Privacy Policy
1. Overview
Michigan Lake Depths is designed to collect as little personal information as possible. We do not require accounts, and we do not sell personal information.
2. Information handled
Approximate location (optional). If you use the “Lakes near me” feature, your browser will ask your permission and, if granted, provide your approximate location and, on the Lakes-near-me page, updates to it while that page is open, including your direction of travel when the device reports it. This is used within your browser to sort or list lakes by distance. It is not transmitted to us and is not stored. Where that page offers a satellite backdrop, the picture for your area is fetched from our own image host; that request identifies an area about 20 km across and nothing finer.
Local preferences. Your light/dark theme choice is saved in your browser’s local storage. It is not personal information and is not sent to us.
Server logs. Our hosting provider records standard access logs (such as IP address, browser type, pages requested, and timestamps) for security, performance, and abuse prevention, per the provider’s policies.
Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how people find and use the Service. Google may process information such as pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP address, browser and device information, referring source, campaign parameters, and interactions such as scrolling or outbound-link clicks. We use this information in aggregate to improve the site and evaluate outreach; we do not ask Google Analytics to collect names, email addresses, or other information that directly identifies you. Learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
Weather requests. Live weather is retrieved by your browser directly from the U.S. National Weather Service (api.weather.gov). That request — including your IP address — is made to NOAA/NWS under their policies, not ours.
3. Cookies and tracking
Google Analytics may use first-party cookies or similar identifiers to distinguish visits and measure use of the Service. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or cross-site advertising trackers. Local storage is used for your theme preference.
4. Advertising
The Service may display advertisements. These are sold directly by us and served as static images that we host ourselves. They do not use third-party ad networks, tracking scripts, web beacons, or advertising cookies, and they do not collect information about you. Selecting an advertisement takes you to the advertiser’s own website, which is governed by that advertiser’s policies, not ours.
5. Third-party services
We rely on our hosting provider (for delivery and logs), Google Analytics (for aggregate site measurement), and a government weather service (for forecasts). These providers process data under their own privacy policies.
6. Children’s privacy
The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
7. Your choices and rights
You can decline or revoke the location permission in your browser at any time; the Service works without it. Depending on where you live (for example, under the CCPA or GDPR), you may have rights to access or delete personal information. Because we do not maintain a database of user information, such requests are limited in scope; contact us with any questions.
8. Changes
We may update this policy; the effective date above reflects the latest version.