FM Digital Tools

Code signing policy

Code signing policy and privacy policy of StarLight.

Code signing

The StarLight installers are built automatically on GitHub Actions from the code of the public repository, never on a personal computer. Every published version has a tag on the commit it was built from, and the full build log remains available in the Actions tab of the repository. Every signature is approved by hand before publication. The versions published so far are not signed yet: signing will come with the next versions.

Roles

Changes proposed by other people enter the code only after review by FM Digital Tools.

Privacy policy

StarLight processes images exclusively on the computer of the person using it. It does not require an account, does not collect personal data, usage statistics or diagnostic data, and contains no advertising or tracking tools.

Network connections

Internet connections are enabled by default and can be turned off at any time in Settings, “Network and catalogs” tab. The program uses them only for:

  • Updates: checks the StarLight server for new versions and downloads them only after the user confirms.
  • Catalogs: downloads from the StarLight server the object and star packages chosen for installation.
  • Gaia catalog: for photometric color calibration and, when the installed stars are not enough, for plate solving, it sends the coordinates of the image center to the VizieR service of the CDS (University of Strasbourg) or to the ESA Gaia archive and receives the stars of the corresponding area of sky.

Data transmitted and recipients

Every connection reveals the computer’s IP address to the responding server. Besides the content of the request, StarLight transmits only the program version and the Windows version, when checking for updates.

The StarLight server is hosted by Cloudflare, with files stored in the European Union, and does not log the requests it receives. Cloudflare processes the IP address to deliver files and protect the service, according to its own privacy policy. CDS and ESA process data according to their respective policies. The “Support StarLight” button opens the donation page in the browser; from that point on, the privacy policy of the hosting site applies.

Data stored on the computer

Settings, the calibration library, installed catalogs and plugins, recovery copies of the work and the error log stay in the StarLight data folder, %APPDATA%\StarLight, and are not shared with third parties. In the error log the user name is replaced with %USERPROFILE%; the log leaves the computer only if it is copied from the Help menu. During uninstallation the folder can be kept or deleted.

Metadata in exported files

Exported FITS files keep the acquisition metadata of the source file, including, when present, the observer’s name and the geographic coordinates of the observing site. They should be checked before sharing the file.

This website

This website uses no cookies, statistics or third-party services. The server records only the technical data needed for it to work.

Contact

For any request about data processing, write to dev@fmdigitaltools.com.