Castwise
Privacy Policy
Castwise is a UK sea-fishing planning app built around a deterministic recommendation engine, with bounded AI explanation and fish-identification features. It is privacy-first: your catch logs, private marks and movements are sensitive, and we treat them that way. This policy explains what personal data we collect, how and why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, how we keep it secure, and the rights and controls you have.
Who we are
The data controller responsible for your information is Richard Clifford, an independent developer based in the United Kingdom, operating this app as Castwise (“Castwise”, “we”, “us”). You can contact us about privacy at any time at [email protected], and a postal address is available on request.
We are based in the United Kingdom and act in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk) if you are unhappy with how we handle your data.
The short version
- Your individual catch logs and sessions are not published. They remain visible to your account unless you deliberately use a sharing feature.
- We never publish your exact private marks. “Help improve Castwise” is on by default but can be switched off; it uses thresholded condition outcomes and excludes private mark IDs, coordinates and private region labels.
- We don’t sell your data, and we don’t use it for advertising — including your location.
- You can export your server-held account data or permanently delete your account data at any time, from inside the app or by emailing us.
Data we collect
We collect only what the app needs to work. Some of this is sensitive (precise location, photos, in-app purchase status), and is highlighted below.
| Type of data | What it includes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account & identity | Email address, or the identifier from Apple / Google sign-in. An authentication token kept on your device. | To create and secure your account and sign you in. |
| Preferences | Onboarding choices: skill level, safety preference, target species, fishing styles, tackle locker, alert settings, home area and radius. | To personalise recommendations and alerts. |
| Precise location (sensitive) | Your device GPS location, and the coarse “home point” you set. | To rank marks near you, power “near me” features, pin your spot for the safety float plan, and place custom marks. Used only when you ask for a location feature. |
| Logbook & photos (photos are sensitive) | Sessions and catches you record (species, size, bait/rig, notes, a conditions snapshot) and any catch photos you add. | To keep your logbook and personalise suggestions from your own history. Private to you by default. |
| Saved & custom marks | Spots you save or add, including their coordinates. | So you can score and return to your own marks. Visible only to you. |
| AI coach messages | The questions you type to the coach and its replies. | To answer you and keep your coach history. |
| Fish ID requests & feedback (photos are sensitive) | Up to two compressed photographs, plus optional coarse region, season and date context. If you correct a result, we store the predicted and corrected species, confidence, model/prompt versions and evaluation identifiers. | To identify the fish, handle uncertainty and measure accuracy. Castwise does not retain the submitted Fish ID photographs after the request. |
| Purchase status (financial) | Your subscription/entitlement status from the app store. We do not receive or store your card or full payment details. | To unlock premium features for subscribers. |
| Marketing preference | Whether you opted in to receive Castwise marketing emails, and when. | To send occasional Castwise news and tips, only if you asked us to. Always optional. |
| Device & notifications | A push notification token and basic device/app information. | To deliver the alerts you opt in to. |
| Diagnostics | Minimal technical logs (e.g. errors). | To keep the service running and secure. |
| Product events | Pseudonymous account ID, event name, time, source, an allowed broad region and a small allowlist such as species, score band, safety risk, plan or provider. | To understand onboarding, recommendations, logged outcomes, subscriptions and AI usefulness. Exact marks, coordinates, notes, photographs and AI text are prohibited from this event store. |
We do not use third-party advertising or analytics/tracking SDKs, and we do not build advertising profiles. Castwise records limited first-party product events in our own database as described above.
How we use your data, and our lawful bases
- To generate your recommendations, scores, forecasts and tactics, and to personalise them from your logged history — performance of our contract with you (providing the app).
- To send alerts you opt in to, within your quiet hours — your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
- To send you Castwise marketing emails (news, tips, features) only if you opted in at sign-up or in your account — your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
- To operate, secure, debug and improve the app, and to prevent abuse — our legitimate interests in running a safe, reliable service.
- To meet legal obligations where they apply — legal obligation.
We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell it.
Who we share it with
We never sell your personal data. We share it only with service providers who process it on our behalf to run Castwise, under contract and only for the purposes below:
| Category of recipient | Purpose | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud hosting, database, storage & authentication | Stores your account, logbook, marks, preferences and photos; handles sign-in. | Most account data, including photos. |
| AI processing provider (OpenAI) | Generates structured coach answers and analyses Fish ID photographs. | Your length-capped coach question with approved fishing context, or up to two compressed Fish ID photographs with optional coarse location/season context. Submitted Fish ID images are not retained by Castwise. |
| Subscription & payment processing / app stores | Apple or Google processes purchases; RevenueCat manages and verifies entitlement state for Castwise. | Purchase/entitlement status and an app-store or RevenueCat app-user identifier. We never receive your card or full payment details. |
| Sign-in providers | Optional social sign-in. | The identifier you choose to sign in with. |
| Push-notification delivery | Delivers the notifications you opt in to. | Your push token. |
| Weather, tide & mapping data providers | Return weather, tide, depth, map tiles and place data for the coordinates you’re viewing or fishing. | The coordinates of the spot in question, never your identity. |
A current list of our sub-processors is available on request at [email protected]. We may also disclose data if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our users or the service.
