Where our data comes from — and what we do with it

Squawk is built on flight data collected by volunteers. That deserves a straight answer about who we are and what happens to it.

Our sources

• Live aircraft positions come from community ADS-B networks, whose data is contributed by people running their own receivers and made available under open licences.
• Aircraft photos are served from Planespotters with the photographer credited on every image.
• Weather, airspace and NOTAM data come from public government feeds (NOAA / NWS and the FAA).
• Wildfire information comes from NASA FIRMS satellite detections, NIFC and state agency incident feeds, and ALERTCalifornia camera imagery.
• Map imagery is Esri's, credited in the app and on every exported picture.

Our commitments

• We do not sell flight data. Not to brokers, not to analytics companies, not to anyone. Squawk makes money from app subscriptions, and that is the only way it makes money.
• We do not resell or relicense the community feeds we consume. The data belongs to the people who collect it.
• We credit our sources in the app, on this site, and on shared images.
• Your location stays on your device unless you explicitly create an alert zone, in which case only that zone's coordinates are stored so the server knows what to notify you about. See the privacy policy for the full detail.
• If any of this ever changes, it will be announced here first — not discovered after the fact.

If you run a receiver

If you feed one of the community networks, you're the reason this app works. Get in touch through support — we'd like to say thank you properly.