Privacy policy

Who is responsible

Stewart Smith, trading as Made by SWCS, provides this app and handles information sent to its support service. For privacy questions or requests, email support@madebyswcs.com and name the app. We cannot remotely read or recover records that stay only on your device.

This policy covers the current device app and its support service. Websites, Apple services and other external services you choose have their own privacy information. There is no Made by SWCS account required to use this app.

Your journal, visits and saved items

Personal sightings, dates and date ranges, visited places and map coordinates, species and counts, behaviour, notes, saved observations, saved places and preferences are stored on your device. They help you plan trips and keep your own record. WhaleWise does not upload your journal or visit log to a community feed or a Made by SWCS server. No name, email address or account is needed for these features.

If you choose Share, the selected content is passed to the person or service you select. Dates, locations or notes can identify you or other people. Review the content before sharing. Downloaded maps and cached public observations are also stored locally.

Optional location

Near me and Use my location request location permission to centre maps, find nearby places or position an entry. WhaleWise does not track you in the background. You can choose places and enter locations manually instead. Change access, including precise-location access where available, in iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → WhaleWise.

Maps, searches and public observations

The app connects directly to OpenFreeMap for styles and map tiles, OBIS and iNaturalist for public observations, and NOAA data hosted by Esri ArcGIS for protection areas. Apple Maps is used in sighting and custom visit-location pickers. These services receive the network information needed to answer requests, such as IP address, URL, request headers and time. Map tiles, place searches and geographic bounds reveal the area you explore, which may include a precise area around your location.

Public observations are obtained from OBIS and iNaturalist, rather than submitted to us by the person browsing WhaleWise. Source records can contain observation dates, locations, observer attribution and source links. They are separate from your private journal. For corrections, removal or obscuring of a public source record, contact its original provider; a local bookmark does not change the source.

Providers may retain service, security or error logs. OpenFreeMap currently states that routine access logs omit IP addresses, error logs can include IP addresses and URLs for seven days, and security-incident IP logs can be kept for up to 30 days. Other providers’ periods vary. Map/location and diagnostic request information is used for app functionality, not advertising.

Tour links and external services

Tour searches, source records and support pages open external services. The destination may receive the selected place or search terms along with browser/network information. WhaleWise does not take tour bookings or payments. Any booking, account, cookies or information you supply there is handled by that service.

Keeping and deleting local records

Journal entries and saved items remain until you remove them or delete the app. Delete sightings in My sightings and visits in My visits; unsave places or observations using their bookmark; remove downloaded regions in Offline maps and guides. Public-data caches can be replaced or removed automatically.

Deleting the app removes its local container. Offloading preserves documents. Apple device backups may include app data according to your settings; manage those backups separately. We cannot recover a deleted journal from a server. Shared copies remain with their recipients.

Map and observation provider policies

OpenFreeMap: https://openfreemap.org/privacy/
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/privacy
OBIS / IOC–UNESCO: https://www.unesco.org/en/privacy-policy
NOAA: https://www.noaa.gov/protecting-your-privacy
Esri ArcGIS: https://www.esri.com/en-us/privacy/privacy-statements/privacy-statement

Support and TestFlight feedback

If you contact support, we receive your email address, any name you provide, your message, attachments and the app/device details you choose to include. We use them to reply, investigate faults, maintain the app and handle privacy requests. Supplying them is optional, but we may be unable to investigate a problem without enough detail. Support is not a marketing mailing list.

Namecheap forwards mail sent to support@madebyswcs.com to a Gmail inbox operated by Stewart Smith. These email providers process message contents, delivery information and spam/security signals. Avoid sending passwords, identity documents, complete backups, precise personal locations or sensitive documents unless they are needed and you intend to share them. Redact screenshots where possible.

Apple may provide us with TestFlight feedback, screenshots, crash reports and device or app diagnostics according to your testing and sharing settings. Feedback can include contact details and whatever is visible in a screenshot. Apple also processes App Store distribution, purchase and diagnostic information under its own terms. We do not receive your Apple password or full payment-card details.

