Privacy Policy

We collect information you provide directly when creating an account or using our services:

• Account data: name, email address, alias (optional), encrypted password
• Profile data: date of birth (optional), gender (optional), sport interests, motivations
• Photos: images you upload to spot galleries, along with the provided description
• Beach submissions: geographic information and descriptions of spots you submit for approval
• Alerts: surf alert configurations you create for specific spots
• Automatically collected data: IP address, browser user agent, pages visited and searches performed within the site

We use the collected information to:

• Provide and improve the surf forecast service
• Manage your account, alerts and preferences
• Send you surf alert notifications when conditions match your criteria
• Analyze site usage in aggregate to improve the experience (most visited spots, popular searches)
• Moderate user-submitted content (photos, beaches, edit suggestions)
• Manage surf competition registrations

By uploading a photo to WaveSearch, you agree to the following:

• You grant WaveSearch a non-exclusive, free, worldwide license to use, display and reproduce the photo within the website, including the spot page, galleries and promotional materials for the site
• You retain authorship and ownership of your photos. WaveSearch will not sell or transfer them to third parties outside the site
• Your alias or name will be displayed as attribution alongside the photo
• Photos go through a moderation process before being published. We reserve the right to reject or remove inappropriate content
• You can request the removal of your photos by contacting us. Photos will be removed from the site and storage within a reasonable timeframe

We implement security measures to protect your information:

• Passwords are stored with secure encryption (bcrypt) and are never visible to anyone
• All communication is conducted over HTTPS (encrypted connection)
• Access to personal data is restricted to the administration team
• Data is stored on servers with controlled access

WaveSearch uses strictly necessary cookies for:

• Keeping your session active
• Remembering your preferences (language, metric/imperial unit system)
• CSRF attack protection (form security)

WaveSearch uses the following external services for meteorological and oceanographic data:

• Open-Meteo: wave, wind and atmospheric condition data (no user data is shared)
• Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS): wave, ocean current and secondary swell data (no user data is shared)
• Bunny Fonts: web font loading (no user data is shared)

We apply the following retention policies:

• Account data: retained as long as your account remains active
• Forecasts: automatically deleted when they expire (temporary data)
• Visit and search logs: automatically deleted after 90 days
• Tide predictions: automatically deleted after 3 days
• Photos: retained while approved. Deleted from storage when rejected or upon deletion request

As a WaveSearch user, you have the right to:

• Access your personal information from your profile
• Modify your personal data at any time
• Delete your account and all associated data (from your profile)
• Request the removal of photos you have uploaded
• Delete your alerts and configurations at any time
• Request a copy of your personal data by contacting us

WaveSearch is not intended for children under 14 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 14. If we discover that we have collected data from a minor, we will delete it as soon as possible.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with the update date. We recommend reviewing this page periodically.

If you have questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your rights regarding your personal data, you can contact us:

• Through the site's contact form (account required)
• Or by email: hello@example.com