AI and the sky

Personal and Birth Data: What We Keep and Why

A natal chart needs only your birth date, time and place, because these let us compute the positions of the celestial bodies and the houses. The guiding idea is data minimisation: ask for no more than is necessary. Under GDPR you can access, correct, erase or object to the use of your data.

Your birth date, time and place may look like small details, but together they count as personal data. It is fair to know what they are used for and what rights you have. This article explains the principles plainly, without promises nobody can keep.

What data a chart needs, and why

A natal chart is a map of the sky for one moment and one point on Earth. That takes three inputs:

• Birth date. It gives the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets, calculated from ephemerides (tables of computed positions of celestial bodies). More on accuracy in Ephemerides and accuracy.
• Birth time. The Moon moves roughly 13° a day, and the Ascendant (the point on the eastern horizon) changes sign about every two hours. Without a time, the houses and the Ascendant cannot be worked out. See The birth time, and if you do not know yours, What if I do not know my birth time.
• Birth place. It supplies latitude, longitude and the time zone, which is needed to convert local time into universal time. See Time zones.

Nothing in the calculation itself requires your address, phone number or photo. A name is mostly a convenience, so you can recognise your chart.

The principle of data minimisation

GDPR (the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) sets out principles that apply to any service handling personal data:

• Data minimisation: collect only what is adequate, relevant and necessary for the stated purpose.
• Purpose limitation: use data for the purpose it was given for, not something else.
• Storage limitation: do not keep data longer than needed.
• Accuracy: data should be correct and fixable.
• Integrity and confidentiality: protect data with appropriate technical and organisational measures.

In practice, an astronomy and astrology service needs a date, a time and a place, not everything about you. If a form asks for more than seems necessary, you are entitled to ask why.

What we do not do, and what we cannot promise

Astronativa readings are offered for inspiration. Birth data is used to compute a chart, not to draw fateful, medical or financial conclusions, and we do not claim it can predict events.

When AI helps explain a chart, the same principles apply. How it works is covered in How the AI horoscope works. Avoid typing things into free-text fields that you would not want to share, such as health details, ID numbers or passwords. A chart does not need them.

No online service can promise absolute security. What can be done is to follow the principles above and describe them honestly. The exact details on storage, retention and contact are in the site privacy policy, which is the place to check the specific terms.

Your rights under GDPR

The regulation gives people in the EU these rights:

• Access (Art. 15): confirmation of whether data about you is processed, and a copy of it.
• Rectification (Art. 16): have inaccurate data corrected.
• Erasure (Art. 17): the so-called right to be forgotten, which applies under certain conditions, for example when data is no longer needed or you withdraw consent.
• Restriction (Art. 18): in certain circumstances.
• Portability (Art. 20): receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Objection (Art. 21): to processing based on certain grounds.
• Withdrawing consent (Art. 7(3)): at any time, as easily as it was given.
• Complaint (Art. 77): to the data protection authority in your country.

As a rule, you should receive a reply to a request within one month, which can be extended for complex cases.

How to delete or change your data

1. Change. If you entered the wrong time or place, correct it in your profile where that option exists, or request rectification as described in the privacy policy. Even a small time error can shift the Ascendant, so accuracy is worth it.
2. Delete. Use the delete-account or delete-data option if available. Otherwise send a request to the contact listed in the privacy policy and say clearly what you want erased.
3. Copy. To see what is stored about you, ask for access or portability.
4. If you are unhappy with the reply, you can contact your national data protection authority. In Bulgaria, this is the Commission for Personal Data Protection.

The sky belongs to everyone, but your birth date, time and place are yours alone. You decide whether to share them, and you should be able to change them or take them back.

Positions in Astronativa are astronomically exact. The interpretation is for inspiration. · Glossary · Terms · Privacy · Thank you