guddle

Privacy Statement

Effective date: October 12, 2026

This Privacy Statement explains how Guddle LLC ("Guddle," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you use the Guddle website at guddle.fish, the Guddle mobile applications, and related services (together, the "Service"). It also explains the choices and rights you have.

This Privacy Statement is part of our Terms of Service. Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Statement.

The short version:

  • We collect what you give us (your account details, catch logs, photos, and reports) and what the Service needs to run (such as device and usage data).
  • Your precise catch locations are private by default.
  • We remove embedded metadata (EXIF), including GPS coordinates, from the photos we store.
  • We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not show third-party ads.
  • You can close your account at any time from your profile. Closing it keeps your data. To have your personal information erased, email hello@guddle.fish.
  • You can ask us to access, correct, export, or delete your data by emailing hello@guddle.fish.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide

  • Account information. Your email address, your password (stored only in hashed form by our authentication provider), display name, and profile photo or avatar.
  • Sign-in provider information. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive basic profile information that the provider shares with your permission, such as your name, email address (or an Apple private relay address), and profile picture.
  • Catch logs and journal content. Species, size, weight, date and time, river or water body, location, gear (rod, reel, line, fly or lure), notes, trips and outings, and any other details you record.
  • Photos. Photos you upload, including photos you import from your device to build your catch history.
  • Field reports. Reports you submit about a river or water, including the text and your overall sentiment.
  • Learning and activity. Education modules you complete, quiz attempts, badges earned, rivers you watch, and your notification preferences.
  • Communications. Information you send when you contact us, report content, or send feedback.

Information collected automatically

  • Location. With your permission, we collect your device's precise location when you log a catch or use location-based features such as the map. You can turn off location access at any time in your device or browser settings; some features will not work without it.
  • Photo metadata. When you import or upload photos, we read the date, time, and GPS coordinates embedded in the photo (EXIF data) so we can date and place your catch. We then strip this metadata from the stored copy of the photo. The extracted date, time, and location are saved as part of your catch log.
  • Device and usage information. Like most online services, our hosting and infrastructure providers automatically record technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, pages and features requested, referring URLs, and the date and time of requests, and they generate error and diagnostic logs.
  • Push notification identifiers. If you enable notifications, we store a push subscription or device token so we can send them.

Cookies and local storage

We use cookies and similar technologies that are strictly necessary to run the Service, such as cookies that keep you signed in and secure your session. We also store data locally on your device (for example, in browser storage) to make the app faster and to work offline, such as cached map data and recent conditions. We do not currently use advertising cookies or third-party analytics cookies. If we introduce analytics, we will update this Privacy Statement and, where required by law, ask for your consent first.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, there is nothing to opt out of. We nevertheless honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as a valid opt-out request where required by law.

Information from other sources

We obtain public data such as stream gauges, weather, stocking reports, and regulations from government agencies and other public sources. This data is generally not about you. We may also receive information about you from other users (for example, if a report about your content is submitted) and from our service providers.

2. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide the Service. Create and secure your account, log and display your catches, show conditions and maps, deliver notifications, award badges, and run analytics about your own fishing.
  • Enrich your catch logs. Use the time and place of a catch to look up weather, flow, water temperature, sun position, and other conditions, and to label the location.
  • Improve and develop the Service. Understand how features are used, fix bugs, and build new features. This includes creating aggregated or de-identified statistics, and developing and training models (for example, species identification, size verification, and condition forecasting) using catch data and photos.
  • Communicate with you. Send service-related messages such as account confirmation, password resets, security alerts, and updates to our terms, and respond to your requests.
  • Keep the Service safe. Prevent, detect, and investigate fraud, abuse, spam, security incidents, and violations of our Terms, and moderate content.
  • Comply with law and protect rights. Meet legal obligations, enforce our Terms, and protect the rights, property, and safety of Guddle, our users, and the public.
  • With your consent or as otherwise disclosed to you at the time of collection.

Aggregated and de-identified data. We may create aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you (for example, "catch rates on a river by month") and use and share it for any lawful purpose. We will maintain such data in de-identified form and will not attempt to re-identify it, except as permitted by law.

Legal bases (for users in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland). Where these laws apply, we process personal information to perform our contract with you (providing the Service), for our legitimate interests (such as improving and securing the Service, in a way that does not override your rights), with your consent (such as precise location and push notifications, which you can withdraw at any time), and to comply with legal obligations.

3. What Other Users Can See

  • Field reports you submit are visible to other signed-in users, together with your display name.
  • Your catch logs, photos, notes, and precise catch locations are private to your account by default. If we introduce features that let you share catches or locations, they will be off unless you choose to turn them on, and they will show only what you choose to share.
  • If you share content outside the Service (for example, using a share card), anyone you share it with can see and re-share it. We cannot control what others do with content you share.

