Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

When you use Irish Whitewater (iww.ie) or its app, we may collect:

• Account Information: Email address and username when you create an account
• Submitted Content: River descriptions, photos, videos, and comments you post
• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used (for improving the site)
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information

How We Use Your Information

We use collected information to:

• Provide and improve the Irish Whitewater service
• Display your contributions (river descriptions, photos, etc.) on the site
• Send account-related notifications (e.g., email verification, password reset)
• Prevent spam and abuse
• Analyze site usage to improve functionality

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use tracking cookies for advertising purposes.

Types of cookies we use:

• Session cookies: To keep you logged in
• CSRF tokens: For security
• Preference cookies: To remember your settings

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. This includes:

• Password encryption
• HTTPS encryption for data in transit
• Regular security updates
• Secure database storage

Your Content

When you submit river descriptions, photos, videos, or comments, this content becomes publicly visible on the site. You retain ownership but grant Irish Whitewater the right to display and distribute your content.

You can request removal of your content by contacting us.

The Irish Whitewater App

The app uses the same account as the website. In addition:

• Saved on your phone: guide text, and the photos and maps of rivers you choose to save, so you can read them with no signal. Logging out deletes all of it from the phone.
• Location: only if you allow it, to show where you are on the map. Irish Whitewater is never sent your location.
• Camera and photos: only if you allow it, to upload a photo to a guide. Only the photo you choose is sent, and photos are checked by a moderator before they appear.
• Notifications: if you turn them on, we keep a token from your phone so we can send the notifications you choose (your photos being approved, changes to favourite guides, gauge alerts and news). It is deleted when you log out or delete your account.
• Reports and blocks: if you report a photo or block someone, we keep the report or block so moderators can act on it and the blocked person's photos stay hidden from you.

You can delete your account at any time, in the app's Settings or on the account page. Your account and settings are deleted; photos and runs you posted stay on the site, credited to "Account Deleted".

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• Cloudflare Turnstile: CAPTCHA service (privacy-preserving, no tracking)
• OpenStreetMap/Leaflet: Map display on the website
• Mapbox: Maps in the app. Mapbox may collect anonymous usage and location data to improve its maps; you can turn this off from the (i) button on any map in the app.
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging: Delivers the app's notifications
• YouTube and other video sites: Video thumbnails and players are loaded from the video site, which sees your IP address
• RiverSpy: External gauge data (links to riverspy.net)

These services have their own privacy policies. We recommend reviewing them.

Your Rights (GDPR)

If you're in the EU, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data (or delete your account yourself, as described above)
• Object to processing of your data
• Export your data

To exercise these rights, please contact us.