Last Updated: June 2026
Welcome to Shabbat Screen. We value your privacy and are committed to protecting any personal data you share with us. This Privacy Policy outlines how our application collects, uses, and safeguards your information.
1. Information We Collect
Our application requires location data to provide accurate real-time weather forecasts and timezone clocks for your city. We collect this data in the following ways:
- Geolocation Data: With your explicit consent, we access your device's geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) using the native HTML5 Geolocation API.
- IP Geolocation Data: If GPS access is denied, disabled, or unavailable, we check your IP address against public IP locators (such as
ipapi.co or freeipapi.com) to estimate your general region or city.
- Searched Cities: Any city names you type into our search bar are sent to Open-Meteo's Geocoding API to resolve coordinates.
2. How We Use Information
All geolocation and query coordinates are processed entirely client-side in your web browser. We use this data solely to:
- Fetch real-time weather details and forecast metrics from the free public Open-Meteo API.
- Display timezone-correct clocks and ticking countdown timers.
- Populate localized news feeds from various global sources (such as Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal, etc.).
We do not operate any backend databases or servers, nor do we store, share, or log your coordinate history.
3. Data Caching and Storage
To enhance performance and persist your preferences, Shabbat Screen uses your browser's local storage and client cookies:
- Favorites: Pinned cities are cached locally in your browser (
ShabbatWeather_Favorites) and are never shared or sent to any servers.
- Unit Preferences: Temperature scales (°C or °F) are cached locally to render conversions instantly.
- News Source Preferences: Custom news source checklists are stored in client cookies (
ShabbatWeather_SelectedNewsSources) and mirrored in localStorage to persist your choices.
- Panel Visibility Settings: Stored panel configurations are saved in client cookies (
ShabbatScreen_HiddenPanels) and localStorage to remember which cards you have hidden or shown.
4. Third-Party Services
To display weather/news updates and deliver messages, our client application communicates with public external APIs:
- Open-Meteo API: Used to request weather statistics and geocoding coordinates. (See Open-Meteo Terms).
- Nominatim OpenStreetMap: Used for reverse geocoding coordinates to city names.
- Hebcal API: Used to request location-based Shabbat and Yom Tov times (including candle lighting, Havdalah, and weekly Torah portions) from the free public Hebcal API. (See Hebcal Privacy Policy).
- RSS-to-JSON API Proxy (rss2json.com): Used to fetch and parse RSS news feeds into readable client-side JSON formats.
- Google News RSS Feed: Used as a fallback news query engine if individual direct publisher feeds are unreachable.
- Google Analytics (Google Tag Manager): We use Google Analytics (Measurement ID:
G-4365CJRBY0) to analyze site traffic, understand visitor engagement, and improve the application's overall performance. All traffic data is aggregated and anonymized.
- Google AdSense: This site uses third-party vendor cookies to serve advertisements based on your prior visits. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings.
- Web3Forms API: When submitting the Contact Form, message data is securely posted via HTTPS directly to Web3Forms to deliver the email, completely protecting the developer's email address from public exposure. (See Web3Forms Privacy Policy).
5. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy periodically to reflect changes in layout, tools, or regulatory standards. The "Last Updated" timestamp at the top will indicate when modifications were made.
6. Contact Us
If you have any questions or feedback regarding this client-side application's privacy practices, feel free to submit a message via the "Contact Us" form in the website footer or open an issue on our GitHub repository.