Privacy policy

Last updated 5 October 2026

Focus Scout is built so that almost everything stays on your phone. There are no adverts, no tracking and no third-party analytics, and we never sell data.

Who we are

Focus Scout is run by Laurence Connor, trading as Focus Scout, c/o Brelade Travel, 66 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NA. Email hello@focusscout.app. Laurence is responsible for the personal information described here.

What stays on your phone

Your profile and photo, interests, range and kit. Your journal: shot list, field notes and trips, with their photos. Your settings and saved spots.

Photos you take or add in the app are kept in the app's own storage on your phone. They are never uploaded. Deleting the app deletes them.

Your location

Your location is used on the phone to find spots near you, work out the sun, moon and stars, and fill in Quick capture. The app doesn't keep a history of where you've been.

To fetch forecasts, the app sends the coordinates of the spots and the area you're looking at to Focus Scout's own server, which gets the weather from Open-Meteo, a weather service, and shares it between everyone looking at the same place. No name, account or device identifier goes with them, and the server doesn't keep a record of who asked for what.

Field notes you share

When you save a field note, its ratings and tags are shared by default, so the app can show how spots and forecasts turn out. That's the spot, where and when, what you rated and saw, and the forecast score. Your written notes are only shared if you turn that on. You can turn sharing off at any time.

Shared notes and any spots you choose to publish are stored in Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) public database for the app. They're linked to an anonymous iCloud identifier, not your name or email. Other people see them pooled together, never your name.

Other services the app uses

Space weather from NOAA, satellite orbits from CelesTrak, and the light-pollution and star data built into the app. These requests carry no personal information beyond what any web request does, such as your IP address.

Links to maps, tide tables and other sites open in their own apps or your browser, under their own privacy policies.

Anonymous usage counts

To learn which features are useful and whether people come back, the app counts a few things: opening the app (once a day), opening a tool, tapping a Pro feature, seeing the Pro page and buying Pro.

Each count carries only what happened, roughly how long since you installed the app (in bands such as 2–7 days), the week you installed it, whether you have Pro and the app version. There is no name, account, device identifier, location or advertising ID, so the counts can't be linked to you or to each other.

They're sent to Focus Scout's own server and used only to improve the app. You can turn them off in Settings, under Privacy; anything not yet sent is then deleted.

Purchases

Focus Scout Pro is bought and managed through Apple. We never see your payment details.

Camera, photos and motion

The camera is used only when you open Quick capture, the light meter or Sky view. The photo library is used only when you choose photos to add. Motion and compass readings are used only on the phone, to point Sky view.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask what we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. Almost everything is only on your phone, where you can change or delete it yourself. To remove shared field notes, email hello@focusscout.app and we'll delete them.

Children

Focus Scout isn't aimed at children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect their information.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the new version will be in the app and on focusscout.app, with the date at the top. Questions: email hello@focusscout.app.