Privacy notice
Your data, explained.
This notice describes what Skydust receives when you browse, use location features, contact us or contribute a sky-meter reading.
Who is responsible?
Skydust is operated by P. Sekulic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For privacy questions or requests, email info@skydust.ae.
What happens in each activity?
| Activity | Information involved | Purpose and recipients |
|---|---|---|
| Browse pages | IP address, browser and request information may appear in hosting, delivery and security logs. | Deliver and protect the service. Processed by the operator and the services that host and deliver the website. |
| Use my location | Coordinates supplied after your browser asks for permission. | The observing estimate runs in your browser using downloaded data. On the map, requests to tile providers reveal the map area you view. |
| Submit an SQM reading | Reading, coordinates, observation time, instrument, pointing, cloud condition, repeat count, spread and optional elevation, serial number and notes. | Stored on Skydust for review, comparison and research. A private administrator notification identifies the submission. |
| Approved observation | Observation and measurement metadata, including coordinates and time. | May be exported or published under CC BY 4.0. Calculations run on Skydust’s hosting service in local mode, or on GitHub if that processing mode is enabled. Open-Meteo receives coordinates and dates to retrieve model inputs. |
| Email us | Your email address, message and information you choose to include. | Handle your request through the operator’s email service. |
Location is optional
You can use named observing sites without giving browser location permission. Granting permission allows the requested feature to obtain your coordinates. You can revoke that permission in your browser settings.
On the SQM form, the location button fills the fields. The entered coordinates are sent to Skydust when you submit, whether typed manually or supplied by the browser. Browser permission alone is not consent to publish an observation; the form asks separately.
The map uses MapLibre resources from unpkg and a CARTO basemap with OpenStreetMap data. Those providers receive requests from your browser, including an IP address. Map tile requests can reveal the geographic area you are viewing.
Planetarium: location, phone direction and camera
Use my location requests a position after you tap the control and your browser permits it. You can choose a named site or enter coordinates instead. The sky positions are calculated in your browser using the selected coordinates and time.
Follow my phone uses available compass and orientation readings to turn the sky view. Camera view uses the rear camera to display a live background beneath the calculated sky. Skydust’s planetarium does not record or upload the camera stream or orientation readings, and it does not request microphone audio. Camera and direction features stop when switched off or when the page is hidden; you can also revoke permissions in browser settings.
These permissions are separate from SQM submission and publication consent. The SQM form does not request camera or compass access; its location button fills the coordinate fields for you to review before submitting.
Saved choices and links
Saved plans, favourite sites and planetarium display preferences use storage in this browser. They remain until removed through the relevant control or by clearing this site’s browser data. A saved plan can include coordinates that you entered.
The selected observing location, date, time and target can be carried between tools in the current tab, with saved context accepted for up to 24 hours. Custom coordinates can also appear in the part of a planning link after the # symbol. Anyone receiving that link can read them, and scripts on the page can access them. Use a named public site when you do not want to share a precise location. Clearing site data removes locally saved choices; deleting a published SQM record is a separate request.
Sharing an observation is your choice
The submission checkbox records consent to the described processing and sharing terms. Pending and rejected observations are excluded from the approved-data export and calibration feed. Older observations without recorded consent are excluded from the new export flow.
If a reading is approved, the public research export can include its reading, coordinates, time, instrument model, pointing, cloud condition, repeat count, spread and elevation. Serial numbers, private notes and IP addresses are excluded from that export.
Precise coordinates and a timestamp may identify a person indirectly. Submit only observations you have the right to share, from locations you are comfortable disclosing. The form is intended for people aged 18 or older.
Approval does not guarantee publication or inclusion in a calibration. Scientific quality checks are separate from your consent.
The public measured map
Approved observations with the recorded sharing consent can be served by a public map data endpoint and downloaded by visitors. The map publishes the reading, observation time, instrument model, pointing, cloud description, repeat count and spread. Coordinates are rounded to three decimal places, approximately 100 metres. Derived Sun and Moon altitudes and comparison eligibility may also appear.
Map site summaries group coordinates to 0.01° and combine separate UAE observing nights. The separate approved research export can retain the submitted coordinate precision. Map rounding is not a guarantee of anonymity. No contributor names, serial numbers, notes, IP addresses or private review comments are included in the map response.
The map initially displays data as a table. Loading the geographic basemap makes requests to the external map providers described above. Removing approval removes a record from subsequent uncached map responses, but cannot recall downloads or copies already made.
When calculations run on our hosting service
In local processing mode, approved observation data are passed to the Python calculation on the same hosting account. New comparison and fitting jobs are not sent to GitHub. Private worker logs, queued jobs and calibration backups are stored on the hosting service. Open-Meteo still receives the coordinates and dates needed for model inputs.
Existing data already processed on GitHub are not automatically removed. If the operator returns to GitHub processing, the GitHub data flow described in this notice applies again.
Retention and security
New observation records do not store the submitter’s raw IP address. The submission service uses a keyed hash of the connection address in a temporary rate-limit record that expires after one hour. Hosting and security logs are separate and may contain IP addresses.
Observation records remain until the operator removes them; there is no fixed automatic deletion period in the current submission service. Approved research data may be retained for long-term model comparisons. Private review information should be kept only while needed to assess or correct a submission.
Copies may also exist in backups, email records or material already shared. We can remove a record from systems we control, but cannot guarantee removal of independent copies made by others.
Access to submission review and the calibration feed is restricted. No internet service can guarantee absolute security.
Cookies, analytics and external services
The Skydust observing plugin does not set analytics cookies. WordPress, the hosting service and other website components can use cookies or similar storage for login, security, preferences and analytics.
Your analytics choice
Google Analytics is optional. Its Google tag stays blocked until you choose Allow analytics, whether you visit from the UAE or elsewhere. Choose Reject analytics to keep it off. The observing tools work without analytics. Open Cookie settings in the footer to change your choice.
A first-party consent cookie remembers your choice in this browser for 30 days; WP Consent API cookies communicate the permitted categories to the site components. Clearing site data removes that choice. Withdrawing consent switches analytics off, removes known Google Analytics cookies and reloads the page. It does not delete data already received by Google. A local browser-storage signal synchronises a change between open Skydust tabs; it is not sent to an analytics service.
After you allow analytics, Skydust uses Google Analytics through Site Kit to understand page visits and interactions. Google can receive page addresses, referral information, interaction events and browser/device information, and can derive an approximate area from the connection. The analytics choice does not grant advertising consent, location access, camera access or SQM publication consent. See Google’s privacy policy.
The hosting service, Open-Meteo, map providers and, when enabled, GitHub may process information outside the UAE. The countries and protections depend on the provider and service configuration. Publication under an open licence makes approved research data available internationally.
External links have their own privacy notices. Following a link can send information to that destination.
Corrections, removal and questions
Email info@skydust.ae to ask about access, correction, deletion, withdrawal of consent or other rights that apply to your information. Include a submission reference or enough non-sensitive detail to locate the record. We may ask for proportionate information to verify a request.
Withdrawing consent can stop future processing that depends on it. It does not undo earlier lawful processing or revoke a CC BY licence already granted for copies distributed under that licence. Applicable privacy rights continue to apply.
This notice may change as the service changes. The revision date above identifies this version.