Privacy policy

Test box applications. When you apply on this website: your name, email address, boat name and length, instruments, home port and anything you write in the note.

Account details. Your name, email address, password (stored only as a one-way hash) and the boat or team name you choose. If you sign in with Google or Apple we receive your name, email address and an account identifier from them, never your Google or Apple password. Apple may give us a private relay address if you choose to hide your email.

Orders and shipping. When we send you a Polar: a shipping address and, if you give one, a phone number for the courier. If an order is paid, payment is handled by Stripe; we see the amount and status but never your card number.

Boat and instrument data. Once a Polar is set up on your boat (or the app records from your boat’s data hub), it uploads readings such as speed, heading, wind, depth, water temperature, battery state and GPS position, with timestamps and the Polar’s serial number. From these we build voyage summaries and your boat’s polar. Position data shows where your boat has been, so we treat it as personal information.

What you add. Notes, photos and messages you attach to a boat, the people you invite as crew or followers, and your sharing, privacy and notification settings.

Activity and technical data. A log of account actions (such as signing in, setting up a Polar or changing a member’s role) and standard server logs (IP address, time, request) used for security and to keep the service running.

• Camera, only to scan the code on your Polar’s card. Images stay on your phone and are not saved or uploaded.
• Bluetooth, only to hand your boat’s Wi-Fi details to your Polar during setup.
• Local network, to talk to your Polar or data hub on the boat’s Wi-Fi.
• Location, only while the app is recording from a data hub on a boat without a Polar. Phones only let an app keep running in the background while it follows location, so the app asks for it to keep recording. Your phone’s positions are not stored or uploaded; boat positions come from the boat’s own GPS.
• Notifications, if you allow them. We store a push token for your phone so we can send the alerts you ask for.

You can turn any of these off in your phone’s settings. The feature that needs it will stop working.

This website has no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. It stores your colour and layout choice in your browser so the page looks the same next time. The application form sends what you type to our servers and nowhere else.

• To choose test boats, contact applicants and ship Polars.
• To run your account, connect your Polar to your boat, and show you your data and polar.
• To share your boat’s data with the people you choose, at the level you choose.
• To send the emails and notifications you have asked for, and messages about your account or order.
• To secure the service, prevent abuse, and fix problems.
• To improve TrimPolar, including our polar models, using data with your boat name, crew and position removed.

We do not sell your personal information, we do not show advertising, and we do not use it to profile you.

People you choose. Your boat data is visible to the people on your boat’s team. Crew and followers see only what you allow: for followers, the level you set (position, passage, performance or crew) and with your position delayed by the time you choose. If you turn on sistership or support access in your privacy settings, the matching data is shared with those groups, and only then.

Our service providers, who process data only to run TrimPolar for us:

• DigitalOcean hosts our servers, database and file storage, in New York, United States.
• Google Workspace sends our email.
• Google and Apple provide sign-in, if you use it.
• Apple and Google deliver push notifications to your phone.
• Stripe processes payments, for paid orders.
• A courier receives your name, address and phone number to deliver a Polar.

When the law requires it, or to protect someone’s safety, we may disclose information. If TrimPolar is ever sold or merged, your information would pass to the new owner under this policy, and we would tell you first.

Your data is stored in the United States. If you live elsewhere, it is transferred there and protected as this policy describes, under the safeguards the law of your country requires.

We keep account and boat data while your account is active, and delete it as described in our data deletion and account deletion policies. The Your data page lists how long each kind is kept.

• See, copy or correct your data. Email us and we will send it within 30 days.
• Delete your account in the app under Settings › Account, or ask us to delete any of your data. See account deletion.
• Withdraw consent to sharing at any time in your privacy settings, and to email by unsubscribing or telling us.
• Complain. If you are not happy with how we handled your data, tell us first. You can also contact your local data protection authority; in Canada, that is the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Depending on where you live (for example in the EU, UK or California) you may have further rights, such as to object to some uses. We honour them for everyone; just ask.

Data travels over encrypted connections, passwords are stored hashed, each Polar has its own credentials, and access to your data is limited to your boat’s team and the few people who run the service. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

TrimPolar is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their information.

If we change this policy we will update the date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email before they apply.

Questions or requests: [email protected]. We answer within a few business days.