Community & sharing
Your individual logbook and exact private marks are not published. Deliberate sharing features are separate from community model learning and should be used only when you choose to share their stated content.
Improving recommendations from catch data
To improve recommendations, Castwise derives thresholded aggregate statistics from completed catches and blanks, such as how often a species was caught within a tide, time, wind, bait, rig or predicted-score band. An output bucket requires at least eight sessions from five distinct anglers. Contributor identifiers are used only while enforcing that threshold and are not included in the emitted aggregate.
For curated public marks, sufficiently supported mark or broad-region patterns may be produced. A user-created or private mark can contribute only to broad condition learning: its ID, coordinates and private region label are excluded from public mark and regional aggregates. Your individual catch, blank, notes and photographs are not exposed to other users through this process.
“Help improve Castwise” is on by default. You can opt out at any time in Account → Help improve Castwise; sessions from opted-out accounts are excluded when aggregates are rebuilt.
Marketing emails
We only send you marketing emails (occasional Castwise news, fishing tips and new features) if you explicitly opt in through the website updates form or the optional, unticked choice at app sign-up. Choosing not to opt in does not affect your use of the app. We rely on your consent for this.
After a successful website subscription, we store a first-party browser preference so the signup prompt does not keep appearing on that browser. It contains no email address and is not used for advertising or cross-site tracking. Closing the prompt without subscribing is remembered only for the current browsing session.
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every marketing email, or by emailing [email protected]. We never sell, rent or share your email address with third parties for their own marketing. Essential service messages (for example account, security or subscription notices) are not marketing and are sent regardless of this preference.
International transfers
Your data is primarily processed in the UK/EEA. Some service providers (for example our AI processing provider) may process data outside the UK/EEA. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement / EU Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.
How we keep it secure
- Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS, and encrypted at rest by our hosting provider.
- Database access is protected by row-level security, so each user can only access their own rows.
- Secrets and AI/provider API keys live server-side only; the app holds public values only.
- Access to production systems is restricted to those who need it.
How long we keep it
We keep your account and content while your account is active or until you delete individual items. Submitted Fish ID photographs are not retained by Castwise after the identification request; Fish ID evaluation and correction metadata remains with your account so accuracy can be measured. Raw first-party product events are automatically deleted after 180 days; longer-term reporting should retain aggregates rather than individual events. When you delete your account, associated live data and stored photos are removed promptly and encrypted backups are purged within 30 days. Minimal security and reliability logs are kept only as long as needed.
Your rights, and how to delete your data
You can exercise all of the following yourself in the app, or by emailing [email protected] (we respond within one month):
- Export my data — Account → “Export my data” returns a JSON document of the account data held on Castwise’s servers. It does not include temporary caches or device-only settings.
- Delete my account & all data — Account → “Delete account” permanently removes your server account and associated data (sessions, catches, stored photos, saved/private marks, recommendations, coach messages and preferences), then clears Castwise’s persisted local account state on that device. This cannot be undone. You can also request server-side deletion by email.
- Delete individual items — remove any session, catch or saved mark directly, without deleting your account.
- Access, correct, restrict, object, or port — under UK GDPR you can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to/restrict certain processing.
- Withdraw consent — turn off notifications, or revoke location/camera/photo permissions, at any time in your device settings.
To request account and data deletion without installing the app, email [email protected] from your account email address with the subject “Delete my account”.
App permissions
The app asks for these only when a feature needs them, and they’re optional:
- Location — for “near me” ranking, placing marks, and pinning your spot for the safety float plan.
- Camera / Photos — when you choose photos for Fish ID or add a photo to a catch.
- Notifications — only if you opt in to alerts.
Children
Castwise is intended for adults and the Terms require account holders to be at least 18. We do not knowingly permit children to create accounts. If you believe a child has provided personal data, contact us so we can investigate and delete it.
Safety note
Castwise provides guidance only and uses estimated marine data. It is not a navigation or safety device — always verify conditions, access and tides locally before fishing.
Changes to this policy
We’ll update this page when our practices change and revise the “Last updated” date above. Material changes will be highlighted in the app.
Contact
Questions or requests about your privacy: [email protected].