Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 20 August 2026
In short
BlueBaħar does not require an account and does not ask for your name or email address. The app lets you view public maritime data, opt into new-notice notifications, and optionally submit reports. Exact device coordinates normally stay on your device. For a location-based forecast, the app sends an approximate area (rounded to about 1 kilometre) directly to Open-Meteo; if you switch on "Share boat traffic", it also contributes an approximate marine area (rounded to about 250 metres, with no identifier that lasts beyond a day) so the map can show which areas are busy. To keep the app reliable we collect limited operational data: anonymous usage statistics, crash reports, optional push tokens, and the report content you choose to send. Analytics and crash reporting are on by default but you can switch them off at any time in the app's settings.
1. What we don't collect
We do not operate user accounts and we do not serve advertising or use advertising SDKs. We do not collect your name, email address, contacts, photos, or precise persistent advertising identifiers.
We collect only the limited information needed to operate and improve the app: anonymous usage statistics, crash reports, optional push-notification tokens, ordinary service request metadata, and any report text, map point, or diagnostics that you choose to send. The sections below explain exactly what this involves and which providers are used.
2. Geolocation
If you grant the app location permission, BlueBaħar uses your device's geolocation services to display your current position on the map together with notices to mariners, hazards, restricted zones, protected areas, and weather forecasts.
Exact device coordinates are processed locally and are not sent to our backend. The two limited exceptions are approximate weather requests and the optional boat-traffic sharing described below. You can revoke location permission at any time from your device settings; the rest of the app will continue to work without it.
Weather forecasts
When the app requests weather for your position or a point you select on the map, it rounds the latitude and longitude to the nearest 0.01 degrees (roughly a 1-kilometre area around Malta) before sending them directly to Open-Meteo. The rounded coordinate is not sent to or stored by our backend. If location permission is unavailable, the app requests a general Malta forecast instead.
Like any direct web request, Open-Meteo also receives the request's network address. Open-Meteo states that troubleshooting logs for its free API may contain network addresses and geographic coordinates and are deleted after 90 days. Those logs are controlled by OpenMeteo GmbH under its linked terms and privacy notice.
Sharing boat traffic (optional, off by default)
BlueBaħar can show which areas of Maltese waters are busy. That map is built from boaters who choose to contribute. It is off unless you switch it on under Settings ("Share boat traffic"), and you can view the busy-areas layer whether or not you contribute to it.
While it is on, BlueBaħar checks your location in the background to decide whether you are at sea. On land or outside Maltese territorial waters, the boat-traffic feature stores and sends no position and switches to lower-power local checks; the operating-system location indicator may remain visible. A possible return to sea raises accuracy for confirmation, and sharing resumes only after two consecutive marine fixes.
Before anything is transmitted, the device rounds a confirmed marine fix to the centre of a fixed grid square of roughly 250 metres and rounds its time to a 10-minute period. It sends at most one square per period. Each batch carries a randomly generated identifier that the device replaces every day. No name, email address, account, device identifier, or push token is attached, and the server independently rejects land and out-of-territory squares.
On our servers each contribution is stored as a single record meaning "an anonymous contribution was in this square during this 10-minute period". The submitted random key and the network address observed for the request are immediately replaced by separate one-way, secret-keyed hashes that change every period; the raw network address is not stored. The database accepts only one square for either hash in that period, so changing a client key on one internet connection cannot create extra contributors. Stored hashes therefore cannot be linked across periods into a journey. A square is shown only when at least three distinct network-origin hashes contributed during the same period; shared internet connections can make the estimate lower, and distributed abuse can still distort it, so it is not a verified vessel count. The map uses the busiest qualifying period in the recent window rather than adding identities across periods. These records are deleted after 2 days; what we keep beyond that is a count of how busy each square typically is at each hour of each weekday, which contains no identifiers at all and is what lets the app say how busy a place usually is at a given time.
Switching the setting off stops the background checks and sharing immediately, deletes any samples still waiting on your device to be sent, and discards the daily identifier. Because stored contributions carry no persistent identifier we can use to locate you, we cannot retrieve or delete an individual past contribution on request.
3. Notifications
BlueBaħar can show local alerts generated on your device, such as alert-zone warnings. If you opt into "New notice notifications", the app registers an Expo push token and your platform (iOS or Android) with our backend so we can send a short notification when new notices to mariners are published. The token is not linked to a name, email address, or account.
Push notifications are delivered through Expo and the relevant Apple or Google push service. You can opt out in the app at any time; when you do, the app asks our backend to delete the stored token. We also delete tokens when Expo reports that a device is no longer registered.
4. Reports and feedback
If you submit a map report, we store the title, description, and tapped map coordinates so a moderator can review the issue. If you submit a bug report, we store the message and the diagnostics shown in the app before you send it, such as app version, device model, and operating system version. When analytics sharing is enabled, those diagnostics may include your anonymous PostHog identifier so we can find related app events.
