Privacy Policy

Big Sky Live · Last updated: September 23, 2026

Big Sky Live (formerly "Big Sky Tonight"; "the app", "we", "us") is a free community app for Big Sky, Montana that helps locals and visitors discover local events, find people for activities, share rides, post on the community board, post lost & found notices, talk with each other in threads, share road conditions, get safety information, and keep a personal log of the wildlife they spot. This policy explains what information the app handles and how. By using the app you agree to this policy.

The short version

• We do not require a password, email, real name, or login. You pick a display name and a cartoon avatar, and your profile is tied to your device.
• We do not sell your data, show ads, or use third-party advertising or tracking.
• What we store on our servers is your profile (display name and avatar), the content you choose to post (posts, thread messages, RSVPs, rides, activities, lost & found notices, road reports and any photo you attach), a random device identifier, and, if you allow notifications, a push notification token.

Information the app handles

• Device identifier. The first time you open the app, a random identifier is generated and stored on your device. It is not your phone number or Apple ID. It links your profile and posts to your device, lets you edit or delete your own posts, keeps RSVP counts consistent, and makes reporting and blocking work.
• Profile. When you first open the app you choose a display name and a cartoon avatar assembled from preset shapes and colors (never a photo of you). Your display name and avatar are stored on our servers and shown to other users next to what you post. You don't have to use your real name.
• Content you post. Posts, activities, rides, lost & found notices and their details (title, description, dates and times, meeting place) are stored so other users can see them. Rides can optionally include a phone number; if you add one, it is shown only to people who joined your ride. Road reports contain only the road segment, the type of incident, and an optional location and note.
• Threads and messages. Posts can have a conversation thread. Messages you send in a thread, including any photo, are stored on our servers and are visible to other people using the app who open that thread. The app also stores which threads you have posted in, joined, muted, or left, so it can show your Chats and send you the right notifications.
• Photos. Photos you attach, chosen from your library or taken with the camera, are resized, converted to JPEG, and stored with the post or message. Please do not include other people's faces, license plates, or personal documents in photos.
• Push notifications. The app never asks for notification permission when you open it. If you turn notifications on, we store a push token for your device so we can notify you about new messages in threads you take part in. You can mute a thread, leave it, or turn notifications off at any time in the app or in your iPhone settings.
• Reports. When you report a post or message, we store the reason you give, your device identifier, and a short copy of the reported content so we can review it even if the author edits or deletes it.
• Terms acceptance and blocks. When you accept our Terms of Use on first launch, the app stores on your device that you accepted them, which version, and when. Users you block are stored only on your device; you can review and unblock them from Blocked users.
• Wildlife log. The animals you mark as spotted in the Wildlife section are stored only on your device. Nothing about your wildlife log is sent to our servers.
• Location. If you allow it, the app uses your device location while you are using the app only to show your position on the map. Your location is not stored on our servers or shared with anyone; you can decline the permission and still use the rest of the app.

We do not collect your contacts, browsing history, health data, or background location, and the app contains no analytics, advertising, or tracking software.

How the information is used

Solely to operate the app's features: showing your profile and posts to other users, running threads and Chats, sending the notifications you asked for, letting you manage your own posts, keeping RSVP counts, calculating the status of a road from recent reports, and enabling safety tools (reporting and blocking). We do not use your information for advertising or profiling.

Contact between users

Conversations happen in threads inside the app. If a ride organizer adds a phone number, people who joined that ride can call them from their own phone app; the app never sees those calls. The Eat section offers "Call" buttons that open your phone app to call a venue. Safety & Alerts can open a pre-filled text message to 888777 that signs you up for the Big Sky Fire Department's own alert system; that subscription is handled entirely by the Fire Department.

Service providers

• Supabase stores profiles, posts, messages, photos, RSVP counts, reports, and push tokens on our behalf in the United States.
• Expo and Apple Push Notification service deliver push notifications. They receive your push token and the notification text needed to deliver it. Expo also delivers app updates.

We do not share your information with anyone else. Venue, event, and menu content shown in the app is maintained by us and does not include your personal data; venue photos are loaded from Google Drive.

Retention and deletion

• Some posts expire automatically: rides 30 days after their date, activities once their date and time pass, lost & found notices 14 days after posting, and road reports a few hours after posting. Threads attached to posts that no longer exist are cleaned up automatically.
• Community board posts stay until their author deletes them or we remove them for violating our Terms.
• Report records are kept for 90 days for moderation purposes and then deleted.
• You can delete any post you created at any time from within the app; its photo is deleted with it.
• To delete your profile, messages, push token, or anything else linked to your device, email us at the address below and we will remove it.

Safety and moderation

Everyone must accept our Terms of Use before using the app. You can report any post or message and block any user from within the app. Free-text fields are checked automatically against a list of offensive words in English and Spanish. We review every report within 24 hours and remove content and users that violate our terms. See our Terms of Use for our zero-tolerance policy on objectionable content and abusive users.

Road reports and safety information

Road conditions in the app are reports from other users, not official information, and can be wrong or out of date. Safety & Alerts provides fixed information and links to official sources (for example the Big Sky Fire Department website); in an emergency always call 911.

Children

The app is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Security

We use reasonable measures to protect the information the app handles, including access controls on our database and storage. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and posts and thread messages are visible to other users of the app by design.

Your choices

• Decline the location, camera, photo library, or notification permissions (the app still works).
• Use any display name you like, and choose not to include a phone number or photo.
• Mute or leave threads, delete your posts at any time, and block or report others.
• Ask us to delete your profile and data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions or requests about this policy or your data: cgananalvarez@gmail.com.