Privacy
Last updated September 28, 2026. windsolver.com is run by Josiah Neuman. Questions, and requests about your data: use the contact form.
WindSolver works out the wind over real ground. You can use the map without an account and without telling us who you are. An account is only needed to keep a list of places. This page says what we collect in each case, why, who else sees it, and how to have it deleted. The short version: we keep as little as the service needs, we do not sell anything about you, and there are no ads or analytics trackers on the site.
Using the map without an account
The places you ask about. To solve the wind, your browser sends the server the coordinates of the pin and the size of the box around it. The server uses them to fetch terrain (USGS 3DEP) and weather (NOAA HRRR) for that area. Only the area is sent to USGS and NOAA, never anything about you.
"My location". If you press it, your browser asks your permission, then gives the page your approximate position. The page moves the pin there and solves, so that position is sent like any other pin. It is not stored against you anywhere unless you save it to an account.
Server logs. Like almost every website, our web front end (nginx) logs each request: the address it came from (your IP address), the time, the page or request (which includes the coordinates asked about), and the browser's self-description. Those logs are deleted after 14 days. The WindSolver service keeps its own log of the requests it answers, including the coordinates but not your IP address, which is cleared as it fills up. We use logs to keep the service running, find faults and stop abuse, and we do not combine them with anything else to work out who you are.
Cached results. The server keeps a copy of terrain and weather it has fetched, and of fields it has solved, by area, so the next request for the same ground is fast. These copies are about places, not people. They are not linked to your IP address or account.
If you create an account
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Your email address | To sign you in, to confirm that the address is yours, and to send a password reset when you ask for one. |
| Your password, as a one-way hash (scrypt) | To check it when you sign in. We never store the password itself and cannot tell you what it is. |
| When the account was created | Shown on your account page. |
| The places you save: the name you give each one, its coordinates, the box size, and when you saved it | That is the feature. They are shown only to you. |
We do not ask for your name, and we do not store your IP address, your location history, or the places you looked at but did not save with your account. To slow down password guessing and stop anyone filling a stranger's inbox, the server remembers an IP address or an email address for up to an hour, in memory only, to count attempts, and then forgets it. It is never written to disk.
Email. We send only three kinds of email: confirm your address, reset your password, and a note if someone tries to sign up with an address that already has an account. No newsletters and no marketing.
If you use the contact form
The contact form sends your message and the email address you give to us by email, through Resend, so that we can reply. We keep it in our mailbox only as long as the conversation needs it, and never add you to a mailing list. The form is rate-limited, and it records nothing on our server beyond the service's usual log.
What is kept in your browser
| Name | Kind | What it holds, and for how long |
|---|---|---|
ws_session | Cookie, only when signed in | A random sign-in token that keeps you signed in for 30 days, or until you sign out. Your browser sends it only with requests to the account service, and page scripts cannot read it. It is needed for sign-in, so there is no "accept cookies" choice for it. |
windsolver.place | Local storage | Which of the site's saved ranges you last picked, so the map opens there next time. Kept until you clear site data. |
windsolver.view | Local storage | Where that range is, so the map can draw it straight away. Kept until you clear site data. |
windsolver.pendingSave | Local storage | A spot you pressed "Save this spot" on before having an account, held so it can be saved once you confirm your email. Removed when it is saved, and ignored after three days. |
Local storage stays on your device and is not sent to our server. Clearing the site's data in your browser removes all of the above.
Who else sees anything
- DigitalOcean hosts our server, so the data above sits on machines they run.
- Resend sends our email. It receives your email address and the message we send you.
- OpenStreetMap tile servers (
tile.openstreetmap.org) supply the background map. Your browser fetches the tiles directly, so OpenStreetMap sees your IP address and which part of the map you are viewing, under its own privacy policy. - OpenStreetMap Nominatim names the town under the pin. Our server asks it, not your browser: it receives the pin's coordinates rounded to about a kilometre, and our server's address rather than yours, under the same privacy policy.
- unpkg (
unpkg.com) supplies the map library the page runs on. Your browser fetches it directly, so unpkg sees your IP address.
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it with anyone else unless the law requires it.
Seeing, changing and deleting your data
Your account page shows everything the account holds: your email and your places. You can rename or remove places, change your password, and delete the account. Deleting the account removes your email, password hash, places and sign-in sessions from our live system immediately. Copies in our server backups are overwritten as the backups roll over, within seven days. For anything the account page cannot do, use the contact form.
Keeping it safe
The site is served over HTTPS. Passwords are hashed with scrypt, and sign-in and email links are stored only as hashes, so a copy of our data would not let anyone sign in as you. The accounts file on the server can be read only by the service that runs it. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what is stored small so there is little to lose.
Children
WindSolver is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly create accounts for them. If you believe a child has created an account, tell us through the contact form and we will delete it.
BallisticVector
BallisticVector (ballisticvector.com) uses WindSolver's wind data. It has its own accounts and its own privacy terms; a BallisticVector account is not a WindSolver account.
Changes
If what we collect or how we use it changes, we will update this page and its date. If the change is significant, we will also tell account holders by email before it takes effect.