Reports are optional and are used only to review map feedback, diagnose bugs, and improve the service. Please do not include names, contact details, or other personal information in report text.
5. Anonymous usage analytics
To understand how the app is used and to improve it, we collect anonymous usage data using PostHog. This includes information such as which screens are viewed, which features are used, and basic technical details (app version, device model, and operating system). PostHog assigns each install a randomly generated, anonymous identifier so usage can be counted without identifying you. We have disabled IP-based geolocation, so PostHog does not store your IP address or infer your location or region from it, and we do not record your screen or replay your sessions. Analytics data is processed on PostHog's EU-based infrastructure.
This data is not linked to your name, email, or any personal information — because we do not ask for any — and is used only in aggregate to measure and improve the app. We do not use it for advertising. You can turn this off at any time in the app — see Your choices, legal basis and rights below. PostHog's handling of this information is governed by its own privacy policy.
We also use PostHog to count visits to this website (bluebahar.com), including which pages are viewed and clicks on the App Store and Google Play download buttons. The website analytics run in PostHog's cookieless mode: no cookies, local storage, or any other identifier is placed on your device, which is why this site shows no cookie banner. Instead, PostHog's EU-based servers count visits using a temporary, salted hash of technical request data that rotates every day and cannot be linked back to you; your IP address is not stored. This data is used only in aggregate to understand how the website is used.
6. Crash and error reporting
When the app encounters an error or crash, we collect a diagnostic report using Sentry so we can find and fix the problem. A report typically contains technical information such as the error and stack trace, the app version, the device model, and the operating system version, along with an anonymous identifier.
We do not attach your name, email, or IP address to these reports. The data is used solely for diagnosing and fixing problems with the app, and you can turn crash reporting off at any time in the app — see Your choices, legal basis and rights below. Sentry's handling of this information is governed by its own privacy policy.
7. Your choices, legal basis and rights
Opt out in the app. Analytics and crash reporting are on by default, but you can switch them off at any time under Settings in the app ("Share anonymous analytics"). New-notice push notifications are opt-in, and can be turned off from the same Settings screen. Once switched off, no further usage events, crash reports, or new-notice push tokens are sent from your device. Sharing boat traffic is also opt-in and off by default; switching it off stops the sharing and deletes anything still queued on your device.
Data controller. Impossible Labs is the data controller for the limited data described in this policy, and can be reached at info_AT_bluebahar_DOT_com.
Legal basis. Approximate location-based weather, optional reports, new-notice push notifications, and boat-traffic sharing are processed on the basis of your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which you give by granting location access or enabling the relevant feature and can withdraw at any time. For anonymous analytics and crash reporting, to the extent this information is treated as personal data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, we rely on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) in keeping the app reliable and improving it. We balance that interest against your privacy by not asking for account details, disabling IP-based location, not recording your sessions, and offering the in-app opt-out above.
Your rights. Because we deliberately avoid account details, we may be unable to link anonymous analytics or crash data back to you. You can stop that collection immediately using the in-app opt-out, and you can remove a stored push token by turning off new-notice notifications. Where applicable you also have the right to object to processing and to lodge a complaint with your data protection authority (in Malta, the Information and Data Protection Commissioner).
8. App updates
BlueBaħar does not download or apply Expo over-the-air updates. New app versions are delivered only through the Apple App Store or Google Play, which process downloads and updates under their own privacy policies. Expo remains involved only in delivering the opt-in push notifications described in section 3.
9. Data shown in the app
Most maritime information shown in BlueBaħar is fetched from our backend, which retrieves and aggregates publicly available open data published by the Government of Malta and its agencies (including notices to mariners, marine protected areas, and similar datasets). Weather forecasts are fetched directly from Open-Meteo as explained in section 2.
When the app fetches this data, your device makes ordinary HTTPS requests to our backend. Like any web service, our infrastructure may briefly process technical information (such as IP address) for the sole purpose of delivering the response and protecting the service from abuse. This information is not used to identify you and is not retained beyond what is necessary for those operational purposes.
10. Map tiles
The map background and offline map downloads are provided by Mapbox. When map resources are loaded, your device communicates directly with Mapbox, which may receive standard request information such as the network address, device or app details, and the map area being viewed under its Product Privacy Policy.
The Mapbox mobile SDK supports de-identified usage and location telemetry, but BlueBaħar disables it before the map starts. The map's attribution control remains visible and contains Mapbox's provider notices and its own telemetry choice. If you choose to enable Mapbox telemetry there, Mapbox handles that data under its Product Privacy Policy.
11. App stores
BlueBaħar is currently offered without a subscription or in-app purchase. Downloads, updates, ratings, and any store-level account interactions are handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play under their own privacy policies. We do not receive payment details from Apple or Google.
12. Children
BlueBaħar is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always available at this page, with the "last updated" date at the top.
14. Contact
For any privacy-related question, write to info_AT_bluebahar_DOT_com.