Last updated: 10 November 2026. This page covers the Snow Now website (snow-now.com) and the Snow Now app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
The short version
- You can use the forecasts, maps and webcams without an account. We don’t ask who you are.
- There is no advertising, and we don’t sell or pass on anything about you for advertising. We don’t follow you across other apps or websites.
- If you make an account, we keep your email address and what you choose to save or post, so it is there on all your devices.
- What you record stays private to you until you choose to share it.
- You can delete your account, and everything kept with it, yourself at any time.
Who we are
Snow Now is made and run by Harry Bowerman. For anything about your privacy, write to info@gradientwx.com.
Without an account
- Your settings (units, language, saved spots, map choices) are kept on your own device, in the browser or the app. They are not sent to us.
- Where you are. If you tap “My location”, your device gives the app your position so it can show the map and forecast there. The position is used on your device; the place you ask a forecast for is sent to the forecast service (see “Other services” below).
- Counting how the site is used. The app sends us simple counts of which features are used (for example “the 3D map was opened”). They carry no name, no account, no cookie and no address: only counts per day, kept for 90 days. The website also uses Jetpack Stats (Automattic) to count page views.
- Server logs. Like every website, our hosting company records technical details of each request (such as the internet address and browser type) for security and fault-finding.
With an account
An account is optional. It lets you keep saved spots, recordings and routes on all your devices, and use the feed. We keep:
- Your email address, to sign you in (with a code we email you, or a password if you set one) and to send emails you ask for, such as the weekend snow email. Passwords are stored in scrambled form; we cannot read them.
- The name you choose, and if you add them, a profile picture, a few words about you and a link.
- Saved spots, settings, routes and recordings that you keep on your account.
- Posts, photos, videos, comments and likes that you put on the feed or on a resort’s page, who you follow and who follows you, and people you have blocked.
- Reports. If you report a post or a profile, we keep the report so we can look at it.
Recording your day (the app)
- When you tap Record, the app uses your phone’s GPS (also with the screen off, until you tap Stop) and its motion sensor to draw your line and work out distance, height, speed, jumps and turns.
- A recording is kept on your phone. If you are signed in it is also kept on your account so you can see it on your other devices. Only you can see it unless you share it.
- When you share a day (to the feed, or as a page with its own link), the people you chose can see its line on the map, its numbers and anything you add. You can hide the first and last 300 m, so a home or hotel doesn’t show, and you can stop sharing or delete it at any time.
- Your statistics and badges are shown to the people you choose: everyone, your followers, or only you.
- Heat map (off unless you switch it on). If you choose “Share anonymously for the heat map”, pieces of your recorded lines are sent with nothing that says whose they are: the first and last 300 m are cut off, positions are rounded, times and dates are removed, and the pieces are stored separately with no account, device or internet address.
Photos and videos
Photos you add are made smaller and saved again, which removes the hidden details a camera puts in a picture (such as where it was taken). The app asks for access to your photos only when you choose a picture to add or save one to your phone.
Other services
To show forecasts and maps, your device or our server asks other services for data. They receive the request (which includes an internet address, as every request on the internet does) and the place being asked about, but nothing from your account:
- Open-Meteo: weather forecasts for the place you look at.
- Map and terrain providers: OpenTopoMap and OpenStreetMap, OpenSkiMap and Waymarked Trails (ski runs and trails), Esri and NASA (satellite pictures), Amazon Web Services (terrain heights), RainViewer and EUMETSAT (radar and satellite).
- Windy.com: webcam pictures. Meteostat and national weather services: station measurements.
- unpkg, jsDelivr and Google Fonts: the map software and lettering the pages are built with.
- Our hosting company, which runs the website and sends our emails for us.
- Apple and Google, if you install the app from their stores; their own privacy policies apply to the stores.
Cookies
The forecast app uses no advertising or tracking cookies. Your settings and your sign-in are kept in your browser’s or the app’s own storage on your device. Signing in to the website may set a cookie that keeps you signed in.
How long we keep things
- Your account and what is kept with it: until you delete it, or delete the item.
- Usage counts: 90 days. Anonymous heat map pieces: kept, as they can’t be linked to anyone.
- Reports of posts or profiles: kept so that repeated abuse can be dealt with.
Your choices and rights
- See and change your details in the app or on the website: your profile, account settings, recordings and posts.
- Видалити any recording, post, photo, video or comment of yours.
- Delete your account under Account settings › Delete my account. This removes your account, recordings, routes, posts, photos, videos, comments, likes and follows.
- Block anyone, and report posts or profiles, from the ⋯ menu on a post or at the bottom of a profile.
- Depending on where you live (for example in the EU or the UK) you have the right to ask for a copy of what we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to how it is used, and to complain to your data protection authority. Write to info@gradientwx.com and we will answer within a month.
Why we may use your data
We use your account details to provide the service you asked for (your account, your recordings, the feed). We use counts and logs because we need to keep the service working and safe. The heat map and emails such as the weekend snow email only happen if you switch them on, and you can switch them off again.
Children
Snow Now is not aimed at children. Accounts and posting are for people aged 16 or over.
Changes
If we change how we handle your data, we will update this page and the date at the top. For important changes we will also tell account holders by email or in the app.