Privacy Policy
FishinBud.ai (“FishinBud”, “we”, “us”) helps anglers understand California fishing regulations. This policy explains what the app collects, why, who it is shared with, and how to have it deleted. We have tried to describe what the software actually does rather than reserve every right we might one day want.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising or share it with advertisers or data brokers.
What we collect
| Data | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Email address, and name and profile photo if you use Google Sign-In | When you create an account | To authenticate you and keep your data attached to your account |
| Fishing handle, optional bio, avatar and region | When you set up a community profile | To identify you to other anglers in the community feed |
| Approximate or precise location | While the app is open, if you grant permission | To determine which regional regulations apply and to place your trip on the map |
| Photos you take or choose | When you identify a fish, log a catch, or post a report | To run species identification and to display your catches and posts |
| Catch records — species, place name, coordinates, date, length, weight, notes | When you log a catch | To keep your personal catch log and statistics |
| Posts, comments and reactions | When you use the community features | To publish them to other signed-in users |
| Messages and images you send to the AI assistant | When you use Ask AI or photo identification | To generate a response |
| Crash diagnostics — device model, operating system version, stack traces | If the app crashes | To find and fix defects |
| Usage events — an event name, the species viewed, and a timestamp | As you browse species or use the assistant | To understand which features get used |
Usage events are not linked to your account: they record what happened, not who did it. Crash diagnostics are handled by Google Crashlytics and may include a device identifier generated by that service.
Browsing without an account
You can continue as a guest. In guest mode there is no account, nothing is written to your profile, catch log or the community, and your data stays on the device.
Location
FishinBud requests location only while you are using the app, never in the background. It is used to work out which regional regulations apply to you and to pre-place your trip pin on the map. If you log a catch, the coordinates at that moment are saved with the record so you can find the spot again.
You can decline the permission and still use the app. If you do, the app shows regulations for both northern and southern California rather than picking one, and you can set a trip location by tapping the map instead.
Photos and the AI assistant
When you ask the assistant a question or submit a photo for identification, the text and image are sent to Google's Gemini API for processing and a response is returned to your device. Your original message is shown to you as you typed it; we add regulation context before sending it on.
If you confirm that an identification was correct, we store that confirmation — your account identifier and the species — so the assistant can use recent confirmations as hints to improve future identifications.
Google processes this data under its own terms. See Google's Privacy Policy.
What is public and what is not
Private to you: your email address, your catch log, your favourites, and your location.
Visible to other signed-in users: your fishing handle, bio, avatar and region, together with any posts, comments, reactions or photos you publish to the community. A fishing report may reveal where you were fishing — please consider that before posting a spot you would rather keep to yourself.
The community is visible to signed-in FishinBud users. It is not indexed by search engines and is not public on the open web.
Where your data is stored
Your catch log is kept on your device and, when you are signed in, backed up to Google Firebase so it survives reinstalling the app or moving to a new phone. Photos are stored in Google Firebase Storage. Species and regulation data is downloaded to your device so the app works without a connection.
Firebase servers are operated by Google and may be located in the United States or other countries where Google runs infrastructure.
Who we share it with
We share data only with the service providers that make the app work:
- Google Firebase — authentication, database, file storage and crash reporting
- Google Gemini — AI assistant and photo identification
- Google Maps — map display
- Apple — app distribution through TestFlight and the App Store
We may also disclose information if we are legally required to, or to investigate abuse of the community features. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
How long we keep it
Account data, catch records, posts and photos are kept until you delete them or ask us to delete your account. Crash diagnostics are retained by Crashlytics for up to 90 days. Usage events, which are not linked to you, may be kept indefinitely in aggregate.
Your choices
- Permissions. Location, camera and photo access can be changed at any time in your device settings. The app works without them, with reduced functionality.
- Your content. You can edit or delete individual catch records and delete posts you have written from inside the app.
- Your account. Open Profile & Settings
in the app and tap Delete Account. This immediately and
permanently removes your account, catch log and catch photos, favourites,
community profile, and the posts you have written along with their photos.
You will be asked to confirm your password, or to sign in with Google again,
before it proceeds.
Two things survive: comments and reactions you left on other anglers' posts, and other anglers' comments on posts of yours. Those remain attached to the conversation under the handle you used. If you would like them removed as well, email info@fishinbud.ai and we will take them out by hand. - A copy of your data. Ask at the same address and we will send you what we hold.
California residents
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, California residents may request access to the personal information we hold, request its deletion, request its correction, and are entitled not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is no need to opt out of either. To make a request, email info@fishinbud.ai.
Children
FishinBud is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it. Younger anglers are welcome to use the app under a parent's account and supervision.
Security
Data in transit is encrypted with HTTPS/TLS. Access to your catch log, favourites and profile is restricted to your own account by server-side security rules. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant we will also give notice in the app before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions, requests, or anything that looks wrong: info@fishinbud.ai.