Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 3, 2026
OMI OPTICS USA LLC ("OMI Astro", "we", "us") runs omiastro.com and the services offered on it: remote telescope rentals, customized imaging requests, deep-sky datasets and data subscriptions, telescope hosting, and the sale of astronomy equipment. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices you have.
Our Terms of Service cover the use of our services. If you have questions about this policy, see section 11 below.
1. Information we collect
1.1 Information you give us
- Account details — first and last name, email address and password when you register. Passwords are stored only as a one-way hash. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google.
- Profile, billing and shipping details — phone number, billing and shipping addresses, and your email marketing choice.
- Order details — what you buy, rent or subscribe to, prices, discounts, taxes, shipping method and order history.
- Payment details — payments are taken by our checkout provider (see section 3). We never see or store your full card number. We can see the card brand, the last four digits and the expiry date, so that we can show you which card a subscription is charged to.
- Rental and service details — rental start and end dates, the telescope you rent, your TeamViewer ID for remote access, and the cloud storage link we share your data through.
- Imaging requests — your targets, coordinates, exposure settings and the delivery email address you give us.
- Messages and forms — what you send through our contact form, waiting-list requests, OMI+ partner applications (which can include your company, phone number and observatory site details), and emails you send us.
- Technical support — when you ask for help during a rental, we may record what we see and do on the remote telescope computer to solve the problem. We do not otherwise record your observing sessions.
1.2 Information collected automatically
- Sign-in sessions — when you sign in, we store your session together with your IP address and browser type, so that you stay signed in and so that we can detect misuse.
- Security checks — sign-up, sign-in and password-reset forms are protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks that a person, not a script, is using the form.
- Server records — our hosting provider processes your IP address and request details to deliver the website and protect it from attacks.
We do not use analytics or advertising trackers on our website.
1.3 Observation data
Images and other data captured by the telescopes during your rental, data subscription or imaging request are delivered to you through cloud storage (currently Dropbox or Google Drive). Copies on the observatory computers are removed once the data has been synced to cloud storage or when your rental ends. Data in cloud storage is kept for 30 days after it is delivered, so that you have time to download it, and is then deleted. Please download your data within that time.
2. How we use your information
We use your information to:
- Provide our services — create and manage your account; process orders, rentals, subscriptions and imaging requests; set up remote access; deliver data and downloads; ship equipment; and handle cancellations, returns and refunds.
- Bill subscriptions — take monthly payments, remind you by email 3 days before each payment, and let you know if a payment fails.
- Communicate with you — order confirmations, account and security emails (such as email verification and password resets), service notices (such as observatory closures), and replies to your questions.
- Run our rewards programme — record OMI Credits you earn and redeem.
- Marketing — send news and offers by email. If you are in the EU, EEA, UK or Switzerland, we send them only if you have signed up for them. You can unsubscribe at any time from the link in any marketing email or on your My Profile page.
- Keep our services secure — prevent fraud, abuse and automated sign-ups.
- Meet legal obligations — keep tax and accounting records, and respond to lawful requests.
Legal bases (EU, EEA and UK customers). We process your information to perform our contract with you (items 1–4), on the basis of our legitimate interests in running and securing our business (items 3, 5 and 6, where consent is not required), with your consent where the law requires it (for example, for some marketing emails), and to comply with the law (item 7).
3. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising. We share it only with the service providers who help us run our business, and only as much as they need:
| Provider | What they do for us |
|---|---|
| Shopify | Online store, checkout, payment processing (including Shopify Payments and PayPal), orders, customer records, gift cards and order emails |
| Seal Subscriptions | Schedules and collects subscription payments (cards are held by Shopify, not Seal) |
| Cloudflare | Website hosting, databases, file storage for dataset downloads, security checks (Turnstile) and email delivery |
| Business email (Google Workspace), data delivery (Google Drive), and Google sign-in if you choose to use it | |
| Dropbox | Delivery of rental observation data |
| Shipping carriers (such as USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL) | Delivering equipment orders — they receive your name, shipping address and phone number |
Some of our pages include YouTube videos, which are loaded from YouTube's privacy-enhanced (no-cookie) domain. If you play a video, YouTube's own privacy policy applies.