Choose your display name with care: do not use your full legal name if you do not want it seen alongside your field reports.

4. How We Disclose Information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We disclose personal information only as described below:

  • Service providers. We use vendors that process information on our behalf, under contracts that limit their use of it to providing services to us. These currently include providers of:
    • database, authentication, and file storage (Supabase);
    • website hosting and content delivery (Vercel);
    • background job processing (Inngest);
    • caching and rate limiting (Upstash);
    • push notification delivery (OneSignal);
    • email delivery and forwarding (for example, Cloudflare and Google).
  • Data and map services. To enrich catch logs and render maps, we send coordinates and times, without your name or email, to weather and geocoding services such as Open-Meteo and OpenStreetMap's Nominatim. When your device loads map tiles from a map provider such as CARTO, that provider receives your IP address and the map area being viewed, as is necessary to deliver the tiles.
  • Sign-in providers. If you use Google or Apple to sign in, those providers process information under their own privacy policies.
  • Other users. As described in Section 3.
  • Legal and safety. We may disclose information if we believe in good faith it is necessary to comply with law, regulation, legal process, or a governmental request; to enforce our Terms; to protect the security or integrity of the Service; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Guddle, our users, or others.
  • Business transfers. If Guddle is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or part of its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Privacy Statement or a statement at least as protective.
  • With your consent or at your direction.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal information for as long as your account is active and as long as needed to provide the Service and for the purposes described in this Privacy Statement.

Deleting your account in the app. When you use Delete Account on your profile, we close your account right away: you are signed out on every device and can no longer sign in. Closing your account does not erase the information associated with it. Your catch logs, photos, field reports, and other content are retained and continue to be used as described in this Privacy Statement, and field reports you posted remain visible to other users.

Erasing your personal information. If you want your personal information erased, email hello@guddle.fish with the subject line "Privacy Request" (see Section 6). You can do this whether or not you have closed your account. We will delete or de-identify your personal information within 30 days of verifying your request, except that:

  • copies in routine backups are overwritten on a rolling schedule, normally within 90 days;
  • we may retain information as required by law, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements, or to prevent fraud and abuse; and
  • aggregated or de-identified data, and models trained using data that cannot be reasonably extracted, may be retained.

6. Your Rights and Choices

Your choices. You can update your profile and edit your catch logs in the app, ask us to delete any specific catch, photo, or field report, turn off location access and notifications in your device settings, and stop using the Service at any time.

Your rights. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

  • access the personal information we hold about you and learn how we use and disclose it;
  • correct inaccurate personal information;
  • delete your personal information and your account (closing your account in the app does not by itself erase your information; send an erasure request as described below);
  • receive a copy of your personal information in a portable format;
  • opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, targeted advertising, or profiling with legal or similarly significant effects (we do not engage in these activities);
  • limit the use of sensitive personal information, such as precise geolocation (we use it only to provide the Service as you request);
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • object to or restrict certain processing, and lodge a complaint with your data protection authority (EEA, UK, and Switzerland).

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws have rights under those laws. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

How to make a request. Email hello@guddle.fish from the address associated with your account, with the subject line "Privacy Request," and tell us what you would like us to do. We will verify your request by confirming it with the email address on your account, and we may ask for more information if needed. You may use an authorized agent, but we may require proof of the agent's authority and verify your identity directly. We respond within 45 days (or within the time required by applicable law), and we will tell you if we need more time.

Appeals. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision with the subject line "Privacy Appeal." We will respond to your appeal within the time required by law. If you are not satisfied, you may contact your state attorney general.

7. Information Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information, including encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls that restrict each user's data to their own account at the database level, hashed passwords, and least-privilege access for our systems. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for using a strong, unique password. If we learn of a security breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you as required by law.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at hello@guddle.fish.

9. International Users

Guddle is based in the United States, and our service providers store and process information in the United States and other countries. If you use the Service from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers.

10. Third-Party Services

The Service may contain links to, or integrations with, third-party websites and services, including sign-in providers and data sources. This Privacy Statement does not apply to them, and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please review their privacy policies.

11. Changes to This Privacy Statement

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Effective date" above. If we make material changes, we will give you notice, such as through the Service or by email, before the changes take effect, and we will obtain your consent where required by law. Your continued use of the Service after an update takes effect means you accept the updated Privacy Statement.

12. Contact Us

Questions or requests about this Privacy Statement or our privacy practices? Contact us at:

Guddle LLC New Hampshire, United States Email: hello@guddle.fish