Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Coast Clear (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled when you use the Coast Clear mobile application and website.

Coast Clear is intended to provide community awareness around reported shark sightings and related beach activity. It is not an official emergency or public safety service.

2. Information We Collect

We aim to keep data collection limited and purposeful. Depending on how you use Coast Clear, we may collect:

• User-submitted content, such as shark sightings, optional notes, optional photos, and submitted location details.
• Location information, including approximate or precise location if you allow location access on your device.
• Usage and diagnostic data, such as app interactions, crash information, and performance data.
• Device information, such as device type, operating system version, language, and app version.
• Advertising-related data, such as identifiers that may be used by advertising providers if ads are shown in the app.

3. How We Use Information

We may use collected information to:

• Display community-submitted sightings on the map and related views.
• Provide nearby awareness features and location-relevant context.
• Allow users to submit sightings with helpful details for others.
• Improve app performance, reliability, and usability.
• Monitor service health, troubleshoot issues, and help prevent misuse.
• Support analytics, advertising, or product improvement tools where used.

4. Third-Party Services

Coast Clear may use third-party services to support app functionality, analytics, hosting, storage, crash reporting, and advertising.

Examples may include services such as:

• Cloud hosting and database providers
• Photo storage services
• Analytics and crash reporting tools
• Advertising providers such as Google AdMob

These services may collect or process certain information in accordance with their own privacy policies. We do not control the data practices of third-party providers.

5. Data Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to provide Coast Clear, maintain the service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies.

User-submitted sightings or photos may remain visible in the app or related systems unless removed, expired, moderated, or deleted.

6. Your Choices

You can manage your privacy in several ways:

• Disable or limit location access through your device settings.
• Choose not to upload photos, notes, or other optional information.
• Reset or limit advertising permissions where supported by your device.
• Contact us to request review or removal of submitted content.

7. Data Deletion Requests

If you would like to request deletion of a sighting, photo, or other submitted content, please contact us using the information below. We will review and process requests within a reasonable timeframe.

Include enough detail for us to identify the relevant content, such as the submission date, approximate location, and any screenshots or notes that may help.

8. Children’s Privacy

Coast Clear is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, please contact us so we can review and remove it where appropriate.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures to help protect information. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any updates will be posted on this page, and the effective date above will be revised when changes are made.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to make a privacy-related request, contact: