Aeriscope Cookie Policy

This page explains what cookies and other browser storage Aeriscope uses, why, and how to change your preferences. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle the information described here.

What cookies are — and what they aren't

Cookies are small pieces of text a website asks your browser to store, then sends back automatically on later requests to that site. Aeriscope also uses a separate mechanism, your browser's local storage, for a few things — local storage is not a cookie: it stays only on your device and is never automatically sent to our servers with every request the way a cookie is. Both are covered below, kept in clearly separate sections so it's never ambiguous which is which.

Necessary cookies

Always active — required for the application to function and can't be turned off.

• Session cookie (set by our authentication system, Better Auth) — keeps you signed in. Configured to last up to 7 days from your last activity; using Aeriscope again within that window automatically extends it, so a session you keep using can persist well beyond 7 days, while one that goes fully unused expires after 7 days.
• OAuth sign-in cookies (Better Auth) — used only during a Google/Facebook/Amazon/Apple sign-in redirect, to verify the redirect is genuine and prevent cross-site request forgery. These are short-lived (on the order of minutes) by our authentication library's own internal design, not a duration we set ourselves, and are cleared automatically whether or not sign-in completes.
• Anonymous device-identifier cookie (wx-device-id) — lets watched flights and notifications work on your browser before or without signing in. Contains a random identifier only, no personal information. Retained up to 1 year.
• Cookie consent cookie (aeriscope_cookie_consent) — stores the choices you make on this page or the cookie banner, so we don't ask again on every visit. Contains only your preference values and a timestamp — never anything that identifies you. Retained up to 1 year.

Functional browser storage

The items below are stored in your browser's local storage, not as cookies — kept only on your device, never sent to our servers automatically, and used only to make return visits smoother.

• Temperature unit (wx-temp-unit) — your °F/°C display preference. Written when you change the toggle yourself, and also re-synced automatically from your saved account preference each time you load the app while signed in, so it stays consistent across devices. No automatic expiration — stays until you clear your browser's site data or it's overwritten by a later change. Contains no personal information beyond the unit itself.
• Location mode (wx-location-mode) — whether Aeriscope should open with your current location or your saved home location, for signed-out visitors (signed-in users have this saved to their account instead — see "Session cookie" above). Written only as a direct result of you choosing "use my current location" or an equivalent explicit action — never automatically. No automatic expiration. Contains no personal information — just the word "current" or "home".

Analytics

Off by default — only active if you choose "Accept all" or enable Analytics under "Customize."

• Vercel Web Analytics — used for aggregate product analytics (e.g. which pages are visited, coarse browser/device information) and is enabled only once you grant Analytics consent; before that, its script never loads at all. Vercel's implementation is itself cookieless and doesn't track you individually across sites, but we still gate it behind your consent rather than relying on that distinction.

Marketing

Off by default. Aeriscope does not currently use any marketing or advertising cookies or services — no Google Ads, no Meta/Facebook Pixel, no ad networks. This category exists in our consent settings so that if we ever do add one, it will already respect your choice rather than turning on by default.

How to change your preferences

Click "Cookie Settings" in the footer of any page, at any time, to reopen this app's cookie preferences and change or withdraw your consent. Turning Analytics off stops any further analytics activity going forward (it does not delete data already collected while it was on).

Third-party services actually in use

Only Vercel Web Analytics (Analytics category, above) is gated by this consent system. Weather, aviation, and camera data providers (National Weather Service/NOAA, AeroDataBox, public camera feeds) and our authentication providers (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple sign-in) are separate, necessary integrations described in our Privacy Policy — they are not cookie-consent-gated because they're required for the features you're directly using (getting a forecast, signing in), not optional tracking.

Contact

Privacy questions: privacy@aeriscope.app
General support: support@aeriscope.app