Privacy Policy for VaultCatch

Effective Date: March 1, 2026

At VaultCatch, our philosophy is simple: Your secret fishing spots are yours, and they should stay that way. We built this app to be a tactical, offline-first vault, not a social network that harvests your data.

This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information. Spoiler alert: We don't want your data, and we don't store it on our servers.

1. The 100% Offline Vault (Data Stored on Your Device)

The core feature of VaultCatch is the Catch Vault and Tactical Map. When you log a catch, drop a pin, save a photo, or add custom gear to your profile, all of this data is stored locally on your own device. We do not own servers to store your catch history. We do not have access to your database. If you delete the app without exporting your data (via the CSV export tool), your data is permanently gone.

Data stored locally includes:

• Exact GPS coordinates of your catches and dropped pins.
• Photos taken within the app.
• Catch details (species, weight, length, weather conditions at the time).
• Your custom gear configurations (rods, reels, lures).

2. Information We Request and Why

To provide you with military-grade fishing intelligence, the app requires certain permissions on your device:

• Location Services (GPS): We need your location to log exactly where you caught a fish, calculate live weather data, and center the tactical map. You can choose to grant this permission only "While using the app."
• Camera and Photo Library: Required only if you choose to take a photo of your catch or upload one from your gallery to save in your local vault.

3. Third-Party Services (How the app connects to the outside world)

Because we do not use our own servers, VaultCatch communicates directly and anonymously with specialized third-party APIs to provide you with live data (weather, maps, and search). When the app requests this data, it only sends the minimum necessary information (like anonymous coordinates) and never sends your personal identity or catch history.

• Open-Meteo (Weather & Marine Data): To provide your 7-Day Trip Planner, Solunar phases, and atmospheric pressure, the app sends GPS coordinates (either your current location or a targeted pin) to Open-Meteo.
• Nominatim / OpenStreetMap (Search Engine): When you search for a lake or location (e.g., "Lake Erie"), that search query is processed by OpenStreetMap's geocoding service to find the coordinates.
• Map Providers (Google Maps, Apple Maps, NOAA ENC, OpenSeaMap): The app requests map tiles (images of the map, depth contours, and navigation markers) based on the area you are currently viewing.

4. No Accounts, No Tracking, No Selling Data

• We do not require you to create a user account, use an email, or create a password to use the core app.
• We do not sell, rent, or trade any of your information to third parties, advertisers, or other companies.
• We do not use tracking cookies or targeted advertising within the app.

5. Your Rights and Control

You have absolute control over your data because you physically hold it on your device.

• To Export Data: Use the "Export Data (CSV)" feature in the Settings menu to back up your catches.
• To Delete Data: Use the "Clear All Catches" button in the Settings menu to permanently wipe your database from your phone.

6. Changes to This Privacy Policy

If we ever add features that require cloud syncing or optional accounts in the future (e.g., VaultCatch Version 2.0), we will update this policy and explicitly ask for your consent before changing how the app operates.

7. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please contact us at:
Email: