Privacy policy
Last updated 28 September 2026
The short version
- Primetide has no accounts. We never ask for your name or email.
- There are no ads, no analytics and no tracking in the app.
- The app uses your location only when you tap to use it, and only while it is open.
- To show you tides and conditions, the app sends the position of the place you are looking at to the data providers named below. That is the only reason any data leaves your phone.
- Our own server passes those requests on and keeps no record of them.
Who we are
Primetide is made by Jonathan Williams, based in the United Kingdom. For this policy we are the "controller" of your personal data under UK data protection law.
Contact: hello@primetide.app
What stays on your phone
The app keeps these on your phone only. They are not sent to us or synced anywhere:
- the place you last looked at, and any marks you have saved
- your settings: units, comfort level, when you fish, your fishing preferences, your chosen species, theme
- recently downloaded forecasts and tide times, so the app works quickly and uses less data
- a random install number (see "Our server" below)
- a count of how many forecast and tide requests the app has made each day over the last 30 days, which helps us keep costs under control. It never leaves your phone.
- whether you have Primetide Plus, so the app knows what to show
Deleting the app deletes all of this.
Your location
The app asks for permission to use your location only while you are using it. It never tracks you in the background. It takes one reading of your position when you tap to use your location, and not otherwise.
That position is treated like any other place you look at: it is sent, rounded to about 10 metres, to the weather and tide providers below so they can return the forecast for it. Your phone's own location service (provided by Google on Android phones and by Apple on iPhones) may also be asked for the name of the place, so the app can show it.
You can say no to location permission and still use the app fully by searching for places by name instead.
What leaves your phone, and why
Primetide works by asking specialist data providers for forecasts and tide predictions. Each request carries only what that provider needs.
| Who | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo (directly, or through our server) | The position of the place you are looking at, rounded to about 10 metres | Weather, wind, swell and sea temperature forecasts |
| WorldTides (through our server) | The position of the place, rounded to about 10 metres | Tide times and heights |
| LocationIQ (through our server) | The words you type into the place search | Finding places by name |
| NOAA, the US government's ocean agency | The ID of the nearest US tide station and a date range. Your position is not sent: the app picks the station on your phone. | Tide times and tidal flow predictions, for places in the US only |
| RevenueCat and your app store | An anonymous customer number that RevenueCat creates, and your purchase details | Handling Primetide Plus subscriptions and restoring them on a new phone |
Like any internet service, these providers can see the internet (IP) address your request comes from, except where the request goes through our server, in which case they see our server's address instead of yours. Each provider handles data under its own privacy policy.
Our server
Some requests go through a small server we run on Cloudflare. It exists so that our keys for the data providers are never stored inside the app. With each request the app sends:
- a random install number, created on your phone when the app is first used. It is not linked to your device, your app store account or you.
- the app's version number
The server uses the install number only to stop any single copy of the app making an excessive number of requests. It does not log requests, store positions or searches, or keep install numbers. It does not pass your IP address or install number on to the data providers. Cloudflare, which runs the server's hardware, processes your IP address in order to deliver the connection.
The app also asks our server, when it starts, whether there is a notice to show, such as a message that an update is needed. That request carries only the app's version number.
Subscriptions
If you buy Primetide Plus, the payment is handled entirely by the app store you bought it from, such as Google Play or the Apple App Store. We never see your card details. RevenueCat, the service we use to manage subscriptions, receives the purchase details from the store and an anonymous customer number. We do not give RevenueCat your name, email or any other details about you.
Our legal basis
We use the data described here because it is needed to provide the app you have chosen to use (under UK GDPR, this is "performance of a contract"), and for keeping our server secure and our costs under control, which is in our legitimate interests. We use your location only when you ask the app to.
Where data goes
Some of the providers above are based outside the UK, including in the United States. Where data is transferred outside the UK, it is protected by the safeguards UK law requires, such as the UK's data adequacy arrangements or standard contractual clauses.
How long we keep it
Data kept on your phone stays until you delete it or remove the app. Our server keeps nothing after it has passed a request on. Providers keep data according to their own privacy policies.
Children
Primetide is not aimed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.
Your rights
You have the right to ask what personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to how we use it, and to complain. Because we keep no account or server records, we will usually hold nothing that can be linked to you. Email hello@primetide.app with any request and we will reply within one month.
You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app handles data, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change reaches the app.