Why we use information

App records are processed locally to provide the features you choose. Where UK or EEA data-protection law applies to information we receive, we rely on our legitimate interests in answering support requests, resolving faults and keeping the service secure; on providing a requested service where necessary to perform a contract; and on legal obligations where we must retain or disclose information. We use consent where required for optional processing.

Device permissions are choices you control in Settings. Withdrawing a permission stops future use of that permission, but does not erase records already saved or copies you have shared. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it without affecting processing that was lawful beforehand. No account, advertising identifier, cross-app tracking or behavioural advertising is used in the current device app. We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising.

Support records and provider retention

We keep support correspondence for as long as needed to resolve the request, follow up a related problem, maintain a useful record of the resolution, or handle a legal obligation or dispute. The type and sensitivity of the information, whether the issue is still open, and whether the same purpose can be met with less information determine retention. Unnecessary attachments can be removed separately. Ask us to delete support information you no longer want us to hold; we will explain any reason we must keep part of it.

There is no automatic expiry date for support email at present. Mail-provider backups, spam/security records and Apple-held diagnostics follow those providers’ retention and deletion processes. Deleting the app does not delete correspondence, TestFlight feedback, exports or provider-held records. Contact us for information we hold and the relevant provider for information it controls.

Service providers and international processing

Our email providers and the providers described in this policy may process information in the United States and other countries outside your country, including outside the UK or EEA. Their locations, legal roles, retention and transfer arrangements depend on the service. We do not promise that all processing stays in your country.

Google describes its use of adequacy decisions, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and UK extension, and standard contractual clauses where applicable at https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks. The other providers explain their arrangements in the policies linked below. Contact support to ask about a particular recipient, international transfer or available safeguard; this notice does not claim that every provider uses the same mechanism.

We do not routinely disclose your support information to others beyond the services needed to handle it. Information may also be disclosed when required by law or reasonably necessary to address abuse, protect people, or establish or defend legal claims. We limit such disclosures to the relevant information.

Security and your copies

The apps use iOS app storage and platform security; the website uses HTTPS. No device, email service or transmission can be guaranteed completely secure. Protect your device and Apple account, keep software updated, and review the destination before sharing an export or screenshot. A copy sent to another person or service is outside the app’s deletion controls. We do not describe ordinary email or exported files as end-to-end encrypted.

Your rights and requests

Depending on where you live and the applicable law, you may request access to personal information we hold, correction, deletion, restriction, or a portable copy. You may withdraw consent where it is the basis for processing. These rights have limits, for example where a record is needed to meet a legal obligation or defend a claim. We do not use automated decisions or profiling that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Email support@madebyswcs.com with the app name and your request. Contact us from the address used for support when possible. We may ask for proportionate information to verify a request, but do not send identity documents unless specifically needed. We respond within applicable legal time limits and explain any permitted extension or refusal. We cannot retrieve or erase app records held only on your device; use the app controls described above.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or to the data-protection authority where you live or work. You do not have to contact us first. Applicable privacy rights are available without discriminatory treatment.

Your right to object

You may object to processing based on legitimate interests by emailing support@madebyswcs.com and explaining your circumstances. We will consider the objection and stop that processing unless an applicable legal exception allows it to continue. We do not send marketing messages or use your information for targeted advertising.

Children and information about other people

These are general-interest apps. We do not ask for a child’s age, require registration, or knowingly request children’s personal records through support. A parent or guardian should help a child decide what to share with support, TestFlight or external services. Contact us if you believe a child has sent personal information that should be removed.

Only add or share photographs, documents and details about other people when you have the right to do so. Local storage does not make an exported or emailed copy private.

Provider privacy information

Apple: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
Namecheap email forwarding: https://www.namecheap.com/legal/general/privacy-policy/
Google email: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Website and support notice: https://madebyswcs.com/privacy/

Policy changes

The date above identifies this policy version. Updates will be published on this page and included in a future app update where relevant. Material changes to collection or sharing will be explained through the website or app, and permission will be requested where required. The current policy does not authorise undisclosed future collection.