Last updated 10 October 2026
Beacon is a marine conditions and hazard-reporting app for Florida boaters. This page says exactly what we collect, why, where it goes, and how to get rid of it. It is written to be read, not to be survived.
We do not track you. Beacon has no advertising, no analytics SDK, no third-party trackers, and we do not sell or share your data with data brokers.
Your position is used on your phone. It picks your waterway, sorts marinas by distance and draws your boat on the chart. Beacon does not upload a continuous track of where you have been.
One exception, and it is deliberate: when you choose to file a hazard report, the coordinates of that hazard are sent with it and are visible to other boaters. That is the entire point of the report. Nothing else about your position leaves the phone.
| Data | Why | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Name and email address | To create your account, sign you in, and credit your reports to a name other boaters can see | Our database (Supabase, hosted in the United States) |
| Boat name and length, home waterway | Optional. Shown on your profile and used to size slip-rate estimates | Our database |
| Your device's position | To set your waterway, sort marinas by distance, draw your boat on the chart, and stamp a report with the right spot | On your phone only, except as described under “Hazard reports” below |
| Hazard reports and tips you post | To warn other boaters. Includes the text, the type, the severity, your display name, and the coordinates of the hazard | Our database, and visible to every Beacon user |
| Notification token and chosen waterways | Only if you turn on alerts, so we can push warnings for the water you care about | Our database and Apple's push service |
| Subscription status | To know whether Beacon Pro is active. Apple handles the payment; we never see your card | Our database and Apple |
| Reports you confirm or dismiss | So other boaters can see whether a hazard has been verified. One vote per person per report; only you can read your own votes back | Our database |
| Posts you flag | So we can review content that breaks the rules. Your flag is not shown to the person you flagged | Our database |
| The date this device first opened Beacon | So the free 30 days cannot be restarted by deleting and reinstalling. It is a date, not an identifier, and it never leaves your phone | On your phone only, in the iOS Keychain — which means it survives deleting the app |
| Trip budgets and expenses | Your own planning. We do not read them and they are not shared | On your phone only |
A hazard report is a public safety message. When you file one, these things are sent to our database and shown to other boaters:
Reports clear from the feed three hours after posting. If you do not want a position attached to a report, do not file one — there is no way to post a hazard warning that is useful without saying where it is.
Beacon uses a small number of services, each for one job:
That is the complete list. There is no advertising network, no analytics product and no data broker in it.
Open Beacon, go to Profile → Delete account & data. This permanently removes your name, email, boat profile, saved marinas and notification settings from our servers, and clears what Beacon has stored on your phone. It cannot be undone.
Two things deliberately survive, and you should know about both.
An App Store subscription is billed by Apple and is not cancelled by deleting your account — cancel it in Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions.
If you cannot reach the app, email crew@beaconboating.app and we will delete your account on request.
If you are in a jurisdiction with data-protection rights — including California (CCPA/CPRA) and the EU/UK (GDPR) — you may request a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Email crew@beaconboating.app. We will respond within 30 days. We do not sell personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of.
Beacon is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will remove it.
Data in transit is encrypted with HTTPS. Access to your rows in our database is enforced at the database level, so one account cannot read another's profile. No system is perfect; if you find a weakness, please tell us at crew@beaconboating.app before telling anyone else.
If this policy changes in a way that affects what we collect or who sees it, we will update the date at the top and say so in the app before the change takes effect.
This is a privacy policy, but it belongs here too: Beacon is a planning aid. Depths shift, markers move, and boater reports are unverified. Keep official charts and a working VHF aboard, and trust your eyes over any screen. In an emergency call 911 or hail the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.