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Wild

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 12 March 2026

1. Who We Are

Wild Open Water ("Wild", "we", "us") is a web-based platform for open water swimmers in the United Kingdom. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of data:

Account data: When you create an account, we collect your email address and a hashed password. Authentication is handled by Google Firebase Authentication, which processes and stores your credentials securely.

Usage data: We collect anonymised usage analytics to understand how the platform is used. This may include pages visited, features used, and general geographic region. We use privacy-respecting analytics tools.

Community content: If you submit posts, reports, or comments, we store that content along with your account identifier and the date/time of submission.

Favourites and preferences: If you save swim spots or set preferences, we store these against your account.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to:

  • Provide and maintain the Wild Open Water service
  • Authenticate your identity when you sign in
  • Display your community posts to other users
  • Save your favourites and preferences
  • Understand usage patterns and improve the platform
  • Communicate service updates if necessary

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR: Contract (Article 6(1)(b)), to provide the service you signed up for; Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)), to improve the platform and understand usage; Consent (Article 6(1)(a)), where applicable, such as for optional analytics.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

  • Google Firebase Authentication: Handles account creation and sign-in. Google's privacy policy applies to this processing.
  • Vercel: Hosts the platform. Vercel may process server logs including IP addresses.
  • NOAA, ECMWF, Copernicus Marine Service, WorldTides, Environment Agency: We fetch environmental data from these services. No personal data is shared with these providers.

6. Data Storage and Security

Account data is stored securely via Firebase. Passwords are never stored in plain text. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, alteration, or destruction. Data may be stored on servers located outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

7. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. Community posts remain visible unless you delete them or request removal. Usage analytics data is retained in anonymised form and cannot be linked back to individuals. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it by law.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access your personal data
  • Rectify inaccurate data
  • Erase your data ("right to be forgotten")
  • Restrict processing of your data
  • Data portability - receive your data in a portable format
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@wildopenwater.com. We will respond within one month as required by UK GDPR.

9. Cookies

We use essential cookies to maintain your session and remember your theme preference. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies. The theme preference is stored in your browser's localStorage and is not transmitted to our servers.

10. Children

Wild Open Water is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of significant changes via email. The "last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

12. Contact and Complaints

For privacy enquiries, contact us at hello@wildopenwater.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.