Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Mukoko Africa, a division of Nyuchi Africa (PVT) Ltd("we", "us", "our"), handles information when you use mukoko weather ("the Service") at weather.mukoko.com.

We are committed to your privacy. mukoko weather is designed to provide weather intelligence with minimal data collection.

Information we collect

Information you provide

mukoko weather does not require account creation, registration, or login. We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, or any other personal information.

Location data

If you choose to use the "Use my current location" feature, your browser will ask for permission to share your geographic coordinates. This data is:

• Used only to determine the nearest supported weather location
• Sent to our server only to find the nearest location — not stored or logged
• Never shared with third parties

You can deny location access and manually select a location instead. The Service works fully without location access.

When you first visit the Service, we may use your IP address to approximate your location via server-side geo-detection (provided automatically by our hosting infrastructure, Vercel). Your IP address is not stored — only the approximate location is used to pre-select the nearest weather location. You can always choose a different location.

Cookies and local storage

We set a single functional cookie (lastLocation) to remember your most recently viewed location and redirect you to it on future visits. This cookie expires after 30 days and contains only a location identifier (e.g. "harare") — no personal data.

Your preferences (theme, selected activities, saved locations) are stored in your browser's local storage and optionally synced to an anonymous device profile in our database (see "Device preferences sync" below). No personal data is stored in local storage.

Device preferences sync

To sync your preferences across devices (theme, saved locations, activity selections), the Service generates a random anonymous device identifier (UUID) stored in your browser's local storage. This UUID, along with your preference settings, is stored in our database. The UUID contains no personal information and cannot identify you. You can clear it by clearing your browser's local storage.

Community weather reports

If you submit a community weather report (e.g. reporting current rain or frost conditions), the following is stored:

• The report type and severity you selected
• The location you were viewing
• A one-way cryptographic hash of your IP address (used only for rate limiting — cannot be reversed to identify you)
• The timestamp

Reports are automatically deleted after 24–72 hours depending on severity. Your raw IP address is never stored.

Automatically collected information

We use Google Analytics to understand how our service is used. Google Analytics collects anonymised usage data including page views, approximate geographic region, browser type, and device category. This data is aggregated and cannot identify you personally.

Google Analytics uses cookies to distinguish unique visitors. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

We also use Vercel Web Analytics to monitor website performance. Vercel Analytics does not use cookies and collects no personally identifiable information.

We do not use advertising pixels, fingerprinting technologies, or any tracking beyond Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics.

Third-party services

mukoko weather uses the following third-party services:

Open-Meteo

Weather data API. We send geographic coordinates of supported locations to retrieve weather forecasts. No personal data is transmitted. See their terms.

Tomorrow.io

Primary weather data API and weather map tile provider. We send geographic coordinates to retrieve weather forecasts and overlay map imagery. No personal data is transmitted. See their privacy policy.

MapTiler Cloud

Map tile provider for base map rendering. MapTiler receives tile requests from your browser which include your IP address as part of standard web requests. No personal data beyond standard request metadata is transmitted. See their privacy policy.

Aviation Weather Center (NOAA)

Official METAR and TAF aviation weather data provider. We request aviation weather observations by ICAO airport code. No personal data is transmitted. See their terms.

OpenStreetMap / Nominatim

Reverse geocoding used when creating new locations. We send geographic coordinates to determine place names. No personal data is transmitted. See their privacy policy.

Anthropic Claude

AI model used to generate weather summaries and power the Shamwari chatbot. Only weather data, location names, and your chat messages are sent — no personal data. Processing occurs on our server, not in your browser. Chat messages are not stored beyond the duration of your session.

Google Analytics & Google Fonts

Analytics and font files. Google may collect standard web request information. See their privacy policy.

Vercel

Hosting and serverless infrastructure. Vercel processes requests on our behalf and may collect standard server logs. Your IP address is used transiently for location approximation and is not stored by us. See their privacy policy.

Data retention

We do not retain personal data. Specific retention periods:

• AI-generated weather summaries: cached 30–120 minutes, then auto-deleted
• Community weather reports: auto-deleted after 24–72 hours depending on severity
• Device preference profiles: retained until you clear your browser local storage or request deletion
• Rate limiting records: auto-deleted after expiry window (typically 1 hour)

International users

mukoko weather serves users globally. If you access the Service from outside Zimbabwe, data may be processed in countries other than your own (including the United States, where our hosting and AI services operate). By using the Service, you consent to such transfers. We apply the same privacy protections to all users regardless of location.

Children's privacy

mukoko weather is a general-audience weather service. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children under 13.

Your rights

Since we collect no personal data tied to your identity, there is nothing to access, correct, or delete. If you wish to remove your anonymous device preference profile, clearing your browser local storage achieves this. For any other requests, contact us at the address below.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

For privacy-related questions or concerns, contact us at:

• legal@nyuchi.com
• support@mukoko.com

Mukoko Africa, a division of Nyuchi Africa (PVT) Ltd