Third-Party Apps Policy

1Introduction

The IVAO United Kingdom & Ireland Division ("XU Division", "we", "us", "our") provides optional desktop and companion applications to its members. This policy explains, in plain terms, what those applications connect to, what data they handle, and the responsibilities that come with using them.

These applications are volunteer-maintained, non-commercial community tools provided free of charge to XU members. Using them is entirely optional.

2Scope

This policy applies to the XU Division applications listed under Covered applications below. Each application connects only to the services described for it and only while it is running on your own computer.

It supplements, and does not replace, our Privacy Policy and the rules and terms of the International Virtual Aviation Organisation (IVAO). Where they differ, IVAO's rules take precedence.

3Covered applications

IVAO XU Rich Presence

Windows desktop app · shows your live IVAO Aurora ATC session on Discord

The application runs quietly in your system tray and connects only to the following, all on or from your own computer:

IVAO Aurora on your computer (localhost), read only - to detect your controlling/observing status, position, frequency and ATIS. It never sends commands to Aurora.
The Discord app on your computer - to set your Rich Presence card on your own Discord account.
The XU Division website (over HTTPS) - to sign you in with your IVAO account and read division reference data (position names and network facts).

It requests no passwords or payment details, and transmits no personal data to any party beyond what is needed to show your own Rich Presence.

Download Rich Presence v1.0.20

XU Aurora Connector (ATLAS)

Windows desktop app · allocates aircraft stands and writes them onto the label in Aurora

The application runs in your system tray while you control. It connects only to the following:

IVAO Aurora on your computer (localhost) - to read the traffic in your radar range and their flight plans, and to write the allocated stand onto an aircraft's label. This is the one application of the two that sends anything to Aurora.
Your Aurora profile files - to switch on Aurora's 3rd-party access and switch off its own gate assignment, so the two do not fight over the same aircraft. Aurora's own setting is put back when you close Aurora, and the file holding your IVAO credentials is never touched.
The XU Division website (over HTTPS) - to sign you in with your IVAO account, request stands for arriving aircraft, and report which aircraft are still present so stands are released.

What it sends us is the traffic picture a controller already sees: callsign, aircraft type, wake category, departure and destination, position, and whether the aircraft is on the ground. Nothing about you beyond your IVAO ID and the position you are working.

Download the Aurora Connector v1.0.35

Additional XU applications will be listed here as they are released. Every XU application is also on the Downloads page.

4What they can access on your computer

This section is written the hard way round on purpose. Rather than listing what the applications use, it lists everything they are technically able to see while running, whether or not they make use of it.

Both applications

The names of the programs you are running. To know whether Aurora is open, the application asks Windows for the running process list. Windows returns every process, not only Aurora, so the names of your other open programs pass through the application. They are matched against Aurora and discarded. They are never stored and never sent anywhere.
Your Aurora folder. The application finds Aurora's install path, from the running process, from its own configuration file, or by asking you, and reads the profile files inside it. Those files hold your Aurora display and position preferences, so the application can see them. It never reads the settings file that holds your IVAO credentials.
Everything Aurora's local interface exposes. That is the IVAO network data a controller already sees: your own callsign, the aircraft in your radar range, their full flight plans including route and remarks, their positions and squawks, which station has assumed them, the airports you control, ATIS and METAR.
Its own files. A configuration file, a log, and your XU access token. The token is encrypted by Windows itself, so only your Windows account can read it.
A local sign-in page. During sign-in only, the application listens on a loopback address so IVAO can return you to it after you log in. Nothing outside your computer can reach it.
A start-with-Windows entry. The application registers itself to start when you log in. You can turn that off from its tray menu or in Windows.
Its own updates. It checks the XU website for a newer version and installs it.

And then, per application

Rich Presence talks to the Discord app on your computer, so it can tell that Discord is open and can set the card on your own account. It cannot read your messages, servers or friends. It only ever reads from Aurora and sends Aurora nothing.
The Aurora Connector writes to Aurora: the allocated stand onto an aircraft's label, and the two gate-assignment settings in your Aurora profile described above. It also sends the traffic snapshot to the XU servers, because that is how a stand is allocated and how the flight strip board is fed.

What they cannot do

No camera. They never switch your webcam on.
No microphone. They never listen.
No looking at your screen. They cannot see what you have open, or take pictures of it.
No watching what you type. They cannot read your keyboard.
No opening your files. Only Aurora's folder and their own. Not your documents, pictures or downloads.
No touching your browser. Not your history, not your cookies, not your saved passwords.
No password. You sign in on IVAO's own website. The application never sees it, so it cannot store it.
No running in the background. Quit it from the tray and everything above stops.
No selling your data. Nothing is sold, shared with advertisers, or given to anyone outside the division.

5Sign-in & data

Where an application needs private division data, it signs you in with your own IVAO account (the same secure IVAO sign-in used by this website). We never embed a shared password or key in the application.

After you sign in, the website issues that installation a personal access token tied to your IVAO ID. The token is stored encrypted on your own computer using the operating system's protection, is used only to read division data for you, and can be revoked at any time. No passwords are ever stored by the application.

The applications do not track your activity, show ads, or share your data with advertisers or other third parties.

6Permissions & your role

You remain responsible for complying with all IVAO rules and regulations while connected to the network. These applications are convenience tools; they do not change your obligations as an IVAO member.

You control the applications at all times: you can sign out, quit, or uninstall them whenever you wish, which stops all data access immediately.

7Security

All communication between an application and the XU Division website uses encrypted HTTPS connections. Connections to IVAO Aurora and Discord are local to your computer and do not traverse the internet.

Access tokens are stored encrypted at rest, are personal to you, and are revocable by the division. We follow the principle of least access - applications can read only the division reference data they need to function.

8Updates

Applications may check the XU Division website for updates and prompt you to install a newer version. Updates are delivered over HTTPS and verified for integrity before installation. You choose when to apply an update.

9IVAO & trademarks

IVAO, IVAO Aurora, and related names and logos are the property of the International Virtual Aviation Organisation and their respective owners. Discord is a trademark of Discord Inc. These applications are volunteer-maintained tools of the XU Division, provided for use with the IVAO network in accordance with IVAO's rules and terms of service.

10Changes

We may update this policy as applications change or new ones are released. The "last updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Continued use of an application after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11Contact

Questions about this policy or a division application? Contact the XU Web Department at xu-web@ivao.aero.

This policy supplements our Privacy Policy