Privacy Policy

The short version

You can use most of Bite Compass — forecasts, tides, solunar, the map, species guides and articles — without an account and without giving us anything. You only share personal information if you sign up, log a catch, or subscribe to the weekly email. You can delete your account and everything tied to it at any time.

What we collect

• Account details. If you create an account we store your email address and a public handle. If you sign up with a password, we store it only as a salted hash — never in plain text, and we can't read it back. If you sign in with Google or Facebook, we receive a basic identifier and email from that provider — we never receive your Google or Facebook password. You may also set a home region and measurement preferences.
• Catch records. When you log a catch we store what you enter: species, length and weight, the date and time, a spot name or the latitude/longitude coordinates you choose, and any notes. Coordinates you record are only as precise as what you enter or select.
• Photos. If you attach a photo to a catch we store the image. We strip embedded location (GPS) data and other camera metadata from photos as part of upload processing, and we reject uploads in formats we can't reliably strip, so the coordinates your camera embeds aren't published with the image.
• Email subscriptions. If you subscribe to the weekly forecast email we store your email address and subscription status until you unsubscribe.
• Contact form. If you message us through the contact form we receive what you write and the email address you give us. The message we receive also notes your connection's IP address and browser type, which we use only to deal with spam and abuse.
• Analytics and cookies. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used (pages viewed, rough device/region, referrer). This uses cookies and similar identifiers. We also use a session cookie to keep you signed in. We do not sell your data or run third-party advertising trackers.

We do not store your IP address in your account record. Like most websites, IP addresses do appear in server logs (for example around sign-in and rate limiting) that we use for security and troubleshooting; these are kept for a limited time and we don't use them to profile you. We may keep relevant records longer while investigating abuse or where the law requires it.

How we use it

We use your information to run the service: to sign you in, to show and store your catch log, to build public profiles and leaderboards from catches you choose to make public, to send the weekly email if you asked for it, and to keep the site secure and working. Catches you mark private stay visible only to you.

Who can see your information

Catches and profile details you mark as public can be seen by anyone, including on public profiles and leaderboards. Anything you keep private is not shown to other users. We don't sell personal information. We share data only with the service providers that host the site (below) and where the law requires it.

Where your data is stored

The site runs on a DigitalOcean virtual server, and uploaded photos are stored in DigitalOcean Spaces, both hosted in Sydney, Australia. Analytics are processed by Google, which may process data overseas. We also use Sentry for error monitoring so we can fix crashes: error reports are configured to exclude your personal identifiers and mask IP addresses, and are processed in the United States. We keep the data we hold to what's needed to run the service.

Keeping and deleting your data

We keep your account and catch data while your account is open. You can delete your account yourself at any time from your profile — this permanently removes your account, your catches and your uploaded photos, and clears your entries from the leaderboards. Deleting your account does not unsubscribe you from the Weekly Bite Forecast — use the unsubscribe link in any email, or pause it from the Weekly Forecast section of Edit Profile before you go.

Your rights

Under Australian privacy law you can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or make a complaint. Email us and we'll help. If you're not satisfied with how we handle a complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Children

Bite Compass is a general-audience fishing site and isn't aimed at children. If you're under 18, please only create an account with a parent or guardian's consent.

Contact

Privacy questions or requests? Email contact@bitecompass.com. We may update this policy from time to time; the date at the top shows when it last changed.