Privacy Policy for Earthquake Today

1. Information We Collect

Earthquake Today is designed to be a privacy-respecting earthquake tracker. We collect very limited information:

• Geolocation Data (Optional and On-Demand): To power our "Near Me" feature, we may request access to your device's geolocation (latitude and longitude). This is strictly optional. We only request this data when you explicitly activate the "Near Me" feature. We do not store, save, or track your location data on our servers. It is used only for that single session to query our data providers for the latest earthquake events near you and is discarded immediately after.
• Non-Personal Information: We use browser `localStorage` for the sole purpose of saving your theme preference (light or dark mode). This information is stored only on your device and is not transmitted to us.

2. How We Use Information

The information we handle is used exclusively to enhance your experience:

• Geolocation Data: Is used ephemerally to fetch relevant seismic data from our third-party providers and display it within the application. Your location is not associated with any personal identifiers.
• Theme Preference: Is used to remember your visual preference for the user interface across sessions.

3. Third-Party Data Sources

Earthquake Today displays public data aggregated from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC-CSEM). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party services. We encourage you to review their privacy policies if you have concerns.

4. Advertising and Cookies

We use third-party advertising companies, such as Google AdSense, to serve ads when you visit our Website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

• Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to your website or other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Ads Settings.

For more information about how Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps, please visit How Google uses data.

In addition to advertising cookies, we use local browser storage (`localStorage`) solely for remembering user interface preferences (such as light/dark mode).

5. Children’s Privacy

Our service is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

6. 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. You are advised to review this page periodically for any changes.

7. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please feel free to reach out to us via the contact link in the footer.