Remote telescope access uses TeamViewer, which you install and use under TeamViewer's own terms and privacy policy.
We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of our business.
4. Cookies and similar technologies
We use only the cookies needed to make the website work. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.
| Cookie / storage | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|
Sign-in cookies (names starting with omi) | Keep you signed in | 30 days, renewed while you use the site |
__Host-omi_cart | Remember your shopping cart | 14 days |
__Host-omi_zip | Remember the ZIP code you entered for a shipping and tax estimate | 90 days |
Browser storage (omi-imaging-draft) | Keep an imaging request you have not yet submitted, on your own device | Until you submit or clear it |
| Cloudflare security cookies | Protect the site from bots and attacks | Set and managed by Cloudflare |
At checkout you are on Shopify's checkout pages, where Shopify sets its own cookies as described in Shopify's privacy policy.
5. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Account | Until you delete your account |
| Sign-in sessions | 30 days after your last visit |
| Email verification and password-reset links | 24 hours and 30 minutes respectively |
| Observation data in cloud storage | 30 days after delivery |
| Dataset downloads | Available to you for 1 year after purchase |
| Contact form messages, waiting-list requests and emails we send you | Until they are no longer needed, or until you delete your account |
| Orders, payments, refunds and OMI Credits records | As long as we need them for accounting, tax and legal purposes, even after you delete your account |
6. Your rights and choices
You can:
- See and correct your information — view and edit your name, phone number, addresses and marketing choice on My Profile; see your orders, subscriptions and credits on My Orders, My Subscriptions and My Wallet.
- Delete your account — on My Profile, under Sign-in & Security. Any active subscription must be cancelled or ended first. Deleting your account removes your sign-in, roles, form messages and the emails we sent you, and asks Shopify to erase your customer personal data. Records of purchases and payments are kept as described in section 5.
- Unsubscribe from marketing — from the link in any marketing email or on My Profile. We will still send emails about your orders and account.
- Ask for a copy of your information, or ask us to delete or correct anything else — email us at contact@omiastro.com. We may need to confirm your identity first. We will respond within 30 days (or 45 days where California law allows).
6.1 California residents (CCPA/CPRA)
California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to request access to it and to a portable copy; to request correction or deletion; and not to be discriminated against for using these rights. In the last 12 months we have collected the categories described in section 1 (identifiers, contact and account details, commercial information, payment information held by our payment provider, internet activity limited to sign-in and security records, and the content of your messages) for the purposes in section 2, and disclosed them only to the service providers in section 3. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by California law, and we do not use sensitive personal information except to provide our services. You may use an authorised agent to make a request; we will ask for proof of their authority.
6.2 EU, EEA and UK residents (GDPR)
You have the right to access, correct and delete your personal data; to restrict or object to its processing; to data portability; and to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent. You may also complain to the data protection authority where you live. OMI OPTICS USA LLC is the controller of your personal data. Your information is processed in the United States and in other countries where our providers operate; where required, those transfers are protected by the providers' standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.
7. Security
We use HTTPS throughout the site, hash passwords, limit repeated sign-in attempts, and limit who on our team can access customer information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Keep your password private and tell us straight away if you think your account has been misused.
8. Children
Our services are not intended for children. You must be at least 18 years old, or have the consent of a parent or guardian, to use our services. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the EU). If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Links to other websites
Our website links to other websites, such as social media pages and partner observatories. Their privacy practices are their own; please read their policies.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above, and for significant changes we will tell you by email or by a notice on the website.
11. How to contact us
OMI OPTICS USA LLC
3400 Cottage Way Ste G2 #16711, Sacramento, CA 95825, USA
Email: contact@omiastro.com
Phone: +1 (669) 388-1965
See also: Contact information.