Privacy policy

Last updated: 1 July 2026

Lightning Radar is a hobby project by Koode. It shows live lightning strikes on a map, as an iOS app and on this website. This page explains what happens to your data. The short version: there are no accounts, no tracking, and no advertising, and we don't build a profile of you.

No accounts, no tracking

There's no sign-up and no login. We don't ask for your name or email address, there are no analytics or third-party trackers, and we don't sell or share data for advertising.

Your location

Lightning Radar has an optional “use my location” feature so it can centre the map on you and show how close strikes are. It's off until you ask for it:

• When you tap the locate button, your browser or device asks for permission. If you allow it, your coordinates are used on your device to centre the map and work out nearby activity. They aren't sent to us or stored on a server.
• If precise location is unavailable or you decline it, the site can fall back to an approximate location derived from your IP address by Cloudflare (our hosting provider), so the radar still has somewhere to start. This is coarse (roughly city-level) and isn't retained.

What the app does

The app and site connect to our relay at api.lightning-radar.com to receive public lightning-strike data from the Blitzortung.org volunteer network, and draw it on the map. That data is about lightning, not about you.

Server logs

Like any website or online service, our servers receive ordinary connection information when your device fetches data, such as your IP address and basic request details. The service runs on Cloudflare, and this information is used only to deliver the data and keep things working. We don't use it to identify or track you, and we don't sell it or share it for advertising.

Maps

The iOS app draws the map with Apple Maps (MapKit); the website uses map tiles from OpenFreeMap, and place search uses OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service. When the map or a search loads, those providers receive the requests needed to serve it, handled under their own terms (Apple; OpenMapTiles / OpenStreetMap contributors). We don't send them anything about you beyond what's needed to draw the map or run a search.

On your device

Your preferences — the light or dark map, units, display window, radar radius, and any places you save — are stored on your own device (in your browser's local storage or the app). They stay there and aren't sent to us.

Children

Lightning Radar isn't aimed at children, and we don't knowingly collect data from anyone, children included.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email privacy@koode.nl.