Privacy policy
How the ZAS: Explore the Universe app (Zimbabwe Astronomical Society) collects, uses, shares and deletes your information.
Who we are
The app is published by the Zimbabwean Astronomical Society (“ZAS”, “we”), a society that promotes astronomy education and outreach in Zimbabwe. ZAS decides how the information described here is used. You can reach us through the contact form at zimbabweanastronomicalsociety.org/contact; please choose “Privacy” as the subject.
What we collect and why
If you do not sign in
Nothing that identifies you. The app downloads published lessons, sky events, ZAS events and news from our servers, and the sky calendar and planet positions are calculated on your phone. The choices you make (your town, theme, reminders and offline copies of content) are stored only on your device.
If you create an account or sign in
| Information | Why we need it | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Your name and email address, and your password (email sign-in) or your Google account ID (Google sign-in) | To create your account and let you sign in. Your password is handled by Google Firebase Authentication; ZAS never sees it. | You and ZAS administrators |
| Your role and account status (for example contributor, editor, suspended) and the date you joined | To decide what you can do in the app | You and ZAS administrators |
| Quiz scores and the lessons you have passed | To track your learning and award certificates | You only |
| Certificates: your name, the course or lesson, your score and the date | To give you a certificate that others can check is genuine | Anyone who has the certificate’s link or number |
| Saved items (bookmarks) | To keep your saved lessons and events on all your devices | You only |
| Notification choices | To remember which kinds of news you want | You only |
| Stories, questions, ideas and photos you send to ZAS, with your name | So ZAS moderators can review them and, if approved, publish them in the app’s Community section | You and ZAS moderators; if approved, everyone using the app, with your name |
Photos
If you attach a photo to a submission, Android asks your permission and the app reads only the photo you pick. Photos are stored privately until a moderator approves the submission. The app does not use your camera.
Location
The app does not use GPS or your device’s location. You choose your town from a list, and that choice stays on your phone.
Notifications
Reminders you set for sky events (“Remind me”) are scheduled on your phone. The app does not use a push-notification service or advertising identifiers.
Technical information
Like any internet service, the Google servers that run our app receive your device’s IP address and basic technical details when the app connects. Google uses these to deliver the service and keep it secure, as described in Firebase’s privacy information. ZAS does not use them to identify or profile you. If you have opted in to share diagnostics with app developers on your Android device, Google Play may give us anonymous crash and performance statistics.
ZAS staff
If you are a ZAS editor or administrator, the app records the actions you take in the admin tools (for example publishing or approving content) with your account ID and the time, so the society can see who changed what.
What we do not do
- We do not show adverts or use advertising IDs.
- We do not use analytics, tracking or profiling tools.
- We do not sell, rent or trade your information.
- We do not use your information for anything other than running the app and the society’s education programme described here.
Who we share it with
Your information is stored and processed for us by Google, through Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage and Hosting). Google acts as our service provider and may process the data in data centres outside Zimbabwe, under the Firebase data processing terms. If you choose “Continue with Google”, Google also confirms your identity to us.
We share information with nobody else, except where the law requires us to, or as you choose: a community post you send is published with your name once approved, and a certificate can be checked by anyone you give its link to.
How we protect it
All data travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Security rules on our servers let each person read and change only their own information; only ZAS moderators can see submissions awaiting review, and only administrators can see member profiles. Staff accounts are limited to ZAS volunteers who need them.
How long we keep it
We keep your account information for as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, your information is removed from our live database straight away (see the next section). Any copies remaining in Google’s systems are erased within Google’s standard deletion periods, normally within about 30 days. Submissions that a moderator rejects stay attached to your account, visible only to you and moderators, until you delete them with your account.
Deleting your account and your data
You can delete your account at any time in the app: Settings → Account → Delete my account. This permanently deletes:
- your sign-in account, name and email address;
- your lesson progress, quiz scores and certificates;
- your saved items and notification choices;
- everything you sent to ZAS, including photos, and any community posts made from it.
The only things kept are records of actions ZAS staff took in the admin tools, which contain the staff member’s account ID but none of your content. If you cannot use the app, see how to ask us to delete your account.
Your rights
You can see your information in the app at any time, change your name in Settings, and delete your account. You may also ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or object to how we use it, by contacting us as above. If you are in Zimbabwe you have rights under the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07], and you may complain to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), the data protection authority. Wherever you live, you can contact us and we will help.
Children
Anyone, including school pupils, can read lessons and use the sky tools without an account. Accounts are intended for people aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13; if you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app uses your information, we will update this page and its effective date, and tell you in the app before the change takes effect if it affects information you have already given us.