mySailing Privacy Policy

mySailing Privacy Policy

Effective date: 29 March 2026 Last reviewed: 24 September 2026

1. Who we are

The mySailing mobile and web applications (the “Services”) are provided by Piotr Gawroński, a private developer based in Łódź, Poland. Email: app@mysailing.app As a private individual, we are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

2. Scope

This notice covers:

  • The public website located at https://mysailing.app.
  • The mySailing mobile, desktop, and web applications.
  • Customer support interactions, beta programs, and community surveys.

3. How we process personal data

We only collect data that is necessary for the functionality being used. The table below summarises the processing activities, categories of data, purposes, lawful bases under Article 6 GDPR, retention periods, and typical recipients.

Context Data categories Purpose Lawful basis Retention Recipients
Account creation & authentication Name, email, hashed password, profile image Create and manage user accounts, enable sync, allow password resets Contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) Active account + 30 days after closure Stored on user device only (sync disabled); future EU cloud provider to be named
In-app logbook & crew management Vessel name, voyage details, crew rosters, uploaded files Provide sailing log features, generate analytics for the user Contract; optional guests rely on legitimate interest with opt-out Stored locally on device until you delete; once cloud sync launches, retained until user deletes voyage or 24 months of inactivity Stored on user device only (sync disabled); future EU cloud provider to be named
Location data (GPS / GNSS) Precise and approximate device location: latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, heading, accuracy and timestamp — including location collected while the app is in the background or closed Record voyage tracks, stamp logbook events with a position, run the anchor-drift alarm, show your vessel on the chart, pre-fill Mayday/distress messages, and compute navigation data (CPA/TCPA collision warnings) Consent via the operating system permission prompt (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); processing thereafter is necessary to provide the requested features (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) Stored on your device until you delete the track, event or trip, or uninstall the app; we set no server-side retention because location is not uploaded to us No recipients — location stays on your device. Map tile servers receive the map area you view (see Section 5); exports and shares you start yourself may contain coordinates
Device telemetry & diagnostics Device model, OS version, anonymised crash logs, feature usage events Maintain stability, debug crashes, plan improvements Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)); users can disable analytics in settings 12 months rolling window Firebase Crashlytics (Google’s standard terms)
Support & feedback Contact info, support ticket content, attachments Respond to support requests, resolve issues Legitimate interest Until resolved unless you request deletion Email (mydevil.net)

Location data

Location is the most sensitive category mySailing handles, so we describe it in detail here.

What we collect. When you grant the permission, the app reads your device’s GPS/GNSS position: latitude, longitude, altitude, speed over ground, heading, accuracy and a timestamp. You can also feed position from your boat’s own instruments over NMEA (Wi-Fi/UDP/TCP) instead of the phone’s GPS; that data is handled identically.

Why we collect it. Location is used only to provide features you activate:

  • Voyage tracking — recording the track line of a trip in your logbook.
  • Event positions — stamping logbook entries (notes, incidents, photos, crew changes) with the position where they happened.
  • Anchor alarm — continuously comparing your position with the anchor drop point and alerting you if the boat drags.
  • Charts — centring the map on your vessel and drawing your course.
  • Mayday / distress assistance — pre-filling a distress call with your current coordinates so you can read them out or send them.
  • Collision avoidance — computing CPA/TCPA between your position and AIS targets received from your boat’s instruments.

Background and foreground-service collection. Voyage tracking and the anchor alarm must keep working while the screen is off or the app is in the background — an anchor alarm that stops when you fall asleep would be useless. Therefore:

  • On Android the app declares ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION and ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION, and runs a foreground service (FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION) with a persistent notification while tracking or the anchor alarm is active.
  • On iOS the app uses the location background mode with “Always” authorisation for the same features.

Background collection happens only while you have an active track recording or an armed anchor alarm. It stops when you stop the track or disarm the alarm. The sampling interval, minimum distance between fixes, and GPS accuracy are configurable in the app’s tracking settings.

Where it goes. Location data is written to the local database on your device. We do not upload your position to our servers, we do not use it for advertising, profiling or analytics, and we never sell it. The online sailor profile and crew-list features transmit identity and qualification data only — no coordinates. Location leaves your device only in these cases:

  • Map tiles — when the chart is displayed, tile requests go to tile.openstreetmap.org and tiles.openseamap.org. Those servers necessarily see the map area you are looking at and your IP address, under their own privacy policies. Cached tiles reduce how often this happens, and no location is sent when you stay offline.
  • Data you export or share yourself — GPX and CSV exports, PDF reports, and shared trip/event cards contain the coordinates of the data you chose to export. Where that file then travels is under your control.
  • Emergency use you initiate — a Mayday message you send contains the position you chose to include.

