Privacy & data use

Airstrips web beta · Updated 5 October 2026

This page describes the website and browser-installed app at airstrips.app. The separately installed Android and iOS apps have different data-delivery arrangements.

Your location and routes

Location is optional. Choosing “Use my location” or enabling tracking asks your browser for permission. Airstrips uses foreground location to calculate nearby sites, distances, bearings and map tracking on your device. It does not upload your GPS fix, course, test route or selected diversion, or record a live-location history.

Planned test-route waypoints and playback settings are stored in your browser, not uploaded. Playback does not start automatically when you reopen the app. Clear a plan using Test route → Clear. You can revoke location access in your browser settings and continue browsing without it. Background tracking is not provided.

Streamed maps

While online, Airstrips requests the map tiles needed for the visible area and zoom. These requests necessarily disclose the viewed region, your IP address and connection information to the website's hosting infrastructure, Cloudflare. When following your position, the viewed region can indicate your approximate location even though the app does not upload a GPS fix.

Detailed aerial imagery is requested from LINZ Basemaps through the Airstrips server. LINZ receives the requested tile coordinates and the server's connection information; the app does not attach your location, route or a user account. The LINZ access key stays on the server. Other prepared map layers are served from Airstrips-hosted archives.

Wind

The Airstrips server requests a shared nationwide station snapshot from Zephyr, normally every ten minutes. It does not send Zephyr your GPS position or route. Your browser interpolates airstrip estimates locally. Black symbols indicate observations; grey symbols indicate interpolated estimates. Reports retain their observation times, and expired data is not presented as current wind.

Storage and offline use

The browser caches the app shell and catalogue. “Saved maps” explicitly downloads prepared tiles for your chosen view; installing the app alone does not download nationwide maps. Saved-area metadata, downloaded tiles, route settings and the last wind snapshot remain in browser storage. A small browsing cache also retains recently requested tiles.

Permanent saved areas contain the prepared aerial fallback, not nationwide full-resolution LINZ imagery. Detailed streamed tiles may only be reused while fresh and still cached. Browser storage can be removed by browser settings, device storage pressure or uninstallation; persistence is requested, not guaranteed.

Remove individual areas in Saved maps. Clear all Airstrips site data in your browser to remove routes, map downloads, cached observations and the installed web cache. This does not delete data held by your separate Android app.

Accounts, analytics and other services

Browsing does not require an account. There is no advertising, analytics or app-level crash-reporting service. Hosting and upstream providers still process ordinary network requests for delivery, security and operation. External links are governed by the destination's own privacy practices.

Landing-site suggestions

The suggestion form saves a draft in your browser so an interrupted connection does not lose your drawing. Nothing is submitted automatically. Selecting Submit uploads the polygon and completed form to Airstrips' private Cloudflare storage for the owner's review. Cloudflare Turnstile checks the form for abuse; request limits use connection information without storing your IP address in the submission.

Your optional contact email, contributor name and first-hand experience are private to the reviewer and are not added to the public map. Suggestions go into a sign-in-protected, map-based review queue. The owner can edit the polygon and public notes and save reviewed drafts. Saving or marking a site ready does not publish it. Only a separate, explicit batch publication adds the reviewed site's name, polygon and public notes to the map. Do not include private contact details in public notes.

Published sites are downloaded into visitors' catalogues and may remain in their offline caches until they reconnect. Original submissions, current saved edits and review decisions are kept privately, including rejected and withdrawn entries; withdrawal removes the site from the next online catalogue refresh. Submitted boundaries and owner review are not a ground survey or confirmation of present landing suitability. Moderator sign-in is handled by Cloudflare Access.

Only a verified owner can enrol a device for optional browser push notifications. We privately store that device's push endpoint and encryption keys, its owner account identifier, and delivery/retry status. Alerts contain only a generic new-suggestion notice, not contributor details or the suggested location. The browser's push provider delivers these alerts; opening one requires owner sign-in to read the queue. Disable notifications or sign out on that device to unsubscribe it. Other enrolled owner devices remain subscribed. Notifications are best-effort; the private queue remains the record of submissions. Ordinary map visitors are not asked to enable owner notifications.

When owner email alerts are configured, Cloudflare sends a generic new-suggestion notice and a link to the private review queue to the owner's fixed, verified email address. No contributor details, contact address, site name or polygon are included, and we do not send notification emails to contributors. Nearby submissions may be grouped into one alert. We privately retain sending and retry status; acceptance by the email service does not confirm inbox delivery. Email alerts are independent of browser push subscriptions and continue when the owner closes the website or signs out. Reading the queue still requires owner sign-in.

About the data

Airspace is the fixed 2025 reference dataset, not a current aeronautical chart or live amendment service. Imagery dates and available ground resolution vary by survey. Runway geometry, terrain, ratings, wind interpolation and zero-wind glide surfaces are estimates, not confirmation of current landing suitability.

Map attribution is shown in the app. Wind observations are supplied through Zephyr; aerial imagery is provided by LINZ Basemaps.