Privacy policy
The Alpine app and official website, published by Vercolabs.
This text is a translation. In case of any difference, the French version prevails.
Last updated: October 15, 2026
App versions covered: 1.7 and later
App publisher: Vercolabs
Alpine is an animated weather wallpaper app published by Vercolabs. This policy explains what data Alpine and its website use, why, who it is shared with and what your rights are.
1. Who is responsible for your data
- Data controller: Vercolabs, publisher of Alpine
- Contact: vercolabs@benmab.com
2. In short
- Alpine does not ask for an account, a name or an email address.
- Alpine contains no ads, no analytics, no trackers.
- Vercolabs does not receive or store any personal data from the app: everything stays on your device.
- Your approximate location is used for the weather, the sun, the moon and the choice of landscape. For the weather, it is sent rounded to about 1 km.
3. Data used by the app
| Data | Why | Where it goes | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approximate device location (if you allow it) | Local weather, sunrise and sunset, moon phases, choice of the landscape for your region | On your device. Sent rounded (2 decimals, about 1 km) to the weather service to get the forecast. | On the device, until you uninstall the app or clear its data |
| Place chosen manually (city, map, coordinates) | Same uses | Same. The searched name is sent to your device's geocoding service (see § 4). | Same |
| Weather forecasts received | Showing the weather and animations, working offline | On your device only | Replaced at each update |
| Photo you import (optional) | Using your photo as a landscape | Copied to the app's private storage, never sent | Until it is replaced or the app is uninstalled |
| OpenAI API key or server token (advanced, optional) | Creating landscapes with your own account | Encrypted on your device (Android Keystore). Sent only to the generation service you chose. | Until you delete it in the app |
| Settings | Remembering your preferences | On your device only | Until the app is uninstalled |
Alpine does not collect precise location, does not request background location and does not access your contacts, files, camera or microphone.
Alpine's data is not backed up to your Google account and is not transferred to a new device.
4. Third-party services contacted by the app
These services receive your IP address when connecting, like any online service, as well as the information listed below. They process it under their own policies.
| Service | When | Information sent | Policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| MET Norway — Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Norway) | When the app or wallpaper is displayed, at most about once an hour | Coordinates rounded to about 1 km, the app's technical identifier (name, version, publisher contact). With direct access, MET Norway states that it keeps IP addresses and coordinates in its logs. | https://api.met.no/doc/TermsOfService |
| Vercolabs weather relay, hosted by Hostinger (if enabled) | Instead of direct access to MET Norway | Rounded coordinates and IP address. The relay only stores forecasts per area; the host's technical log records connections under its own policy. MET Norway then no longer receives your IP address. | https://www.hostinger.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| OpenStreetMap Foundation (United Kingdom) | Only when the map on the location screen is opened | Map area displayed (tiles), IP address | https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy |
| Your device's geocoding service (provided by Google on most Android devices) | Only when you search for a city | Search text | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| OpenAI or a server you choose (advanced option, off by default) | Only if you use landscape creation | Requested landscape type (for example "desert"), never your location | https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy |
Neither Vercolabs nor Alpine sells your data or shares it for advertising purposes.
5. Free of charge
Alpine is free: it offers no purchases, no subscription and no ads. No payment data is processed by Alpine or by Vercolabs.
6. Website
- Alpine's website sets no cookies and uses no analytics tool and no font or resource loaded from another site.
- Like any website, the host (Hostinger) keeps technical access logs (IP address, page requested, date, browser) for security and proper operation of the service, under its own policy.
- If you write to Vercolabs, your message and email address are kept in our mailbox for as long as needed to reply, and at most three years after the last exchange.
7. Legal bases (GDPR)
- Performance of the service you request: showing the weather and the landscape for your location.
- Your consent for location access: you grant and withdraw it at any time in Android settings. Without this permission, you can choose a city by hand.
- Legitimate interest for the website's technical logs and replying to your messages.
8. Transfers outside the European Union
- MET Norway is located in Norway (European Economic Area).
- The OpenStreetMap Foundation is in the United Kingdom, a country covered by a European Commission adequacy decision.
- Google and OpenAI may process data in the United States, under their contractual safeguards (standard contractual clauses, Data Privacy Framework).
- Hostinger International Ltd is established in Cyprus (European Union).
9. Your rights
Under the GDPR and the French Data Protection Act, you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, objection, restriction and portability.
- Delete all of Alpine's data: Android Settings → Apps → Alpine → Storage → Clear data, or uninstall the app.
- Delete your OpenAI key: Alpine → Landscapes → Generation → Delete.
- Withdraw location access: Android Settings → Apps → Alpine → Permissions.
- Contact us: vercolabs@benmab.com. As Vercolabs keeps no data from the app, we can neither send it to you nor delete it on your behalf; we will answer any question and handle your requests about your messages.
- Complaints: French data protection authority (CNIL), https://www.cnil.fr, or the authority of your country.
- Data processed by MET Norway, Google, the OpenStreetMap Foundation, OpenAI or Hostinger: send your requests directly to these organisations.
10. Children
Alpine is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect any data about them.
11. Security
- Network exchanges are encrypted (HTTPS only), in the app and on the website.
- Data stays in the app's private storage.
- The optional API key is encrypted with the Android Keystore. No protection is absolute on a modified ("rooted") or compromised device: use a dedicated key with a spending limit.
12. Changes
Any change to this policy will be published at this address with its update date. If ads or new data collection were ever added, this policy would be updated before they are activated, and your consent would be requested where the law requires it.