Last updated: October 12, 2026
Earthshine creates an anonymous account for you automatically — no email or sign-up required. This account is identified by a random ID, not by your real name. You can optionally link the app to Sign in with Apple, which lets you back up your data and restore it on a new device; we only receive the minimal identifier Apple provides for that link, never your Apple ID email unless you choose to share it.
Photos you upload to the shared sky — along with your cosmic alias, the moon phase/date, and (if you allow location access) a coarse location rounded to roughly 11km — are stored on our servers and are publicly visible to anyone using the app, in the feed, the globe view, and your public stargazer profile. Anyone can report a photo for review; you can delete your own captures at any time.
The birthdays of people you add to Earthshine (family, friends) are stored on your device by default. If you sign in with Apple, this list — along with your points total — is also backed up to our servers so you can restore it on a new device. This backup is private: only you can read it.
You can optionally add your own birthday to your account. It is private by default — hidden from everyone, including us beyond storage. Another stargazer can send a request to see it (spending in-app points to do so), but it's only ever revealed to them once you explicitly approve that request. You can decline any request, and points spent by the requester are not something we control or refund.
Your cosmic alias, profile picture (a built-in icon or a photo you choose), points total, and rank are shown on the public leaderboard and on your stargazer profile, visible to anyone using the app. Any other stargazer can choose to follow you (and you can remove a follower); who follows whom is not private.
From version 1.0.1, Earthshine no longer asks for access to your Contacts. Version 1.0 can import birthdays from your address book if you grant the "Contacts" permission. The address book is read on your device and never uploaded. Only the people you choose to import become entries in your list, and we keep just their name and birthday (never phone numbers, emails or other contact details). That list stays on your device unless you turn on the optional Sign in with Apple backup, which saves it to your private account so you can restore it; deleting your account removes that backup.
If you grant calendar access, we use it solely to help you find birthday-shaped events already in your calendar to import. This happens on your device and is never uploaded to our servers.
If you grant location access, we use your coordinates to show tonight's moon-viewing conditions and to check the moon is up when you take a photo. From version 1.0.1, a photo you take and post with the in-app camera gets a coarse location (rounded to roughly 11km — never your exact address), which is public with the photo. A photo you post from your camera roll uses only the location saved in that photo, rounded the same way. To post without a location, turn off location access for Earthshine in your phone's Settings.
We request access to your media library to let you pick a moon photo to share or a profile picture, and to save shared "Eclipse Moments" (images) to your camera roll. Only the photos you choose are uploaded; we do not access or collect any of your other photos or videos.
We collect basic usage events (e.g. which features you use) tied to your anonymous account ID, to understand app stability and improve the experience. This is never linked to your real-world identity by us.
You can report or hide any capture, and block another stargazer's uploads from your view. We review reports within 24 hours to enforce our Terms of Use. Shared photos and profile pictures are also screened automatically by an AI image model (Anthropic Claude, called from our servers); a profile picture only becomes public after it passes this check.
From the Profile tab, you can permanently delete your account at any time. This removes your cloud backup, your leaderboard entry, all your shared captures, your birthday, and any following/birthday-request records tied to your account. Data stored only on your device (like your local people list, if you never linked Apple Sign-In) is removed by deleting the app.
Earthshine is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we'll remove it.
If this policy changes in a material way, we'll update the date at the top of this page.
If you have questions, contact us at hello@earthshinemoon.com. See also our Terms of Service.