Privacy Policy
Last updated: 27 October 2026
- We collect only what Reach needs to work: your account email, the spots, logs and settings you choose to save, and your location when you let us.
- We never sell your data, never show ads and never track you across other apps or websites.
- Apple handles all payments. We never see your card details.
- You can delete your account, and everything saved to it, at any time in the app.
This policy explains how we collect and use personal data when you use the Reach Forecasting app for iPhone (“the app”) and the website reach-forecasting.com (“the website”), together “Reach”. It applies to users in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA), and everywhere else we offer Reach.
1. Who we are
Reach is provided by [OWNER LINE] (“Reach Marine”, “we”, “us”). We are the data controller for your personal data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 and, for users in the EEA, the EU GDPR.
Address: [ADDRESS]. Email: contact@reach-forecasting.com.
2. What we collect and why
You can use much of the app as a guest without an account. Guest data stays on your device. If you create an account, we collect the following.
| Data | Why we use it | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Email address and password (Firebase stores the password in scrambled, hashed form, and we can never see it) | To create your account, sign you in and keep it secure | Contract |
| Account ID and sign-in records | To keep you signed in and protect against misuse | Contract; legitimate interests |
| Saved spots (name and coordinates), your pinned and selected spot, and app preferences such as units and Home cards | To keep your set-up the same on all your devices | Contract |
| Sailing log entries: where and when you sailed, duration, wind, gusts, tide, sea state, waves, craft, rating, observations and notes | To store and show your sailing log and its trends | Contract |
| Gear log: your sails, boards and foils and the hours and conditions you used them in | To store and show your gear log | Contract |
| Subscription status and an anonymous subscription ID from Apple (never your card or bank details) | To unlock Plus or Pro features and to count Ask Reach messages fairly | Contract |
| Ask Reach questions and the forecast details sent with them | To answer your question (see section 4) | Contract |
| Your choice about promotional emails, and when you made it | To send emails only if you asked for them | Consent |
| Messages you send us | To answer your questions and support requests | Legitimate interests |
Some data never leaves your device. Garmin GPX or TCX files you import are read on your device, and only the session details they create (such as start point, date, time and duration) are saved to your log. Any photos you add to the log stay on your device. Notifications such as tide reminders and daily summaries are scheduled on your device.
We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking tools in the app. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.
3. Your location
If you allow it, the app uses your iPhone’s location while you are using it, to show the forecast where you are and to help you drop a pin in your sailing log. It does not use your location in the background. You can turn location access off at any time in iOS Settings and pick spots by hand instead.
To fetch a forecast, the coordinates of your spot (rounded to about 1 km) are sent, directly or through our server, to our weather and tide data providers. They receive coordinates only, never your name, email or account details. We do not keep a history of where you have been, apart from the spots and log entries you choose to save.
Legal basis: your consent, given in the iOS permission prompt, which you can withdraw at any time.
4. Ask Reach (AI chat)
Ask Reach is an AI assistant for Plus and Pro subscribers. When you send a question, our server sends it to Anthropic, which provides the Claude AI model, together with the recent messages in the conversation and the forecast details for the spot you are looking at. Ask Reach may search the web to answer. We do not send your name or email to Anthropic.
We do not store the content of your chats on our servers. We keep a count of how many messages you have used in your subscription period, so we can apply the monthly allowance. Under its commercial terms, Anthropic does not use your questions to train its models and keeps them only for a limited period for safety and abuse monitoring.
Please do not put sensitive personal information into Ask Reach. AI answers can be wrong, so read our safety notice.
5. Emails and the waitlist
If you join the waitlist on our website, or turn on promotional emails in the app, we store your email address with our email provider, Loops, and send you news about Reach’s launch, features and offers. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also turn emails off in the app’s Settings. Legal basis: your consent.
We also send emails you need for your account, such as password resets. You cannot turn these off while you have an account.
6. Who we share data with
We share data only with service providers that process it for us under contract, and only as much as each one needs:
- Google Firebase (Google Ireland Ltd and Google LLC): sign-in, our database and our server functions. Our database and functions run in Google’s London region.
- Apple: App Store downloads, subscriptions, payments and refunds. Apple’s own privacy policy applies to what it collects.
- Anthropic (Anthropic, PBC): the AI behind Ask Reach.
- Open-Meteo: weather, wind and marine forecasts. Receives coordinates only.
- TideCheck: tide times and heights. Receives coordinates only.
- Loops (Loops.so, Inc.): waitlist and promotional emails, only if you signed up for them.
- Netlify: hosts our website and, like any web host, briefly logs visitors’ IP addresses for security.
Live wind readings in the app come from the Met Office. We fetch them on our server, so the Met Office receives no data about you.
We may also share data if the law requires it, to protect the safety of our users or others, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of our business, in which case this policy will continue to apply to your data.
7. International transfers
Some providers, including Anthropic, Loops, Netlify and Google, may process data in the United States or elsewhere outside the UK and EEA. When they do, we rely on the UK-US Data Bridge and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, or on standard contractual clauses approved by the UK and EU.
8. How long we keep data
- Account data, including saved spots, preferences, sailing log and gear log: while your account is open. When you delete your account, we delete it straight away from our live systems, and any backup copies are gone within 30 days.
- Ask Reach message counts: while your subscription is active and for up to 12 months after it ends.
- Waitlist and promotional emails: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your email.
- Support emails: up to 24 months after the conversation ends.
- Location: not stored, apart from the spots and log entries you save.
9. Your rights and choices
You have the right to ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, to receive it in a portable format, and to restrict or object to how we use it. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
To delete your account, go to Settings > Account > Delete account in the app. This permanently deletes your account and everything saved to it. Deleting the app alone does not delete your account. Cancelling a subscription is separate and is done through Apple, in your iPhone’s Settings > your name > Subscriptions.
For any other request, email contact@reach-forecasting.com. We will reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk, or to the data protection authority where you live in the EEA.
10. Storage on your device and cookies
The app stores some data on your device, such as your sign-in, settings, cached forecasts and widget data. This is strictly necessary for the app to work, so it does not need your consent. It is removed when you delete the app.
The website does not use cookies or analytics. It loads fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser connects to Google’s servers.
11. Security
Data is sent over encrypted connections and stored with Google Firebase, which encrypts it at rest. Our database rules let each user read and change only their own data. No system is completely secure, so please use a strong password that you don’t use anywhere else.
12. Children
Reach is not intended for children under 13, and you must be 13 or older to create an account. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you think a child has given us personal data, email us and we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
14. Contact us
[OWNER LINE]
[ADDRESS]
contact@reach-forecasting.com