Privacy Policy
Last updated: 13 August 2026
DiveBuddy is a community app for scuba divers — log your dives, find dive sites, plan trips and connect with dive buddies. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what control you have. We have tried to write it in plain language.
In short: we collect only what the app needs to work. We do not sell your data, we do not run advertising, and we do not use third-party analytics or tracking.
1. Who we are
DiveBuddy ("we", "us") is the controller of the personal data described here. Our website is dbuddy.app. For any privacy question or request, contact us at info@dbuddy.app.
2. What we collect
Account information
- Your email address and password. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and stored only in hashed form — we never see them.
Profile information you provide
- Name, profile photo, bio, city and country.
- Diving details: certification agency, certification levels, specialties and gear.
- Preferences such as your units (metric/imperial).
Content you create
- Dive logs: date, dive site, depth, duration, gas mix, water temperature, weather, exit time and your notes.
- Dive buddies you tag in a dive, and dives shared with you.
- Trips you create or join, and trip join requests and invitations.
- Connections (the divers you connect with) and messages you send in chat.
- Dive sites you submit or improve, which are published to all users.
Location
- If you allow it, we use your device location to show dive sites near you, divers near you, and local dive conditions. Location is used at the moment you request these features — we do not track your location in the background, and we do not store a location history.
- The city and country on your profile are stored, because you chose to add them.
What we do NOT collect
- No advertising identifiers, no analytics or tracking SDKs, no behavioural profiling.
- No payment card details. DiveBuddy Pro is currently free for members who join during our founding period.
3. Why we use it, and our legal basis
- To provide the app — your account, logbook, trips, connections and chat. Legal basis: performance of a contract with you.
- To show relevant nearby content (sites, divers, conditions). Legal basis: your consent, given via the location permission — you can withdraw it any time in your device settings.
- To keep the service safe and working, and to prevent abuse. Legal basis: our legitimate interests.
- To meet legal obligations where they apply.
4. What other people can see
DiveBuddy is a social app, so some information is visible to other divers by design:
- Your profile — name, photo, bio, city/country, certifications, specialties and dive count — is visible to other users. To protect your privacy, we display your surname as an initial (for example "Jane D.") in most places.
- Trips you create, and dive sites you submit or improve, are public to app users.
- Messages are visible to the divers in that conversation. A dive you share with a buddy is visible to that buddy.
- Your dive logs are private to you unless you share or tag someone in them.
5. Service providers we use
We share data only with the providers needed to run the app. They act on our instructions and may not use your data for their own purposes.
- Supabase — database, authentication and photo storage (hosting our application data).
- Vercel — application hosting and delivery.
- Open-Meteo — weather and sea conditions. Receives approximate coordinates to return a forecast; not linked to your account.
- OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) — converts coordinates into a place name when you use "use my current location". Receives coordinates only; not linked to your account.
Dive-site information is based on OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, used under the Open Database Licence, with some descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.
6. How long we keep it
We keep your data for as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we permanently delete your profile, dive logs, trips, connections and messages.
Deletion is immediate and permanent — there is no recovery period and we cannot restore your data afterwards. You are free to register again later with the same email address, but it will be a new, empty account. Dive sites you contributed to the public catalogue may remain, as they are community content that other divers rely on.
7. Your rights
Depending on where you live (including under the GDPR in the EU/UK), you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Correct anything inaccurate — most of it you can edit directly in Edit Profile.
- Delete your account and data — available in the app under Settings → Delete Account.
- Object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent (for example, by turning off location permission).
- Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Complain to your local data protection authority.
To exercise any of these, contact info@dbuddy.app.
8. Security
Data is transmitted over encrypted connections and stored with access rules that restrict each diver's data to that diver and the people they have shared it with. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information.
9. International transfers
Our providers may process data outside your country. Where data leaves the European Economic Area, it is protected by appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
10. Children
DiveBuddy is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
11. Diving safety
DiveBuddy's calculators and dive-site information are provided for planning and reference only. They do not replace proper training, a dive computer, or your own checks. Dive-site details are community and open-data sourced and may be incomplete or inaccurate. Always dive within your certification and training.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.
13. Contact
Questions or requests about your privacy — or anything else about DiveBuddy: