Privacy Policy

Crossing Watch website (crossingwatch.com) and the Crossing Watch app for iPhone and Android, operated by Nevo Kamrat ("we"). Effective October 27, 2026.

Driving alerts in the phone app

Location. When you turn on "Alerts while driving", the app uses your phone's location, including in the background (for example while another maps app is open, and, if you allow it, after you close the app), to notice that you are driving and to find railroad crossings on the road ahead. This is done on your phone: your location and trips are not sent to our server, not stored by us and not shared. Turn alerts off at any time in the app, or remove location access in your phone's settings (iPhone: Settings › Crossing Watch › Location; Android: Settings › Apps › Crossing Watch › Permissions).

What alerts send to our server. A request to download the public crossing and road data, and, when you approach a crossing, the public ID of that crossing to get its expected train times. That shows roughly where the phone is, so we treat it as approximate location: it is used only to answer the request and is not linked to you or stored with your account.

Notifications. Alerts are local notifications created on your phone. We do not use push notification services.

On the phone. The app keeps the crossing data, your settings (including when you accepted the safety terms) and recent alerts on your phone. They are removed when you delete the app.

Help spot trains (optional, off unless you turn it on). With driving alerts on, you can choose to share waits at railroad crossings. When your car stops near a crossing on the road you are driving on and then drives over it, the app sends us: the public ID of that crossing, the time the car stopped and the time it drove on, and a random code that the app makes up each day. It sends nothing about the rest of your trip: no route, no position, no speed, no account or device ID. The daily code only lets us tell two phones apart on the same day; it changes every day, so waits cannot be linked across days. To limit abuse we keep a code made from your network address that cannot be turned back into it and changes whenever our server restarts. When several phones on different networks waited at the same crossing at the same time, we record that a train was likely there, and use it, without any of these codes, to improve train estimates. Waits are deleted after 30 days. Turn it off at any time under Settings › Alerts while driving.

The map (website, and the map screens inside the app)

The app's map screens show this website, so this section applies to them too.

• Your location. If you allow it, your location is used on your device to show nearby crossings. If you use "my location" to look up an address, search for an address, or plan a route, the position or search text is sent to our server, which looks it up with OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service (your IP address is not passed on).
• Planned routes. Routes are calculated on our own server. We keep the start and end points of planned routes, with the number of routes and crossings found, for 30 days to check how well the planner works, without your name, account or IP address.
• Map images and fonts. Your device loads map images from Esri and fonts from Google Fonts. These companies receive your IP address as part of loading them, under their own privacy policies.
• Device storage. Settings and saved crossings are kept in your browser's or the app's storage on your device.

Your account and Premium

Account (optional). If you sign in, we store your email address (if the sign-in service shares it), an ID from the sign-in service, the crossings you choose to sync, and a sign-in session (a random code kept in a cookie). We do not get your password or contacts. We email you only to sign you in and about your subscription. Accounts are for people 18 and older.

Payments. On the website Premium is paid through Stripe on Stripe's own page; your card goes to Stripe, never to us. Stripe tells us the subscription's status, plan, price, renewal date and cancellation. Before checkout we record that you agreed to the Terms and the automatic renewal (the terms version, plan and time), and we email you a confirmation. In the phone apps, purchases go through Apple or Google; the app uses RevenueCat (a subscription service) to check the purchase, linked to your account ID if you are signed in. We keep subscription records as long as the subscription exists and as long as needed for accounting.

Deleting your account. Delete it at any time on your account page (crossingwatch.com/account, also inside the app): this removes your account, sign-in methods and synced crossings. Cancel a subscription first; payment records that Stripe, Apple or Google must keep for tax and accounting stay with them.

Train reports, photos and videos

If you report a train or send a photo or video, we keep the report (crossing, time, direction, note) and the file to improve train estimates. To report a train with photos, your device's current location is sent once so we can check that you are at the crossing (within 300 m); we keep only that distance, not the location. The camera is used only while you take the report's photos. Photos are stored without their location and device metadata (after we check the time and place they were taken). Videos are kept for review only and are not shown publicly. We keep a one-way scrambled code derived from your connection, to spot repeated reports, for 90 days; we do not store your name or IP address with a report. Photos and videos are deleted after 90 days.

Support requests

If you use the support form or email us, we keep your email address, your name if you give it, your message, the topic, the page you came from, whether you used the website or the phone app, and our emails with you, so we can answer and follow up. If you are signed in, the request is linked to your account. We use this only to help you, and delete it after 2 years. The form sends you a confirmation email; it repeats your message only when you are signed in with that email address. The form's "I'm not a robot" box is Cloudflare Turnstile: Cloudflare receives your IP address and browser details only to tell people from bots (no ads, no tracking across sites).

Crossing alerts (Premium)

If you turn on alerts for a crossing, we keep which crossings you chose, the days, hours and warning time, and whether freight estimates are included, linked to your account. To deliver the notifications we keep a push address for each device you turn them on with (in a browser, an encrypted push subscription from your browser's push service, Google, Mozilla or Apple; in the phone app, an Expo push token). The message is encrypted for your device before it leaves our server. We also keep a short record of which alerts were sent, so none is sent twice, and delete it after 30 days. Turning alerts off for a crossing removes its settings; deleting your account removes all your alert settings, device push addresses and alert history. A device push address is also removed when its browser or phone stops accepting our alerts. Alerts never use your location.

Public images

Some features use publicly available images of roads and railroad crossings. These images can incidentally show vehicles or people. We do not use them to identify anyone. Stored images are deleted after at most 180 days (images used to improve the system after at most 365 days).

Server logs

Our server records technical information about requests (IP address, time, the page or data requested, browser type) for security and troubleshooting. Logs are kept only as long as needed for that, then deleted, and are not used to identify or track you.

Who receives data

Only the services named above, each for the purpose described: Esri and Google Fonts (map images, fonts), OpenStreetMap Nominatim (address lookup), Stripe, Apple, Google and RevenueCat (payments), Google (Gmail, which sends and receives our emails), Cloudflare (the "I'm not a robot" box on the support form), the push services of your browser or phone (Google, Mozilla, Apple, and Expo for the phone app), which deliver crossing alerts you turned on, and our hosting provider, which processes data only on our behalf. We do not sell or rent personal information. We may disclose information if the law requires it.

Your choices and rights

• Ask what we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing us; we answer within 30 days. Account data can also be deleted yourself on your account page.
• Do Not Track: we do not track you across other websites, so browser "Do Not Track" signals do not change how the service works.

Security

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and kept on a secured server. If a breach affecting your personal information happens, we will tell you as the law requires.

Children

Crossing Watch is a driving aid and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the new version is posted here with a new effective date; for important changes we also tell you in the app or by email if you have an account. Questions or requests: crossingwatch.support@gmail.com.