Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 16, 2026
What we collect
Location. We ask for your location to find flights near you, draw nearby airspace, and pull airport weather. It goes straight from your phone to the data providers listed below at the moment you ask for something. It never reaches our servers, and we never store it.
Anonymous analytics. Completely optional. We use Aptabase, which gives us counts — app opens, onboarding finished — tied to a random ID, never to you. Disable these by following this: Settings → data & privacy → analytics → toggle off.
Flight alerts and Live Activities. If you turn on alerts for a flight or start a Live Activity, we have to store your device's push token and that flight number on our server — otherwise we have nowhere to send the update to. That's it: a token, a flight number, and which alerts you asked for. Turn the alert off or let the flight finish and the row is deleted.
Feedback you send us. If you use the feedback form, we store what you wrote and your email if you chose to include one. "Attach logs" is off by default; switch it on and we also get your app version, iOS version, device model, locale, timezone, a snapshot of your app settings, your anonymous analytics ID, and your RevenueCat customer ID. Leave it off and none of that is sent.
Purchases. Takeoff Pro is handled by RevenueCat and the App Store. RevenueCat sees your purchase, your subscription status, and which App Store country you're in. We never see your payment details — Apple doesn't give them to us.
Camera. Takeoff Vision uses your camera to overlay planes on the real sky. Frames are processed on your device as you point it and are never recorded, saved, or uploaded.
What we don't do
- No location on our servers. We use servers to help us provide data to you, and to protect our data. Your location never touches them. We use Supabase for our data services — what's stored there is push tokens for flight alerts and Live Activities, feedback submissions, and a shared 10-minute cache of flight data that isn't tied to anyone.
- No accounts. There's nothing to sign up for. We have no name, no password, no profile for you.
- No sharing for ads. We have no ads and don't share your information for advertising.
- No selling data. We don't sell or share your personal information with anyone.
- No knowingly collecting data from under-13s. We like everybody using our app, but we do not knowingly collect data from anybody under 13.
What stays on your phone
Your app settings are saved locally only:
- Dark mode or light mode preference
- Accent color
- Map style
- Unit system preference
- Language
- Haptics and status pill preferences
- Which flight alerts you want (takeoff, landed, arrived, delayed)
- Which announcements you've dismissed, and whether you've finished onboarding
If you uninstall Takeoff or switch phones, these settings reset. We can't restore them because they never leave your device.
Third-party APIs we use
Takeoff pulls flight data from public sources. Some of these receive your location — only when you ask for something that needs it — and some only ever see an airport code or an aircraft ID:
- adsb.lol — Real-time flight tracking. Receives your location when you look for nearby flights.
- FAA (via ArcGIS) — Airspace boundaries and airport data. Receives your location when the map draws airspace around you.
- NOAA National Weather Service and Apple WeatherKit — Airport weather. Receive coordinates — the airport's, or yours for local conditions.
- hexdb.io — Aircraft registration and route information. Receives an aircraft hex code or callsign.
- opensky-network.org — Arrival and departure counts for airport boards. Receives an airport code only.
- planespotters.net — Aircraft photos. Receives an aircraft hex code or registration.
- AeroDataBox — Improved and reliable times, routes, and gates. Requests go through our servers, so AeroDataBox never sees your device or your location at all.
- RevenueCat — Subscription management for Takeoff Pro.
- Aptabase — Anonymous analytics, if you've left them on.
- Apple Push Notification service — Delivers flight alerts and Live Activity updates.
Each provider may log requests for their own server health and usage analytics. See their privacy practices below.
What third-party providers do
HexDB.io
- Logs requests to understand server load and popular queries
- Does not retain logs long-term or use them for marketing
- Could theoretically identify you based on what aircraft you search (e.g., looking up the same plane 100+ times/hour), but this is unlikely and they don't do this
adsb.lol & OpenSky
- Public flight data providers; their terms apply when you use their services through Takeoff
RevenueCat & Aptabase
- RevenueCat processes subscriptions on our behalf and keeps a purchase record tied to an anonymous customer ID. This is how we keep track of your purchase, and make sure you don't lose access to your plan.
- Aptabase is privacy-first analytics: no cookies, no device fingerprinting, no cross-app tracking
One thing worth knowing
If you send us feedback with "attach logs" switched on and include your email, that one record links your email to your anonymous analytics ID. It's the only place the two ever sit together. Leave the toggle off — as it is by default — or leave the email blank, and they stay separate.
Important note
Flight data comes from public ADS-B sources. Some flights may be missing data, have delayed information, or show incorrect routes. Takeoff is for fun tracking only — not for flight planning, navigation, or anything safety-critical.
Questions?
Contact us at [email protected].
Made with love in Boston.
Previous Privacy Policy — May 25, 2026
Last updated: May 25, 2026
What we collect
We ask for your location only to find flights near you. We don't store it after the request completes — it's used once and deleted.
We also collect completely optional and anonymous analytics for improving our services. Disable these by following this: Settings → Data and Privacy settings → Analytics → Toggle off.
What we don't do
- No server storage. We use servers to help us provide data to you, and to protect our data. None of your sensitive data is stored on our servers. We use Supabase for our data services.
- No sharing for ads. We have no ads and don't share your information for advertising.
- No selling data. We don't sell or share your personal information with anyone.
- No knowingly collecting data from under-13s. We like everybody using our app, but we do not knowingly collect data from anybody under 13.
What stays on your phone
Your app settings are saved locally only:
- Dark mode or light mode preference
- Accent color
- Map style
- Unit system preference
If you uninstall Takeoff or switch phones, these settings reset. We can't restore them because they never leave your device.
Third-party APIs we use
Takeoff pulls flight data from public sources. We send your location to these providers only when you request nearby flights:
- adsb.lol — Real-time flight tracking data
- hexdb.io — Aircraft registration and route information
- opensky-network.org — Historical flight data (for route lookups)
- AeroDataBox — Improved and reliable times, routes, and gates.
Each provider may log requests for their own server health and usage analytics. See their privacy practices below.
What third-party providers do
HexDB.io
- Logs requests to understand server load and popular queries
- Does not retain logs long-term or use them for marketing
- Could theoretically identify you based on what aircraft you search (e.g., looking up the same plane 100+ times/hour), but this is unlikely and they don't do this
adsb.lol & OpenSky
- Public flight data providers; their terms apply when you use their services through Takeoff
Important note
Flight data comes from public ADS-B sources. Some flights may be missing data, have delayed information, or show incorrect routes. Takeoff is for fun tracking only — not for flight planning, navigation, or anything safety-critical.
Questions?
Contact us at [email protected].
Made with love in Boston.