Privacy Policy
SafeWater tells you whether the water near you is safe to swim in right now. This page explains, plainly, what the app collects to do that, what it doesn't collect, and how long any of it sticks around.
01What we collect
SafeWater has no login and no user accounts. Everything below is tied to an anonymous identifier generated on your device, not to your name, email, or phone number — because we never ask for those.
| Data | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Location | When you tap "Use My Location," or the place name you type into search | To find the nearest official safety data for that spot |
| Anonymous device ID | Automatically, on first use | Lets your saved spots and reports work without an account |
| Community reports | Only if you submit one (shark sighting, rip current, etc.), optionally with a photo | Shown to other nearby users for 24 hours, then it expires |
| Push notification token | Only if you turn on alerts for a saved spot | Lets us notify your device if conditions turn dangerous |
| Saved spots | Only if you favorite or set an alert on a location | Remembers your spots between visits |
We don't collect your name, email, phone number, contacts, browsing history, or precise identity of any kind. We don't run advertising or analytics tracking in the app. The only photos we ever have are ones you choose to attach to a community report — never anything pulled from your camera roll or camera without your action.
02How it's used
Your location is sent to our backend to look up the nearest official conditions — NOAA rip current forecasts, EPA algae data, shark activity records, and state water-quality feeds — and to match you with any recent community reports for that spot. None of this is used to build an advertising profile, and it isn't sold to anyone.
If you enable alerts, we check your saved spots periodically and send a push notification only when a spot's rating changes to Not Recommended.
04Retention
Community reports expire automatically 24 hours after submission and are no longer shown or used in any rating.
Saved spots, alert preferences, and push tokens are kept until you remove them in-app or delete the app, at which point the anonymous identifier tying them together is no longer reachable by you and the underlying rows are periodically cleaned up.
05No accounts, no sensitive data
There is nothing to sign up for. The anonymous ID that ties your saved spots and reports together is generated on-device and isn't linked to any real-world identity we hold. If you delete the app, that connection is effectively severed on your end.
06Children's privacy
SafeWater is a general-audience safety tool and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has submitted a community report or otherwise provided information to us, contact us and we'll remove it.
07Your choices
- Location — you can deny or revoke location permission at any time in your device settings; you can still type a location manually instead.
- Notifications — turn alerts off per-spot in the app, or disable notification permission in your device settings.
- Your data — deleting the app removes your device's ability to access anything tied to your anonymous ID. To request removal of a specific community report you submitted, contact us below with enough detail to identify it (location and approximate time).
08Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update the effective date above. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the update.
09Contact
Questions about this policy, or a data removal request:
support@safewaterapp.com