diff --git a/backend/get_notifications.py b/backend/get_notifications.py
index 145857e..09606ed 100644
--- a/backend/get_notifications.py
+++ b/backend/get_notifications.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import json
 
 # Constants
 
-NTFY_TOKEN = os.getenv("NTFY_TOKEN") or "tk_cdmwd6ix255g3qgo4dx3r0gakw4y3"
+NTFY_TOKEN = os.getenv("NTFY_TOKEN")
 
 
 def fetch_ntfy_notifications(base_url, subscriptions):
diff --git a/backend/model.py b/backend/model.py
index f95b5eb..188a648 100644
--- a/backend/model.py
+++ b/backend/model.py
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@ from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 from sqlalchemy.sql.functions import func
 from sqlalchemy.sql.sqltypes import DateTime
+import os
 
 # Initialize the database
-DATABASE_URL = "sqlite:///./project_monitor.db"
+DATABASE_URL = os.getenv("DATABASE_URL", "sqlite:///./project_monitor.db")
 
 # SQLAlchemy setup
 engine = create_engine(DATABASE_URL, connect_args={"check_same_thread": False})