ISS Tracker
English

Privacy policy

Last updated: September 27, 2026

In short

ISS Tracker has no account. In version 2.0, your location is used on your iPhone or iPad to calculate passes, and it’s never sent to us. The older version 1.x works differently: see “The older app, version 1.x” below. To learn which features people use, the app and this website use Google Analytics, which you can turn off. ISS Tracker is made by Lucent Enterprises Ltd (“we”).

Your location

The app uses your location to calculate when the space station passes over you and where to look. This calculation runs on your device. We don’t receive or store your location. To show a place name, the app asks Apple Maps to name your location, and when you search for a place, Apple Maps receives what you type. You can change the permission at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.

Weather

To show the cloud forecast for a pass, the app asks Apple Weather (WeatherKit) for the forecast at your location. Apple receives that location to answer the request. Apple’s privacy policy applies to that request.

Orbit and station data

The app downloads orbit data, crew and station information from our server at isstrackerapp.com, which runs on Cloudflare. These requests don’t contain your location.

Usage events

The app sends a small number of usage events to our server, for example that the app was opened or that an alert was scheduled. Each event contains its name, the app version, the iOS version, your language and region setting and a random install ID created by the app. The install ID isn’t linked to your name, your Apple Account or your device ID, but it links your events to each other, so the events are pseudonymous, not anonymous. Events never contain your location or anything you type. We use them only to find out which features work and to fix problems. You can turn them off with “Share usage and crash data” in the app’s settings, which also deletes the install ID. From version 2.0.1, the app asks before it sends any: nothing is sent until you choose “Share usage data”.

Google Analytics in the app

The app also sends these usage events to Google Analytics for Firebase, a Google service, which adds its own events such as the first launch and the start of each use. With them, Google receives a random app instance ID, the device model, the iOS and app versions, your language, and a rough location (country, region and city) that it works out from your IP address. The app doesn’t use the advertising identifier (IDFA) or the identifier for vendors (IDFV). We don’t let Google use this data for advertising: ad storage, ad user data and ad personalization are denied, and Google signals are off. Google keeps the data for 14 months. Turning off “Share usage and crash data” stops Google Analytics and deletes its ID on your device.

Crash and performance reports

If the app crashes or runs slowly, iOS may create a diagnostic report (MetricKit). The app sends this report to our server so we can fix the problem. It doesn’t contain your location or your name, and we don’t store your IP address with it.

Alerts

Pass alerts are scheduled on your device. We don’t run a push notification server and we don’t receive a device token.

The older app, version 1.x

Until version 2.0 is on the App Store, the app there is version 1.1.4, and it works differently from what this page describes. It uses Google Firebase (Analytics, Crashlytics and Performance Monitoring) to collect usage events, crash reports and performance data, with a random user ID that it creates and Firebase’s app instance ID. It has no setting to turn this off. If you turned on its notifications for when the ISS is overhead, it checks your location in the background and sends the coordinates with a usage event to Google Analytics, where we can see them. Google processes this data for us under its terms (firebase.google.com/support/privacy). Version 2.0 stops sending your location, drops Crashlytics and Performance Monitoring, and lets you turn usage data off. We’ll remove this section when version 1.x is no longer offered.

What we don’t do

This website

The pass finder calculates passes in your browser. It first guesses your town from your device’s time zone. If you press “Use my location”, your browser asks for permission. The place you choose, or your location, is saved only in your browser (local storage) so the page remembers it. It isn’t sent to us. The live map loads the satellite.js library from jsDelivr (cdn.jsdelivr.net), and the pages may load orbit data from CelesTrak (celestrak.org). Like any website, these services and our host, Cloudflare, receive your IP address to answer the request. Your analytics choice is also saved only in your browser.

Google Analytics on this website

This website uses Google Analytics, a Google service, to count visits and learn which features help: the pages you view, how fast they load and respond, taps on the App Store badge, and whether you use the pass finder or the live map (never the place you choose). Google Analytics sets cookies (_ga) with a random ID. Google receives your IP address and your browser and device type, and uses the IP address to work out a rough location. In the EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Quebec, Google Analytics runs only after you press “Accept”. To know whether to ask, the page asks our server for your country and region, which Cloudflare works out from your IP address; we don’t store them. Elsewhere, Google Analytics is on by default. You can change your choice at any time with “Privacy choices” at the bottom of every page: “Reject” stops Google Analytics and deletes its cookies. Ad storage, ad user data and ad personalization are always denied, and Google signals are off. Google keeps the data for 14 months.

Children

ISS Tracker is suitable for all ages. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes

If this policy changes, we’ll update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Questions about privacy: contact@lucententerprises.com.