Privacy Policy
ShootBrief sends location and date information to external services to generate your brief. This page explains exactly what leaves your device, where it goes, and why.
ShootBrief is developed by Greg Anderson, an independent developer. ShootBrief is distributed through the Apple App Store.
Questions or concerns: Contact Support
ShootBrief is not a zero-data app — generating a brief requires sending information to external services. The table below shows exactly what is transmitted and to whom.
| Data | Sent to | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location name (text you type) | Anthropic, Open-Meteo, NOAA, Apple MapKit | Generate the brief; fetch weather, tides, and nearby place context | Sent externally |
| GPS coordinates | Open-Meteo, NOAA, Apple (geocoder/MapKit) | Only when you tap "My Location" — used to fetch weather, tide context, nearby places, and reverse-geocode to a place name | Sent externally (optional) |
| Shoot date | Anthropic, Open-Meteo, NOAA | Tailor the brief, weather data, and tide predictions to your chosen date | Sent externally |
| Address from a generated brief | Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Waze | Only when you tap an address link — used to open the address in your selected maps app or web service | Sent externally (user initiated) |
| Saved briefs | Nobody | Stored in UserDefaults on your device only | On-device only |
| Moon phase calculations | Nobody | Calculated on-device using astronomy math | On-device only |
Brief generation is powered by Anthropic's Claude API. Your location name and shoot date are sent to Anthropic's servers to produce the brief text. Anthropic's data handling is governed by their Privacy Policy. Anthropic does not sell personal data and API inputs may be used to improve their models unless you opt out via their console settings.
Weather data is fetched from Open-Meteo, a free and open-source meteorological API. Your coordinates (or the coordinates corresponding to the location name you typed) and the shoot date are sent to their servers. Open-Meteo does not require an account, does not track users, and does not serve advertising. Their privacy practices are described at open-meteo.com/en/terms.
For supported U.S. coastal locations, ShootBrief requests tide station and tide prediction data from NOAA CO-OPS using location coordinates and the selected shoot date. NOAA is used only to retrieve tide data for the generated brief.
If you use the "My Location" button, your device's GPS coordinates are passed to Apple's CLGeocoder framework to reverse-geocode them into a place name. ShootBrief also uses Apple MapKit to search near the scouted location for parking, access, hospitals, emergency services, and related local context. Apple's standard Privacy Policy applies.
ShootBrief can open recognized street addresses in Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Waze, based on your preference in Settings. These links are user initiated: the selected address is sent only when you tap "Open in Maps" after a brief finishes generating. The selected maps provider's privacy policy applies to that request.
ShootBrief does not collect, transmit, or store any of the following:
There are no third-party analytics SDKs, advertising SDKs, or crash reporting frameworks in ShootBrief. The app uses only Apple system frameworks and the external services described above.
Briefs you save are stored in UserDefaults on your device only. They are never transmitted to any server. Deleting the app permanently removes all saved briefs.
ShootBrief is rated 4+ on the App Store. Because we collect no personal data and require no account, there are no special provisions needed for users under 13 (COPPA) or under 16 (GDPR). No personal information from any user is retained by us.
ShootBrief does not maintain a database of user data, so there is no data for us to access, correct, export, or delete on your behalf. All brief data exists solely on your own device.
For data sent to Anthropic, Open-Meteo, NOAA, or Apple services, please refer to their respective privacy policies linked above.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact us.
If this policy changes materially, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and note the change in the App Store release notes. Continued use of ShootBrief after a policy change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.