Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 23, 2026

Introduction

Welcome to metar.cloud ("we," "our," or "us"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you visit our website.

Information We Collect

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and usage, including:

  • Device Information: Browser type, operating system, device type, and screen resolution
  • Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, navigation paths, interaction with features, and button / link clicks
  • Location Data: Approximate geographic location based on IP address (country/region level only)
  • Traffic Source: UTM parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term) and the referring URL, to understand which marketing channels bring visitors to metar.cloud

Information You Provide

  • Account Information: When you create an account, we collect information such as your email address
  • Payment Information: For payment processing, we utilize FastSpring. FastSpring handles all transactions and may collect billing information such as your name, address, and payment details. Please review FastSpring's privacy policy for more details. metar.cloud does not store any payment information provided during the checkout process
  • Favorite Airports: When you save airports to your favorites, this data is stored locally in your browser. If you are signed in to a Gold subscription, favorites are also synchronized to our servers so they follow you across devices
  • Search Queries: Airport search queries (and the ICAO code of any result you select) are sent to our analytics provider to help us improve results — they are not used for advertising

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information to:

  • Provide and maintain our aviation weather service
  • Analyze usage patterns, feature adoption, and conversion funnels to improve our website and app
  • Diagnose bugs and performance issues via anonymized session replay (only with your consent — see below)
  • Display relevant advertisements
  • Ensure the security and proper functioning of our service

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and understand how you use the site.

Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. They enable core functionality such as saving your preferences, authentication, and your consent choices.

Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. Google Analytics collects:

  • Pages you visit and time spent on each page
  • How you arrived at our website
  • Your approximate location (country/region)
  • Device and browser information

Google Analytics uses cookies to distinguish unique users and sessions. The information generated is transmitted to and stored by Google.

Google Analytics Opt-Out: You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Product Analytics & Session Replay (PostHog)

We use PostHog (self-hosted on our EU infrastructure) to understand how pilots use metar.cloud, which features drive engagement, and where users get stuck. PostHog collects:

  • Pageviews and client-side navigation events
  • Button and link clicks, airport searches, airport views, favorite toggles, sign-in / sign-up events, subscription actions, and other product events
  • The referrer and UTM parameters of the URL that brought you to the site
  • Approximate geolocation (country/region) derived from your IP address
  • Device and browser information (user agent, screen size, language)
  • A randomly-generated anonymous visitor ID (distinct_id) stored in a first-party cookie and localStorage

By default PostHog runs in anonymous-only mode — it stores no cookies and does not record your session. A cookie-based profile and session replay are only enabled after you click "Accept" in the cookie banner.

Session Replay. If (and only if) you accept cookies, PostHog records a reconstruction of your interaction with the site — pointer movements, clicks, scroll, page transitions, console logs, and network timings. Recordings are used to diagnose bugs and improve user experience.

Session replay is configured to be privacy-preserving:

  • All form inputs are masked (passwords, emails, and other text fields are replaced with asterisks before leaving your browser)
  • Recordings are stored on servers we operate in the European Union
  • You can withdraw consent at any time — see "Managing Cookies" below — which stops any further recording immediately

Opting Out of PostHog. You can opt out by clicking "Decline" in the cookie banner (no cookies will be set and no session recording will occur), by clearing the metar.cloud cookies / localStorage in your browser, or by enabling the "Do Not Track" or "Global Privacy Control" signals supported by most browsers.

Advertising Cookies (Ezoic)

We use Ezoic to display advertisements. Ezoic and its advertising partners may use cookies to:

  • Show ads based on your interests (personalized advertising)
  • Limit the number of times you see an ad
  • Measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns

Ezoic's partners may use the information collected to show you personalized ads across other websites you visit.

Ad Personalization: You can manage your ad privacy preferences via the consent banner displayed on our website.

Managing Cookies

You can control and manage cookies in several ways:

  • Browser Settings: Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings
  • Our Cookie Banner: Use our cookie consent banner to accept or decline non-essential cookies, including PostHog session replay
  • Third-Party Tools: Use tools like the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on
  • Withdraw Consent: Clearing the cookie-consent value in your browser's localStorage resets your choice and shows the banner again

Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

Third-Party Services

FastSpring (Payment Processing)

We use FastSpring to process subscription payments. FastSpring may collect billing information such as your name, address, and payment details. We do not store any payment information on our servers. For more information, see FastSpring's Privacy Policy and FastSpring's Terms.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.

PostHog (Product Analytics & Session Replay)

We use PostHog Inc. as our product-analytics processor. PostHog acts as a data processor on our behalf and data is stored on infrastructure we control in the European Union. For more information, see PostHog's Privacy Policy.

Ezoic

We use Ezoic to display advertisements and optimize ad placements. For more information, see Ezoic's Privacy Policy.

Aviation Weather Data

We obtain aviation weather data (METAR/TAF) from public sources including the Aviation Weather Center (aviationweather.gov). This data is publicly available and does not contain personal information.

Data Retention

  • Analytics Data (Google Analytics): Retained according to Google's data retention policies
  • Analytics Data (PostHog): Product events retained for up to 13 months; session replays retained for up to 30 days, then permanently deleted
  • Local Storage: Favorite airports and consent preferences are stored in your browser's local storage until you clear your browser data
  • Server Logs: Basic server logs may be retained for up to 30 days for security purposes

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

  • Access: Request access to your personal data
  • Correction: Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data (including any PostHog events or session replays associated with your anonymous visitor ID or account)
  • Objection: Object to processing of your personal data
  • Data Portability: Request a copy of your data in a portable format

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information below.

Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. PostHog analytics data is stored in the European Union. Google Analytics data may be transferred to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. These countries may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at:

By using metar.cloud, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this privacy policy.