Privacy Policy

Who We Are

The Weather Information Dissemination System (WIDS) is operated by the Department of Meteorological Services (DMS), Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda. This policy explains what information we collect through the WIDS website and mobile app, why we collect it, and how it is used and protected.

Information We Collect

• Location. If you grant location permission, the app uses your device's approximate or precise location to show weather for your district automatically. You can decline this and select your district manually instead — the app remains fully functional either way. Location is used to personalize the forecast shown to you; it is not linked to your identity or stored against a personal profile on our servers.
• Feedback you submit. If you use the feedback form, we collect what you provide: name, email, phone number, district, category, a rating, and your message. This is used solely to review and respond to feedback about our forecasts and services.
• Weather observer submissions. Registered field observers submitting station data provide a station PIN and observation readings (date, time, measurements). This is professional/volunteer data tied to a monitoring station, not general consumer data.
• Push notifications. The app uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (a Google service) to deliver weather alerts and forecast updates. Your device subscribes to a shared, public notification topic — WIDS does not receive or store a list of individual device identifiers or push tokens on its own servers.
• Technical data. Like most websites and apps, our servers log standard technical information (such as IP address and request timestamps) for security, troubleshooting, and abuse prevention.

What We Don't Do

WIDS does not display third-party advertising, does not use advertising trackers, and does not sell or rent your personal information to anyone. We do not use third-party analytics services beyond what is necessary to operate push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging) and maps (Google Play services), both of which are governed by Google's own privacy policy for the data they process.

How We Use Your Information

• To provide localized weather forecasts, seasonal outlooks, marine conditions, and early warning alerts.
• To respond to feedback and improve our forecasting services.
• To validate and process weather observation submissions from registered observers.
• To maintain the security and reliability of our systems.

Data Sharing

We do not share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Information may be disclosed where required by Ugandan law, to protect the rights and safety of DMS, our users, or the public, or to trusted service providers (such as Google/Firebase for push notifications) strictly to operate the service on our behalf.

Data Retention & Security

We retain feedback and observer submission data for as long as needed to fulfil the purposes described above, or as required by law. We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect data against unauthorized access, alteration, or loss.

Children's Privacy

WIDS is a general-purpose public information service and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Your Choices

You can use the app without granting location or notification permissions — forecast browsing and district search remain fully available. You can also revoke these permissions at any time from your device's system settings.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal reasons. The "Last updated" date above will reflect the most recent revision.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy or how your information is handled, contact us: