SnowLens Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 13, 2026

SnowLens is an iPhone app that identifies snow crystals and snow grains from photos. It is made by Ridgeline Maps LLC ("Ridgeline Maps", "we", "us"), 1000 Homestead Dr Unit 15, Edwards, CO 81632, USA.

The short version: your field log, photos and locations stay on your iPhone. When you ask SnowLens to identify a crystal, we send that one photo (with its location removed) and the details you entered to our server, which passes it to Anthropic's Claude AI for analysis. We don't sell your data, show ads, or track you across other apps and websites.

What stays on your iPhone

These are stored only on your device, in the app's private storage. We never receive them:

  • Your field log: photos, identifications, notes, and the date and time of each entry.

  • Locations: the GPS position, place name and elevation of each entry, whether read from the photo or from your iPhone's location when you took it.

  • Your corrections and confirmations, quiz history, and the on-device matching data built from your verified photos.

  • Your settings, including your Recreational/Pro choice, training and experience answers, and the email address you typed in (see "Update emails" below).

They are included in your iPhone's own backups (iCloud or computer) if you have backups turned on, under Apple's terms. Deleting SnowLens deletes them from the device.

Permissions

  • Camera: to take photos of crystals. Used only while you're taking a photo.

  • Location (while using the app): to record where each sample was found. Coordinates are kept on your iPhone and are never sent to us or to Anthropic.

  • Photos: to pick an existing photo, to read the location and time stored with it, and to save photos you take in the app to your library.

You can turn any of these off in iOS Settings; the app keeps working without them.

What leaves your iPhone

When you identify a crystal

Only when you tap Identify, SnowLens sends:

  • The photo: resized, and re-saved without its embedded metadata, so it carries no GPS location, camera serial number or other EXIF data.

  • The sample details: the date; the elevation (if known); where in the snowpack you found it; the photo background; the grid size of a crystal card; the air temperature; and any notes you typed.

  • Your answer style: whether you chose Recreational or Pro, and your training and experience answers if you gave them, so the explanation suits you.

It goes to our server (run on Cloudflare), which forwards it to Anthropic to be analysed by its Claude AI model, then returns the result to your iPhone. We don't store the photo or the details on our server. Anthropic never uses this data to train its models without our express permission, and for the model SnowLens uses it doesn't keep the photo or the details after returning the answer. Content its automated safety systems flag may be kept longer for trust and safety review. See Anthropic's API data retention policy and Anthropic's privacy policy.

Avoid putting personal information (names, phone numbers) in your notes or in the photo, because they are sent with the identification.

Identifying a crystal yourself, saving to the log, and on-device matching send nothing.

What our server keeps

To run identifications fairly and stop abuse, our server keeps:

  • A random app ID and account ID created by SnowLens. They aren't linked to your name, email or Apple ID. The account ID is stored in your iCloud Keychain, so your credits follow you to a new iPhone.

  • An Apple App Attest key ID and public key, which prove requests come from a genuine copy of SnowLens. These identify the app installation, not you.

  • Usage counts: how many identifications each app ID has made today, and your credit balance and total used.

  • Purchase records: for each in-app purchase, Apple's transaction ID, product, dates and the purchase's test or live status. Apple handles payment; we never see your name, Apple ID, payment card or billing address.

Daily usage counts are deleted after two days. Account and purchase records are kept while your account is in use, so your credits aren't lost. Cloudflare, which hosts our server, also processes standard technical information such as IP addresses and request times to deliver and secure the service, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Purchases

In-app purchases are processed by Apple under Apple's privacy policy. Apple tells us when a purchase is made, refunded or renewed, using the records above.

Update emails

Giving an email address is optional. If you choose to subscribe, the app opens our signup page at ridgelinemaps.com, where you submit your address yourself. Our website provider, Squarespace, stores it and sends SnowLens update emails, under Squarespace's privacy policy. You confirm the subscription by email, and every email has an unsubscribe link. The address you type in the app stays on your iPhone.

Avalanche center reports

When you send an observation to an avalanche center, SnowLens copies the details for you and opens the center's own website or form. Nothing is sent until you submit it there, and the center's own privacy policy then applies.

What we don't do

  • We don't sell or rent personal information, or share it for advertising.

  • We don't use advertising, analytics or tracking tools, and SnowLens doesn't track you across other companies' apps or websites.

  • We don't send your photos' locations or your field log anywhere.

Who we share data with

Only these service providers, and only as described above: Anthropic (photo analysis), Cloudflare (hosting our server), Apple (purchases and App Attest), and Squarespace (update emails, if you subscribe). We may also disclose information if the law requires it.

Anthropic and Cloudflare process data in the United States and other countries. If you use SnowLens from outside the United States, your identification requests are transferred there. Where the law requires, these transfers rely on safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

Your choices and rights

  • Delete your on-device data: delete entries in the app, or delete the app.

  • Delete your server records: email us at mike@ridgelinemaps.com with the account ID shown in Settings, and we'll delete the account and its records. Unused credits can't be restored after deletion.

  • Stop update emails: use the unsubscribe link in any email.

  • Access or correction: depending on where you live (for example in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Canada or California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or move your personal information, or to object to or restrict how it's used. Email mike@ridgelinemaps.com. We'll respond within the time the law allows, and won't treat you differently for using these rights. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Legal bases (EU, UK, Switzerland): we process identification requests and purchase records to provide the service you ask for (contract); usage counts and App Attest to prevent abuse and keep costs fair (legitimate interests); and update emails only with your consent.

Children

SnowLens is not directed to children under 13 (under 16 in the EU and UK), and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

Security

Requests travel over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Our server only accepts requests signed by genuine copies of the app, and IDs are random rather than tied to your identity. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we hold to the minimum the app needs.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the effective date above, and for significant changes we'll tell you in the app or by update email.

Contact

Ridgeline Maps LLC
1000 Homestead Dr Unit 15, Edwards, CO 81632, USA
mike@ridgelinemaps.com