This privacy policy explains how Ham Sat Tracker (hamsattracker.com) handles your information. The short version: there are no accounts, your location and settings stay in your browser, and the site uses a few third-party services (analytics, map tiles, advertising, forms) that are each described below.
Who Operates This Site
Ham Sat Tracker is operated by Dave Burniston (VE3AKK), based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This site is subject to Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA — the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).
Contact: .
What We Store on Your Device
The satellite predictor and AntTrack store a small amount of data in your browser's localStorage so your settings survive between visits. This data stays on your device; hamsattracker.com never receives it.
- Your location (
savedLocation) — the grid square or coordinates you entered, so you don't have to re-enter them each visit - Theme preference (
theme,anttrack_theme) — dark or light mode setting - TLE cache (
tle_cache) — the most recently downloaded orbital element data, stored so the app works offline in the field
The tracker and AntTrack also keep an offline copy of their own pages, scripts and the satellite status file in your browser's cache (via a service worker), so they open with no signal once you've visited online.
You can clear all of this at any time by clearing your browser's site data for hamsattracker.com.
Location and Device Sensors
Pass predictions need to know where you are. You can type a grid square or coordinates, or tap Use My Location, which asks your browser for permission to read your device's position. AntTrack uses GPS and your phone's compass and motion sensors to point your antenna, again only after your browser asks you.
All of these calculations run inside your browser. Your exact position and sensor readings are never sent to hamsattracker.com. Note, though, that when you open the live map, the map tiles requested from Geoapify cover the area around your location (see Third-Party Services below).
Data We Do Not Collect
- We do not require you to create an account
- We do not collect your name, email address, or callsign unless you voluntarily submit them via the feedback or contact form
- We do not store your location on our server or share it with anyone
- We do not sell any data to third parties
Feedback and Contact Forms
The feedback and contact forms on this site are powered by Formspree (formspree.io). When you submit a form, your message — and any name or email address you choose to include — is transmitted to Formspree's servers and forwarded to the site operator by email.
Formspree may retain submitted data in accordance with their own privacy policy, available at formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy.
We use information you submit only to respond to your message. We do not add you to any mailing list without your explicit consent.
Advertising
Ham Sat Tracker uses Google AdSense to display ads. Google AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to show ads based on your interests and prior visits to this and other websites.
If you are visiting from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, Google's consent management platform will ask for your consent before personalised advertising is enabled. You can change your ad preferences at any time via Google's Ad Settings, or opt out of personalised advertising from many third-party vendors at aboutads.info (or youronlinechoices.eu in Europe).
For more information on how Google uses data from sites that use AdSense, see Google's partner site policy.
AntTrack, the antenna pointing tool, never shows advertising.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics to understand how many people visit, which pages are useful, and what kinds of devices people use. Google Analytics sets cookies (named _ga and similar) and collects information such as the pages you view, how you arrived at the site, your browser and device type, and your approximate location (city or region level, derived from your IP address). Google states that Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses.
We use this information only in aggregate to improve the site. We cannot identify individual visitors from it, and we do not combine it with anything you send through the feedback form.
You can block Google Analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or with most ad and tracker blockers. For more on how Google uses this data, see How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
Third-Party Services
Like most websites, some parts of this site load from other companies' servers. Each request sends your IP address and browser details to that provider, as any web request does.
- Geoapify (geoapify.com) — map tiles for the live satellite map. The tiles requested show the area around your location and the satellite's ground track. See Geoapify's privacy policy.
- Google Fonts — the typefaces used on the site
- Google Analytics and Google AdSense — described above
- Formspree and Ko-fi — only when you submit a form or click a support link, described above and below
None of these services receive your saved location, settings or TLE cache. The open-source libraries the tracker runs on (satellite.js for orbital maths, Leaflet for mapping) are served from hamsattracker.com itself.
Tips and Support
Optional tips are handled by Ko-fi (ko-fi.com). Clicking a support link takes you to Ko-fi's website, and any payment is processed there by Ko-fi and its payment providers. No payment details are transmitted to or stored on hamsattracker.com. Ko-fi's own privacy policy applies to anything you share with them.
Earlier versions of the site offered a paid AntTrack Pro upgrade and stored its status in your browser as anttrack_pro_v1. That tier has been retired, every feature is now free, and the site removes that stored value automatically on your next visit.
TLE Data
Orbital element (TLE) data comes from CelesTrak (celestrak.org). Normally your browser gets it from a proxy on hamsattracker.com, so CelesTrak never sees your request. If that proxy is unavailable, the tracker falls back to fetching directly from CelesTrak, in which case CelesTrak receives an ordinary web request from your browser (IP address and browser details, nothing else).
The Satellite Status page summarises reports from AMSAT (amsat.org). That data is fetched by our server on a schedule; your browser never contacts AMSAT for it.
Server Logs
Like most web servers, hamsattracker.com's hosting provider records standard web server logs including IP addresses, browser type, and pages visited. These logs are used solely for security and performance monitoring and are not used to personally identify visitors. Logs are retained in accordance with the hosting provider's standard data retention policy.
Children
This site is not directed at children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to This Policy
If this policy changes materially, the date at the top of this page will be updated. Continued use of the site after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, please .
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