Privacy Policy
Short version: Tectonix does not collect, store, sell, or share your personal data. There are no accounts, no analytics, no ads, and no tracking. Your location, if you choose to share it, never leaves your device.
Accounts
Tectonix has no sign-up, login, or user accounts. We do not know who you are.
Location
Location is optional. If you allow it, iOS gives your position to the app, and the app uses it on your device only to show the forecast for your area, measure the distance to recent earthquakes, and decide whether a new earthquake is close enough to notify you about. Your location is never sent to our server, to USGS, or to anyone else, and it is not stored by the app. You can turn it off at any time in iOS Settings › Tectonix › Location; the app works without it.
Information stored on your device
The app saves a few things locally so they persist between launches:
- your settings (for example, whether nearby-earthquake notifications are on);
- your preparedness checklist progress;
- the household details you optionally enter to tailor the preparedness plan (such as number of people and pets, home type);
- the IDs of recent earthquakes already checked (public USGS data), so you are not notified twice;
- the last forecast the app downloaded (public data), so it works offline.
This information stays on your device. It is never uploaded. Deleting the app deletes it.
Network requests
The app downloads public data from two places. Neither request includes your location, any identifier, or anything you entered in the app.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) public earthquake feed (earthquake.usgs.gov), for recent earthquakes. USGS's own policies apply to that service.
- Tectonix forecast server (tectonix-api.vercel.app), for the latest 7-day forecast. It is hosted on Vercel, which, like any web host, may automatically record standard request logs (such as IP address, time, and device/browser type) for security and reliability. Vercel processes these logs on our behalf. We do not use them to identify or track you, and we do not combine them with any other data.
If you tap a link to view an earthquake's details on the USGS website, that page opens in an in-app browser and is subject to USGS's policies.
Notifications
Nearby-earthquake notifications are optional and are created on your device (local notifications). We do not use push notification services and do not collect device tokens.
AI overview
The forecast summary in the app is written once a day on our server by Claude, an AI model from Anthropic, using only public earthquake data and the forecast model's output. It contains nothing about you, and nothing you do in the app is sent to an AI service.
Retention and deletion
- On your device: the information listed above stays until you change it or delete the app. Deleting the app deletes all of it.
- Location: you can revoke access at any time in iOS Settings › Tectonix › Location. The app does not store your location, so there is nothing to delete.
- Server logs: Vercel, our host, keeps standard request logs for a limited time for operations and security, and processes them only on Tectonix's behalf. We do not keep our own copies.
- Requests: to ask us to delete anything we hold about you, email theomirzakhanian@gmail.com.
Analytics, advertising, and tracking
Tectonix contains no analytics, advertising, crash-reporting, or tracking software, and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
Children
Tectonix is a general-audience app. It does not collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Important: not a warning system
Tectonix shows probabilistic 7-day forecasts. It cannot tell you when or where a specific earthquake will happen, and it does not issue earthquake warnings. For official shaking alerts, use USGS ShakeAlert (delivered through Wireless Emergency Alerts and apps such as MyShake) and follow guidance from local emergency officials.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and its effective date. If the app ever begins collecting personal data, we will update this policy and the App Store privacy details before that change ships.
Contact
Questions about privacy: theomirzakhanian@gmail.com