Website analytics
When enabled, Neon Archive uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to measure aggregate visits, page views, referrers, approximate countries, popular pages, and site performance. Cloudflare states that Web Analytics does not collect or use visitors’ personal data. Analytics reports are private and are not displayed as a public visitor counter.
Public guestbook
If you post a guestbook comment, the name or nickname, message, date, and a generated record identifier are stored in Cloudflare KV and displayed publicly. Do not include private information in a comment.
Your IP address is used to create a temporary rate-limit record that expires after approximately one minute. The IP address is not stored with the public comment.
Bot protection and security
The guestbook may use Cloudflare Turnstile to distinguish legitimate submissions from automated abuse. Cloudflare may also process technical security information needed to deliver and protect the site.
Private observation history
Target outcomes, optional notes, equipment choice, session times, and summary totals can be stored locally on this device. They are not uploaded and contain no city or coordinates. Observation History includes a control that removes these records immediately.
Sky Watchlist and reminders
Smart Night Alert preferences, hidden alert identifiers, and a sanitized watchlist can be stored locally on this device. The watchlist is matched to the saved observing area using a random revision and contains no city or coordinates. Downloaded calendar reminders contain target or event names, local opportunities expressed as UTC timestamps, source notes, and forecast-expiry language; they do not contain a calendar location field. These reminders are snapshots rather than background notifications or live subscriptions.
Approximate observing location
The Tonight dashboard rounds browser coordinates to 0.1° before saving or requesting them. The rounded area, unit preference, optional red-light preference, timezone, and a random location revision are stored only in your browser. Precise coordinates, the device’s reported accuracy, city names, and rounded coordinates are not included in shared outlook or observing-route text.
Phone sensors
Optional field alignment uses an absolute compass heading after you press the alignment button. Orientation readings remain in the page, are never transmitted or stored, and stop when the page closes. Neon Archive does not request or use camera or microphone access.
Offline field data
The installed field app caches essential interface and astronomy files. After a successful forecast it also prepares a short-lived field pack containing timezone, forecast inputs, darkness bounds, derived ISS predictions, source details, and timestamps. The pack does not contain a city name or coordinates and is matched to the saved rounded area only by a random revision. Weather and ISS guidance stops when the pack expires; local astronomy-only guidance is labeled and contains no weather claim. The Offline Readiness panel can remove the pack, observing route, watchlist snapshot, and field cache.
Cached observing sessions
Observe Now can temporarily store a generated route and its completed or skipped steps in your browser so it remains usable if reception drops. The cached route contains target names, derived directions, local times, conditions, and an expiry timestamp; it does not duplicate the selected city or coordinates. It expires after the observing night and can be removed immediately by ending the session or using the Offline Readiness controls.
Support payments
Optional one-time contributions are completed on Ko-fi and its connected payment processor. Ko-fi may share a supporter’s display name, email address, optional message, and transaction details with Neon Archive as part of the payment. A connected payment processor may provide additional billing or account information under its own rules. Neon Archive does not receive or store full card details on this website, does not publish a supporter list by default, and asks supporters not to include private information in public messages. Ko-fi and its payment processors apply their own privacy policies, terms, and retention practices.
External services
Live pages request information from public scientific and location services. The Tonight dashboard sends rounded coordinates or a city-search query to Neon Archive’s Cloudflare function, which requests forecast or geocoding data from Open-Meteo. The same rounded coordinates are used server-side to calculate local ISS pass predictions from CelesTrak orbital data. Following a source, press, or support link takes you to another website governed by its own privacy practices.
Reddit app data
The Neon Archive Reddit app in r/NeonArchive runs on Reddit's Devvit platform. It submits NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day posts and curated Neon Archive links as the app account. It does not read Reddit comments, private messages, votes, or non-public profile information, and it does not post on behalf of individual users. The app requests NASA APOD date-range data from api.nasa.gov using the configured NASA key, or NASA's DEMO_KEY when none is set, and fetches official APOD source pages at apod.nasa.gov to read image credits. For an eligible NASA-hosted image, it asks Reddit's media service to upload a copy so it can appear inline in the public post, with its credit and source link. The app does not intentionally send Reddit user data to NASA. Its Devvit Redis installation stores cached APOD response fields (date, title, explanation, media type, media URLs, and credit), source-credit-check results, Reddit-hosted media URLs, NASA request counts, posted APOD records (dates, title, source URL, media URL, image credit, and Reddit post ID), archive posted records (item IDs/URLs and Reddit post IDs) and queue position, and the latest schedule and moderator-action status. APOD, credit, and uploaded-media URL caches expire after 35 days; NASA request counters expire after 2 days; the in-flight posting lock expires after 90 seconds. The app code does not set an expiry for posted-history, queue, or latest status records, so posted APOD records can retain source and Reddit-hosted media URLs after the separate media URL cache expires. It does not intentionally store personal information. Reddit handles app execution, posts, and uploaded media under its platform policies; the app has no separate control for deleting hosted media objects. For app privacy questions, contact the moderators of r/NeonArchive through Reddit.
Retention and removal
Guestbook comments remain until removed for moderation, privacy, or operational reasons. To request removal of a comment, use the contact page and include the displayed name, message, and approximate posting date.
Contact
Questions or removal requests can be submitted through the project contact methods listed on the contact page.