Privacy policy

The short version

Close Reach connects sailors who are near each other. To do that it needs to know roughly where you are and how to reach you. It does not sell your data, does not run ads, and does not show anyone your exact position.

You can delete your account, and everything in it, from inside the app: Profile, then Delete account.

What we collect

Things you give us:

• Your phone number, which is how you sign in. It is verified by SMS.
• A recovery email, if you add one. It is the only way back into your account if you lose the number you signed up with, and it is used for nothing else.
• Your name, and optionally a headline, a short bio, languages you speak and a home port.
• Optionally a WhatsApp number or WhatsApp username, if you want people to reach you that way.
• Your skills, items you are willing to lend or sell, and details of your boat.
• A picture of you and a picture of your boat, if you add them, and any pictures you attach to a Wave.
• The Waves you post, the replies you send, and reviews you write.
• If you sign up for a business membership, the card details go straight to Stripe and never touch us. We keep a record that the membership exists and when it renews.

Things the app records as you use it:

• Your approximate position, so the app can show what is near you. Other sailors never see your exact position, only a distance and a rough area.
• A history of those approximate positions, and any future position you tell us about so you can be matched ahead of a passage.
• Which Waves you have viewed, so you are not shown the same thing repeatedly.
• A device token, if you turn on notifications, so a push can reach your phone.
• Karma, ratings and counts derived from the above.

What we do not collect

We do not read your contacts, your messages, or the photos on your phone. Only the pictures you choose to upload reach us. We do not track you across other apps or websites. We do not buy data about you from anyone else.

What other people can see

Sailors near you can see your name, your picture, your headline and bio, your boat, your skills and items, your rating and karma, and roughly how far away you are. They cannot see your exact position.

Your phone number is shared only when you and another sailor connect, and only with that person. If you turn on "Only show my WhatsApp username", your number is never shared at all and they get the username instead.

Who else processes your data

We use a small number of services to run the app. They handle your data on our instructions and for no other purpose:

• Twilio, to send the SMS code that signs you in.
• Supabase, which hosts the database.
• Expo, to deliver push notifications.
• Stripe, which takes the card if you sign up for a business membership.
• Apple and Google, who distribute the app.

How long we keep it

Your account and its contents are kept until you delete them. Waves expire and close on their own but remain in your history until the account goes.

When you delete your account, it is deleted rather than hidden: your profile, Waves, skills, items, boat, position history, reviews and karma are removed. Reviews you wrote about other people are removed too, which changes their ratings.

Your choices

• Turn location off in your phone settings. You can still browse; you will not be matched or notified.
• Turn any notification off in the app: Profile, then Notifications.
• Share a WhatsApp username instead of a phone number: Profile, then Reaching you.
• Change the number you sign in with: Profile, then Change your number. Your Waves, reviews and karma come with you.
• Take yourself off the chart: Profile, then Take me off the map. You stay in the nearby list.
• Leave the nearby list as well: the second switch under it. Your Waves and Comms are unaffected either way.
• Delete your account: Profile, then Delete account.

To ask what we hold about you, or to have it sent to you, write to privacy@closereachapp.com.

Children

Close Reach is not for anyone under 13, and we do not knowingly keep their data.

Changes

If this policy changes in a way that affects what we collect or who sees it, the app will say so before the change applies to you.

Contact

Questions about any of this: privacy@closereachapp.com.