Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 31, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Smog Report ("we", "us") handles your information across two distinct surfaces: the Smog Report iOS app ("the App") and the smogreport.com website ("the Website"). Privacy practices differ between the two. Starting with App version 2.5.1, the App displays a small number of native advertisements (described below); the Website has used Google Analytics and advertising since launch. Both surfaces are described in detail below.

Part A — The iOS App

Data the App Collects

Location. The App requests access to your device's precise location to find the nearest reference-grade air quality monitor and retrieve readings for that monitor. Your location is used only for that lookup.

How location is used. Your latitude and longitude (or, when you choose, a ZIP code you enter) are sent to one of three reference-grade air-quality data sources depending on your location: EPA AirNow for the United States, OpenAQ (operated by Open AQ Inc.) for ~100 other countries, and Singapore NEA's data.gov.sg API for Singapore. The request is made directly from your device to the relevant service. Your location is not sent to Google or any advertising service.

Advertising (App version 2.5.1 and later)

Starting with version 2.5.1, the App displays native advertisements served by Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) in two locations: at the bottom of the main air-quality scroll, and at the bottom of the About screen. Ads are never shown on watchOS, in widgets, or in Live Activities.

To serve these ads, the AdMob SDK may collect and process the following data on Google's behalf:

This data is collected and processed by Google. We do not link it to your real-world identity, and we do not receive a copy of the underlying identifiers from Google. Google's advertising-related privacy practices are described at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. You can control how Google personalizes ads to you, including turning off personalization entirely, at adssettings.google.com.

App Tracking Transparency

iOS will prompt you to allow or deny tracking the first time an ad is about to display in the App (typically after several launches, since ads are suppressed during onboarding). You can change your answer at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking → Smog Report. Denying tracking does not stop ads from appearing in the App; it only prevents Google from using your IDFA to personalize them.

EEA / UK Consent

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the App presents a Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) consent form the first time an ad is about to display. Your choices in this form are stored on-device by the UMP SDK and govern whether personalized advertising is shown to you. Declining required purposes will hide ads in your region. You can re-open the consent form at any time from in-app settings (where available).

How to Remove Ads

Leave a tip from the in-app Tip Jar (Settings → Tip Jar). Tips remove ads for a window proportional to the tier: a small tip grants 30 ad-free days, the largest tier grants 450 days, and tips stack additively across multiple purchases. Ads are also automatically suppressed when AQI is at Unhealthy or worse, during your first three cold launches of the App, when VoiceOver / Reduce Motion / Reduce Transparency is enabled, when your device is offline, when you decline EEA consent, and when we remotely disable ads via the kill switch described below.

Data the App Does Not Collect

Local Storage

The App stores your saved locations and preferences locally on your device using standard iOS storage. This data is not transmitted off your device and is removed when you delete the App.

Background App Refresh (App version 2.5.3 and later)

Starting with version 2.5.3, the App registers a Background App Refresh task with iOS so it can fetch fresh air-quality data for your primary saved location periodically while the App is suspended. iOS controls the exact cadence (typically every few hours, with no guarantee). The handler does the same lookup the foreground App does — against whichever air-quality service serves your primary location (EPA AirNow, OpenAQ, or Singapore's NEA) — updates the on-device Live Activity if your air quality crosses the threshold, and writes the result to local on-device storage. No personal data is sent off-device beyond that air-quality lookup itself, and no third-party SDKs (advertising, analytics, or otherwise) run in the background path. You can disable Background App Refresh for Smog Report any time in iOS Settings → General → Background App Refresh.

CloudKit (Remote Configuration)

The App reads a single configuration record from a public iCloud database (record type AdConfig) at launch. This record holds the advertising kill switch, per-placement enable flags, and the tier-day values used to map tips to ad-free time. The fetch is read-only and anonymous — you do not need to be signed into iCloud for it to work, and no data is written from your device to iCloud.

Widgets and Live Activities

Home screen widgets, lock screen widgets, and Live Activities use the same location data described above and do not collect any additional information. They never display advertisements.

Third-Party Services Used by the App

Part B — The smogreport.com Website

The Website is a separate surface from the App and has different privacy practices. Using the Website (visiting any page on smogreport.com) involves the following data flows. Using the App does not.

Information Collected Automatically

Analytics — Google Analytics 4

The Website uses Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-3YLJRZ25ZP) to understand how visitors use the site. Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser and reports information including pages viewed, approximate geographic region (derived from IP), device type, browser, and the path you take through the site. We use this information in aggregate to improve the Website. We have not enabled Google Signals or cross-device user-ID linking.

You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, by enabling "Do Not Track" or similar privacy settings in your browser, or by blocking the gtag.js script with a content blocker. More about Google Analytics privacy: policies.google.com/privacy.

Advertising — Google AdSense

The Website displays advertising served by Google AdSense (publisher ID ca-pub-2931349298641994). Google and its advertising partners may set cookies or read existing cookies in your browser to serve ads, including personalized ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google's advertising-related privacy practices are described at policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

You can control how Google personalizes ads to you, including turning off ad personalization entirely, at adssettings.google.com. You can also opt out of personalized advertising from many participating networks at aboutads.info/choices (U.S.) or youronlinechoices.eu (EU).

Children

Neither the App nor the Website is directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under laws such as the EU GDPR, the UK GDPR, or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), including the right to access, correct, delete, or port personal information we hold about you, and to object to certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@smogreport.com. Note that the third parties listed above (Google, Cloudflare) handle their own privacy operations under their own policies.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

The Website does not respond differently to browser-level Do Not Track signals or Global Privacy Control headers, because the third-party services it loads (Google Analytics, Google AdSense) handle these signals under their own controls described above.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be reflected by an updated date and, where appropriate, additional notice on the Website.

Contact

Privacy questions can be sent to hello@smogreport.com.