Last Updated: May 2026
Welcome to Shabbat Weather & News. We value your privacy and are committed to protecting any personal data you share with us. This Privacy Policy outlines how our application collects, uses, and safeguards your information.
1. Information We Collect
Our application requires location data to provide accurate real-time weather forecasts and timezone clocks for your city. We collect this data in the following ways:
- Geolocation Data: With your explicit consent, we access your device's geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) using the native HTML5 Geolocation API.
- IP Geolocation Data: If GPS access is denied, disabled, or unavailable, we check your IP address against public IP locators (such as
ipapi.co or freeipapi.com) to estimate your general region or city.
- Searched Cities: Any city names you type into our search bar are sent to Open-Meteo's Geocoding API to resolve coordinates.
2. How We Use Information
All geolocation and query coordinates are processed entirely client-side in your web browser. We use this data solely to:
- Fetch real-time weather details and forecast metrics from the free public Open-Meteo API.
- Display timezone-correct clocks and ticking countdown timers.
- Populate localized WSJ RSS news feeds.
We do not operate any backend databases or servers, nor do we store, share, or log your coordinate history.
3. Data Caching and Storage
To enhance performance and persist your preferences, Shabbat Weather & News uses your browser's local storage:
- Favorites: Pinned cities are cached locally in your browser (
ShabbatWeather_Favorites) and are never shared or sent to any servers.
- Unit Preferences: Temperature scales (°C or °F) are cached locally to render conversions instantly.
4. Third-Party Services
To display weather and news updates, our client application communicates with public external APIs:
- Open-Meteo API: Used to request weather statistics and geocoding coordinates. (See Open-Meteo Terms).
- Nominatim OpenStreetMap: Used for reverse geocoding coordinates to city names.
- Google News / RSS Proxy: Used to query WSJ World News feeds and translate them to client-side readable JSON format.
- Google AdSense (Optional): Once configured, this site may use third-party vendor cookies to serve advertisements based on your prior visits. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings.
5. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy periodically to reflect changes in layout, tools, or regulatory standards. The "Last Updated" timestamp at the top will indicate when modifications were made.
6. Contact Us
If you have any questions or feedback regarding this client-side application's privacy practices, feel free to open an issue on our GitHub repository.