Privacy
Privacy policy
How we collect, use and look after your personal information. We've kept it as plain as we can.
1. Who we are
Pelagic State (“we”, “us”) provides ocean-information charts for recreational fishing at pelagicstate.com and charts.pelagicstate.com. We are based in New Zealand and follow the Privacy Act 2020.
For anything about your privacy, contact us at support@pelagicstate.com.
2. The short version
- We collect what we need to run your account and keep your saved spots and trips.
- Your location is only stored when you choose to save it: a mark, a waypoint or a recorded trip.
- We don't sell your information, and we don't use advertising or tracking cookies.
- You can delete your account and saved data yourself in the app, and see or correct your information at any time by emailing us.
3. What we collect
When you create an account
- Your email address and password. Passwords are handled by our sign-in provider and stored in a protected, hashed form: we never see them.
- A display name and a profile icon, if you choose them. The icon is one of a set of Pelagic State icons or your initial; we don't collect photos.
- Your plan and trial details (for example, when your trial started and ends). To make sure each person gets one free trial, we keep a simplified form of your email address with the date the trial was claimed.
What you save in the app
- Marks, waypoints and trips, including their positions, the names and notes you add, catch details you choose to record, and recorded GPS tracks.
- The ocean conditions at a mark's position when you drop it (for example sea temperature and depth). These come from our charts, not from your device.
When you contact us
- Your email address and message. Feedback sent from the app also includes the app version and your browser type, so we can look into problems.
Technical information
- Like most websites, our hosting and delivery providers automatically log technical details such as IP addresses, browser type and the pages or files requested. These logs are used to keep the service running and secure.
4. Your location
The app uses your device's location to show where you are on the chart, to drop marks at your position and to record trips. Your location is only sent to us when you save something: a mark, a waypoint or a recorded trip. Simply viewing your position on the chart doesn't send it to us.
You can turn off location access in your device or browser settings at any time; the charts still work without it.
5. How we use your information
- to create and run your account, sign you in, and provide the plan you're on, including the free trial
- to save and sync your marks, waypoints and trips across your devices
- to send emails you need, such as sign-up confirmation, password resets and trial reminders
- to answer your messages and fix problems
- to protect the service, prevent misuse (such as repeat free trials) and keep it secure
- to understand, in general terms, how Pelagic State is used so we can improve it
We don't sell your personal information, use it for advertising, or share your marks or tracks with other users.
6. Information stored on your device
The app stores some information in your browser so it works quickly and offline: your sign-in session, settings, saved items, downloaded charts and ocean data. This uses your browser's storage, not advertising cookies. Clearing your browser data removes it from that device; anything synced to your account stays in your account.
When you're signed in to the charts, the app also sets one small cookie, ps_hint, on pelagicstate.com. It holds only your chosen profile icon and the first letter of your name, so our website can show that you're signed in. It contains no email address, account ID or sign-in details, isn't used for tracking, expires after 30 days and is removed when you sign out or delete your account.
We don't use analytics or advertising trackers.
7. Who we share it with
We use trusted service providers to run Pelagic State. They process information for us under their own security and privacy commitments:
- Supabase: accounts, sign-in and saved data (hosted in Sydney, Australia)
- Cloudflare: delivery of chart data, and sending and routing our email (global network)
- Netlify: hosting our website and app (United States)
- Google Fonts and cdnjs: fonts and map software loaded by the app, which receive your IP address when they're loaded
- GEBCO: the seafloor background map is loaded from GEBCO's map service, which receives your IP address
When subscriptions open, payments will be handled by a payment provider (we expect to use Stripe). We won't see or store your full card details.
Some of these providers store information outside New Zealand. We choose providers that protect personal information to standards comparable to New Zealand's.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.
8. How long we keep it
We keep your account information and saved items while your account is open. When you delete your account, we delete your account, profile, plan details, marks, waypoints, trips and recorded GPS tracks. We keep only limited records: the simplified email address used to prevent repeat free trials, anything we must keep for legal or tax purposes, and feedback messages you sent from the app, which we keep without your email address or a link to your account. Messages you email us are kept as long as they're useful for helping you. Server logs are kept for a short period by our providers.
We may delete saved data from accounts that have been inactive for a long time. We'll email you before we do.
9. Keeping it safe
Information is sent over encrypted connections. Saved items are protected so that each account can only read its own. Access to our systems is restricted. No system is perfectly secure, so if a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we'll tell you and the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.
10. Your rights
Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it.
You can delete your account and saved data at any time in the app: Settings, Profile & Account, Delete account. It's permanent, so export anything you want to keep (for example as GPX) first. You can also ask us to delete it for you.
Email support@pelagicstate.com from the address on your account. We'll respond within 20 working days. We may need to confirm it's really you first.
If you're not happy with how we've handled your information, please tell us. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
11. Children
Pelagic State is meant for people aged 16 and over. Younger people should use it with a parent or guardian, who should create and manage the account.
12. Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy as Pelagic State changes. If we make an important change, we'll let account holders know by email or in the app. The date at the top shows when it last changed.