertising Identifier
  • Foreground Location
  • Device and Usage Data
QuakeAlert uses Google’s AdMob advertising service. The AdMob privacy policy is available at: https://policies.google.com/privacy
If location-based ads are enabled, depending on your privacy settings in QuakeAlert and the iOS Settings app, the following information may be shared with advertising partner(s) to provide you with interest-based and/or location-based advertisements even while you are not using the app:
  • Advertising Identifier
  • Background Location
  • Device and Usage Data
QuakeAlert has partnered with XMode Social, Inc. for location-based advertising. The XMode Social privacy policy is available at: https://xmode.io/privacy-policy.html
QuakeAlert uses the following third-party Analytics Services to analyze app performance and improve the app: Crashlytics, Fabric, and Firebase.
These analytics services are owned and operated by Google. Anonymous device information and usage data is sent to these services and stored on their servers in accordance with Google’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Microsoft Azure

The QuakeAlert push notification service runs on Microsoft Azure servers located in the United States. We use Azure Analytics for analysis and improvement of server-side performance. Azure servers and the analytics service may capture user IP Addresses and other technical data related to API requests. We do not share this data or the IP Addresses with any third parties, nor are they used for any purpose other than to improve the server components of the app.

External Websites

QuakeAlert may contain links to other third-party websites which are outside of our control and are not covered by this privacy policy. These may include usgs.gov, tsunami.gov and various news sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party web sites.

Privacy Options

You can opt out of interest-based advertising by using the iOS Settings app to turn on Limit Ad Tracking:
  1. Open the iOS Settings app
  2. Tap on Privacy
  3. Tap on Advertising
  4. Turn on Limit Ad Tracking
You can control QuakeAlert’s access to location by using the iOS Settings app to adjust Location Services for the QuakeAlert app:
  1. Open the iOS Settings app
  2. Tap on Privacy
  3. Tap on Location Services
  4. Find QuakeAlert in the list of apps and tap on it
  5. Choose your desired level of location access: Never, While Using the App, or Always
Be advised that turning off Location Services will disable some functionality of the QuakeAlert app.
You can opt out of location-based advertising by accessing Privacy Options in the QuakeAlert app:
  1. Open the QuakeAlert app
  2. Tap on Settings
  3. Tap on Privacy Options
  4. Enable or disable the switches for location-based advertising While Using the App and/or Even When Not Using the App
Note: These switches are not shown if your device in the the European Union because QuakeAlert does not share device data or serve personalized advertisements in the EU.
We encourage you to learn more about your privacy options related to interest-based and location-based advertising.
  • For information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your usage information used for certain interest-based advertising purposes, please visit: http://www.aboutads.info/choices
  • The iOS Settings app gives you options to limit interest-based and/or location-based advertising. For more information, refer to this Apple Support page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074

Email and Support Requests

If you send a support request via the Email Support feature in QuakeAlert, we will only use your email address to reply to your request. We do not share it with third-parties.
To help troubleshoot the problems you may be experiencing with QuakeAlert, the following information about your device and app usage is appended to the bottom of the email message:
  • Device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod)
  • iOS Version
  • QuakeAlert Build Number
  • Push Token (enables us to troubleshoot your settings on our server)
  • Unique anonymous installation ID (enables us to troubleshoot your settings on our server)
  • Application state information (which data feed you have selected, if you have any filters applied, etc)

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13 and we do not target our app to children under 13.
We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to instruct their children to never provide any personal data to any app or website without their permission.

GDPR Notice for Customers in the European Union

By using QuakeAlert, you authorize us to collect, use, and store your device data, usage data, and push notification settings on servers located outside of the European Union.

International Transfers of Information

Information may be processed, stored, and used outside of the country in which you are located. Data privacy laws vary across jurisdictions, and different laws may be applicable to your data depending on where it is processed, stored, or used.

Subscription Terms of Service

If you choose to buy an annual QuakeAlert Premium Subscription via in-app purchase using your iTunes account, you will immediately be charged for the transaction after you tap to buy a QuakeAlert Premium Subscription.
Subscription cost will be billed automatically to your iTunes account at the start of the annual period and will auto-renew until your subscription is canceled. The renewal subscription cost will be the same as the initial cost unless you are otherwise notified in advance. We reserve the right to increase subscription cost at any time upon reasonable notice posted in advance. ALL PURCHASES ARE FINAL AND NO REFUND WILL BE GIVEN FOR UNUSED PORTIONS OF YOUR INITIAL OR ANY SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD.
Subscriptions made on iOS devices can be managed and auto-renewal turned off in Account Settings in iTunes after purchase. The cancellation of a subscription will go into effect at the end of your current billing cycle, and you will have the same level of access to the subscription through the remainder of such billing cycle. When your QuakeAlert Premium Subscription ends, the QuakeAlert App will revert to advertising supported free mode.

Your Consent

By using our site or apps, you consent to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns that aren’t answered here, please contact us via: efekanpulatli@gmail.com