Privacy Policy

Overview

Darkest Hour provides a free dark-sky map, stargazing planning content, optional account features, paid Pro subscriptions, secure guide downloads, advertising and affiliate links. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and which third-party services help run the product.

Information We Collect

Account, checkout and support data

• Email and account identifiers: used for Supabase authentication, Pro entitlement checks, support and paid-but-locked recovery.
• Subscription and purchase records: Stripe checkout sessions, subscription status, plan, product IDs and entitlement records. Card details are handled by Stripe, not Darkest Hour servers.
• Support messages: if you contact us, we retain the correspondence needed to answer and resolve the request.

Location and planning data

• Approximate or browser-provided location: used to center the map, calculate sky conditions and build saved-place alert requests. Browser geolocation requires your device/browser permission.
• Saved-place alert preferences: email, location label, alert types, cloud threshold, aurora threshold and summary text when you join an alert waitlist or saved-place flow.
• Usage events: page-view and funnel events such as pricing views, checkout starts and Pro unlock paths, used to diagnose the product and conversion funnel.

Cookies and Consent

Essential cookies and local storage are used for authentication, checkout, security, region hints and consent state. Optional analytics, advertising and session diagnostics scripts load only after you choose to allow analytics and ads in the privacy banner. You can change your choice by clearing site data in your browser.

Advertising and Affiliate Links

Darkest Hour may display Google AdSense ads to free users after advertising consent. Pro users receive an ad-free planning surface where subscription state is available. Some editorial links are affiliate or referral links. We may earn a commission if you buy through those links at no additional cost to you.

• Google AdSense: advertising and ad measurement; Google may use cookies according to its own policies.
• Amazon Associates: gear recommendations and tagged product links.
• Stay22: contextual accommodation links near dark-sky locations.
• Starlink: referral links where relevant to satellite/internet planning content.

Google advertising controls are available at Google Ads Settings.

Third-Party Services

We use third-party processors and data providers to operate the product:

• Cloudflare Pages/Workers: hosting, routing, CDN and security headers.
• Supabase: authentication, account sessions, subscription entitlement records and alert waitlist storage.
• Stripe: checkout, subscriptions, billing portal, receipts and payment processing.
• Microsoft Clarity: optional session diagnostics and heatmaps after consent.
• Ahrefs Analytics: optional privacy-conscious traffic analytics after consent.
• Google AdSense: optional advertising and ad measurement after consent.
• Open-Meteo, NOAA/SWPC and astronomy data sources: weather, aurora and sky-condition inputs where available.
• OpenStreetMap, Nominatim and MapLibre-related map services: map rendering, geocoding and location search.
• Amazon Associates, Stay22 and Starlink: affiliate/referral destinations and attribution.

How We Use Information

• Provide the free map, tonight decision tools, account access and Pro subscription features.
• Attach paid subscriptions or guide purchases to the correct account.
• Generate sky-condition, map and saved-place alert experiences.
• Diagnose checkout, entitlement, content and UI issues.
• Measure aggregate performance of content, ads, affiliate links and subscription funnels.
• Respond to support, billing recovery, cancellation and privacy requests.

Retention

We retain account, subscription, purchase and support records as long as needed to operate the service, support paid access, comply with legal/accounting duties and resolve disputes. Alert waitlist data is retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion. Optional analytics retention depends on the third-party provider settings.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, export, object to or restrict processing of your personal data.

To make a request, contact us from the email associated with your account where possible.

Children's Privacy

Darkest Hour is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Contact Us

For privacy questions or data requests, contact us at: [email protected]