Privacy
Last updated: 12 October 2026
Seabearing is in beta and is not for navigation. It does as much as it can on your device. This page says what leaves your device, and when.
[OWNER: this page has not had a lawyer's review. The owner decides each line marked OWNER below; none is decided for you here.]
Who we are
Seabearing LLC, Florida. Questions: mr.challinger@gmail.com.
[OWNER: legal entity name, postal address, a privacy address that is not a personal email.]
What stays on your device
Your chart view, anchor watch, saved tracks, marks and most settings. Your track is stored on your device until you delete it, clear the app's data or uninstall. The recent-audio buffer and the recording made while you drop the anchor stay on the device and are never uploaded.
What you turn on yourself
- Live location sharing and anchor sharing are both off until you switch them on. Switch them off and your shared position is removed.
- Your crew. Your position, name and, if you enter one, your phone number go to the devices of your crew, sealed so that the relay server cannot read them. A phone number is never shown to other users, including flotilla members.
- Calls. Calls between devices are encrypted between the devices. To connect them, the app asks Seabearing's call service (which uses Amazon Web Services) for connection credentials while you are signed in. If a call is relayed, the relay sees that the call exists, its timing and both IP addresses, not its content.
- Boat instruments. The app can read your boat's plotter. Before it first uploads any instrument or alarm log, it asks you once. If you say No, nothing is uploaded. You can change the answer under Menu › Instrument data. If you say Yes, the logs (position, depth, wind, other instrument data and alarm decisions) are sent to a private, encrypted store.
- Ships nearby (internet AIS). When you turn it on, the app sends your sign-in and the area on your chart (about 20 nautical miles around you) to Seabearing, which returns public ship broadcasts. The request can show your account, IP address and area.
- Crew position history. Not in the app yet. When it is, your device will keep positions your crew shares, and crew devices will exchange them with each other, never with a Seabearing server.
[OWNER: how long uploaded instrument and alarm logs are kept. Suggested: 90 days after upload, then deleted, and deleted on request and when an account is deleted. Not set up yet; there is no automatic deletion today.]
[OWNER: whether crew position history may be kept on a device indefinitely, and whether to publish that line before release. Suggested: a delete control and a 31-day limit.]
[OWNER: whether declined logs are deleted from the phone after 7 days. Today they stay until the app's data is cleared.]
Account and website
When you sign in we process your email address, a password or sign-in link, and a profile (name, boat name, picture, bio). The contact form stores what you type, your IP address and the time. Charts, tides, weather and map pictures are fetched from our servers and some outside map providers; those requests can show your IP address and the area you look at.
[OWNER: contact-form retention, server log retention, account deletion process, final list of service providers.]
What we do not do
The app has no advertising or analytics tool in it, and we do not sell personal data.
[OWNER: confirm the no-sale commitment, children, the UK and EU position (legal basis, representative, transfers to the United States).]
Your choices
Use the chart without any sharing. Turn sharing off. Say No to log upload. Decline microphone, camera or background location (the anchor watch may then not restart itself). Sign out or clear the app's data. To ask for access, correction or deletion, email the address above.