Privacy Policy for Ragweed

Last updated: June 7, 2026

Ragweed ("the App") is a pollen-tracking app for iPhone and Apple Watch, developed and published by David Szentesi ("we," "us," or "I") under the overcomplicated.dev brand. This Privacy Policy explains what information the App accesses, how it is used, and the choices you have.

The short version: Ragweed has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking. It uses your location only to show you a local pollen forecast, and your saved data stays on your device and in your own private iCloud account. We do not operate a database of our users or their whereabouts.

Who is responsible for your data

The party responsible for the App ("data controller") is:

David Szentesi Contact: ragweedapp@proton.me

If you have any question about this policy or your privacy, email the address above.

What information the App uses

Location

To show pollen levels where you are, the App accesses your device's location through Apple's Core Location framework, with your permission. Depending on the iOS permission you grant, this may be a precise or an approximate location.

  • Your location is used only to retrieve a pollen forecast for that place.
  • It is not linked to your identity, not used for advertising, and not used to track you across apps, services, or websites.
  • The App requests location access in two ways:
    • While-In-Use: used whenever you open the App to load the forecast for your current location.
    • Always (optional): if you choose to grant it, this is used solely to keep your home-screen widget and Apple Watch complication up to date with the pollen level for your current area as you move. You can decline this and the App works normally. You can change or revoke location access at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services.

Saved locations

You can save cities you care about. For each, the App stores the city name and its coordinates. This list is kept:

  • on your device, and
  • in your own private iCloud account (Apple's CloudKit private database), so it can sync between your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

This data lives in your iCloud account. We have no access to it — it is not sent to us and we cannot read it. It is governed by Apple's iCloud terms and privacy policy.

Your settings

A small amount of preference data — such as which allergen you've chosen as your favorite and which display language you use — is stored on your device and, for the favorite allergen, synced through your private iCloud key-value store so it follows you across your devices. This data is not sent to us.

Locally cached forecasts

To reduce network use and work offline, the App keeps a temporary on-device cache of the pollen forecasts it has fetched. Cached entries are automatically deleted after at most 7 days. This cache never leaves your device.

Information we do NOT collect

Ragweed does not collect, request, or store any of the following:

  • Your name, email address, phone number, or contacts
  • Account credentials or logins (there are no accounts)
  • Advertising identifiers or device identifiers
  • Analytics, usage tracking, crash-tracking SDKs, or cookies
  • A history of where you have been
  • Any data held in a database that we operate about you

There are no third-party advertising or analytics SDKs in the App.

When information leaves your device

The only information that leaves your device is what's required to fetch a pollen forecast.

When the App needs a forecast, it sends the coordinates of the location you're viewing and your selected language code to our backend service, which forwards the request to Google's Pollen API and returns the forecast to the App. This request is made over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection.

This means two third parties may process your coordinates purely to fulfill a forecast request:

  • Google — the pollen forecast is provided by the Google Maps Platform Pollen API. Coordinates are sent so Google can return the forecast for that area. This processing is subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Cloudflare — our backend runs on Cloudflare Workers, which processes the request in transit. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

These requests are not tied to your identity, and we do not maintain a database that records your location history or associates requests with you. The coordinates are used only to return the forecast for that request.

How your information is used

We use the limited information described above only to:

  • Show you current and forecasted pollen levels for your location and your saved locations.
  • Keep your widget and Apple Watch complication current.
  • Remember your saved locations, favorite allergen, and language preference across your devices.

We do not sell your information, share it for advertising, or use it for any purpose beyond operating the App's features.

Data retention

  • On-device forecast cache: automatically removed after at most 7 days.
  • Saved locations and settings: kept until you delete them in the App or delete the App, and — for iCloud-synced items — until removed from your iCloud account.
  • Forecast requests: we do not retain a record of your requests in a user database. Standard, transient operational logging may occur at our infrastructure providers (Cloudflare, Google) as part of delivering the service, governed by their respective policies.

Your choices and rights

  • Location: grant, limit (precise vs. approximate), or revoke at any time in iOS/watchOS Settings.
  • Saved data: delete individual saved locations in the App, or remove all App data by deleting the App. To remove synced data from iCloud, you can also manage it in Settings → [your name] → iCloud.
  • Access / deletion requests: because the App stores your data on your own device and in your own iCloud account — and we hold no user database — there is generally nothing for us to retrieve or erase on your behalf. If you have questions or a request under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA, contact ragweedapp@proton.me and we will respond.

Children's privacy

Ragweed is not directed to children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Security

Information transmitted to fetch forecasts is sent over encrypted HTTPS connections. Your saved data is protected by your device's security and your iCloud account. Because the App holds no accounts and no central store of user data, there is no user database to breach.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above and post the new version at https://overcomplicated.dev/ragweed/privacy-policy. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.

Contact

For any questions about this Privacy Policy or your privacy, contact:

David Szentesi ragweedapp@proton.me