How to control it. You can refuse or later revoke the location permission in your operating system settings (Android: Settings → Apps → mySailing → Permissions; iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services). Revoking it disables tracking, the anchor alarm and position stamping, but the rest of the logbook keeps working, and you can still enter positions manually or via NMEA. Recorded positions can be deleted individually (per event or track) or by deleting the trip; uninstalling the app removes them all.

Future hosted storage

Right now, mySailing keeps voyage data on your device only. We plan to launch secure cloud synchronisation hosted in the EU (targeting AWS eu-central-1 or an equivalent ISO 27001 provider). Before enabling sync we will (a) update this document with the final processor list and retention defaults, (b) sign the provider’s GDPR-compliant data-processing terms (or SCCs if outside the EEA), and © release an opt-in UI explaining what data leaves the device and how to disable syncing at any time.

Online Sailor Profile

When you create an online sailor profile (optional, currently in beta), the following data is stored on our servers hosted at MyDevil (Poland, EU):

Required (contractual basis — Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR):

  • Display name, email address, phone number
  • Sailing qualifications: certificate type, STCW, radio operator certificate
  • Professional role and experience description

Optional (consent basis — Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR):

  • Date of birth, place of birth, nationality
  • Emergency contact information
  • Personal identification details

Optional personal data is collected only with your explicit, separate consent (presented as an unchecked-by-default checkbox during registration). It is used exclusively to populate crew lists when you join a trip registered online.

You may join any trip without sharing optional personal data — in that case only your display name and role appear on the crew list.

Consent audit trail: We record when you gave consent, the policy version you agreed to, your IP address, and the scope of your consent (GDPR Art. 7(1) compliance). You may withdraw consent at any time; upon withdrawal, optional personal data is immediately cleared from our servers and all active consents are revoked.

Auto-deletion from trips: When optional personal data is added to a trip crew list, it is automatically removed from that trip’s record 30 days after the trip’s end date. You may request earlier deletion at any time.

Profile deletion: You may delete your online profile at any time from the app. All server-side data is permanently deleted within 30 days. Data included in shared trip records (crew lists) is retained for the trip’s duration plus 30 days, then anonymised. All consent records are retained for the legally required period.

4. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website is built on WordPress and uses strictly necessary cookies for session management and security. We do not use analytics cookies or third-party tracking; if this changes we will deploy a consent banner and update this notice before any optional cookies load.

The app itself does not use third-party advertising SDKs. Crash and performance telemetry respects your operating system’s privacy settings (you can opt out in settings).

5. How we share data

We never sell personal data. Today we rely on:

  • Local device storage — account, logbook, crew, and location data stay on the device unless you opt into future sync.
  • OpenStreetMap / OpenSeaMap tile servers — map tile requests reveal the chart area you are viewing and your IP address to those providers; no account data or track history is sent.
  • Firebase Crashlytics and Analytics — crash logs, performance metrics, and feature-usage events processed under Google’s Data Processing and Security Terms (includes SCCs for US transfers). These reports do not contain your GPS coordinates or track data; as with any internet service, Google may infer a coarse, country-level location from the IP address of the request.
  • mydevil.net email — support replies and attachment handling within the EU.

If we add another processor, we will update this list before data flows to that vendor.

6. Security

We implement technical and organisational measures that include:

  • Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256 for future cloud sync).
  • Device-keystore storage of authentication tokens.
  • Role-based access control for internal tooling.
  • Secure development lifecycle, dependency review, and third-party penetration tests before major releases.
  • Regular backups stored in the EU with separate encryption keys.

No method of transmission is perfectly secure, but we continuously monitor for vulnerabilities and remediate issues promptly.

7. Retention

We keep data only as long as needed for the purposes set out in Section 3 or to comply with legal obligations. When retention expires we delete or irreversibly anonymise the data. Users can delete logbooks, crew entries, or documents at any time from within the app; deleting an account removes associated sync data once server-side sync is available.

8. Your rights

Under GDPR you may:

  • Request access to a copy of your personal data.
  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Request deletion where data is no longer needed or consent is withdrawn.
  • Restrict or object to processing, including telemetry collected under legitimate interests.
  • Receive your data in a portable format (CSV/JSON) for information stored in electronic form.
  • Withdraw consent at any time without affecting past lawful processing.
  • Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Please email app@mysailing.app to exercise these rights. We respond within one month (extendable by two months for complex cases) and may request verification to protect your data.

Supervisory authority

You can lodge complaints with the Polish Data Protection Authority (UODO), ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warsaw, Poland (https://uodo.gov.pl), or with your local authority if you reside in the EEA/UK.

9. Children

mySailing is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data. If you believe a child has provided data, contact us so we can delete it.

10. Automated decision-making

We do not engage in profiling or automated decisions that produce legal or significant effects on individuals.

11. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least annually and whenever we add new processing activities. Material updates will be announced via in-app notification or email before they take effect. Continuing to use the Services after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.