Privacy Policy for Pétole: data safety and contact details.

1. What this page covers

Pétole is a product for water sports enthusiasts to discover spots, consult local forecasts, follow riders, share sessions, and keep gear history. This legal page applies to the marketing website, the live web app, the Android beta distributed through Google Play, and future iOS releases.

This page is Pétole's privacy policy. It is published as a public, non-PDF web page so users and store review teams can understand how the app accesses, collects, uses, shares, protects, retains, and deletes user data.

The privacy policy URL to use for Google Play and other store review flows is https://www.petole.net/legal/.

2. Information we may collect

Personal and account information

• Name, email address, username, and profile picture.
• Connected social handles or linked accounts, including Garmin Connect or Strava if the user chooses to connect them.

Usage and technical information

• IP address, browser or device type, operating system, and access timestamps.
• Visited pages, app usage indicators, and operational logs needed to keep the service reliable.
• Mobile push notification device tokens and delivery/open/action records when the user enables push notifications.
• Crash, diagnostic, and security logs when needed to investigate bugs, abuse, or operational incidents.

Location, private communications, and shared content

• Precise location only when the user explicitly allows it, for example to center maps, create/find spots nearby, record a GPS track for a session, or share a live safety position with trusted people selected by the user.
• Sessions, comments, photos, reactions, GPS track logs, imported activity files, trusted live-sharing settings, safety-alert records, and other user-generated content shared inside the service.
• Private chat messages, participant lists, consent status, read status, and message timestamps for member-only conversations.
• Encrypted connected-account tokens needed for optional activity imports and explicit Strava exports; Pétole does not store the Garmin password after the Garmin Web beta connection step.
• Moderation reports submitted by users, including the reported user or content, the report reason, reporter identity, timestamps, and moderation status.
• Mobile photo library or camera access only when the user chooses to attach media.
• Files shared to the Android app, such as GPX, TCX, or FIT files, only when the user intentionally imports or shares them with Pétole.

Pétole records or shares location only after the user starts the recording flow from the add menu and chooses the relevant options. If trusted live sharing is enabled, selected trusted people can see a high-level history of periodic position points and the latest shared position for the retention window used by the safety feature. Manual SOS and safety alerts notify trusted people only; Pétole does not contact emergency services. Full recorded tracks, imported GPS track files, and connected-account activity tracks are stored only when the user saves or imports a session.

3. How the information is used

• To provide and maintain the service and personal account features.
• To personalize the rider experience and enable community interactions.
• To improve performance, reliability, moderation, and abuse prevention.
• To review user reports, contact support or moderation operators, and block accounts that violate community safety or service integrity rules.
• To communicate support, operational notices, or important product updates.
• To deliver mobile push notifications for visible activity, comments, reactions, private-chat consent requests or refusals, forecast updates, and trusted live-sharing safety alerts when enabled.
• To import supported activities from connected accounts, and to export a session to Strava when the user explicitly starts that export.
• To meet legal obligations where they apply.

4. Data sharing

Pétole does not sell personal data.

• Data may be processed by trusted service providers needed to operate the product, including hosting, database, backup, file/photo storage, email and push notification delivery, map, weather, operational logging, and app-store distribution providers.
• Content may be visible to other users according to the product's sharing and privacy rules; private chat messages are intended to be visible only to accepted participants, with pending or refused participants blocked from message content until they accept, except where support, security, legal, or moderation needs require limited operator access.
• Trusted live-sharing points and safety alerts are visible only to the trusted people the user selected for that recording, unless the user later shares the saved session through normal session visibility rules.
• Reported content and report details may be reviewed by Pétole operators and email providers used to deliver moderation reports.
• When a user connects Garmin, Garmin Web beta, or Strava, Pétole exchanges data with that provider only to support the requested account connection, activity import, or user-initiated Strava session export.
• Information may be disclosed when legally required or in the context of a merger or asset transfer.

5. User rights and choices

• Request access to your personal data.
• Request correction or deletion where applicable.
• Withdraw consent for optional data processing, such as precise location use.
• Stop a recording, disable live sharing for future recordings, or revoke trusted live-sharing access from the app settings.
• Disable mobile push notifications from the app settings or the device system settings.
• Disconnect optional integrations such as Garmin Connect, Garmin Web beta, or Strava from the settings page when available.
• Report users or user-generated content for moderation review.
• Opt out of marketing communications if such communications are introduced later.

For privacy, account deletion, or data deletion requests, contact contact@petole.net.

6. Account and data deletion

Users can initiate account deletion or personal data deletion from outside the app on the account deletion request page, which opens a prefilled email to contact@petole.net. The web deletion URL to use in Google Play Console is https://www.petole.net/account-deletion/.

• Deletion requests may require identity verification to protect the account owner.
• When an account is deleted, Pétole deletes or anonymizes the personal data associated with that account, except where retention is required for legal, security, abuse-prevention, accounting, or dispute-resolution reasons.
• Content already shared with other users may be removed, anonymized, or kept in a non-personal form when needed to preserve community conversations, safety, or service integrity.
• Operational backups may retain deleted data for a limited period until backup rotation or restoration windows expire.

7. Security and retention

• Reasonable technical and organizational measures are used to protect data in transit and at rest, including HTTPS for network traffic where applicable.
• Data is retained only as long as needed for the purposes described here or as required by law.
• Reports, moderation notes, and blocked-account records may be retained while needed to protect users, investigate abuse, or document safety decisions.
• Operational backups may exist to support reliability, restoration, and incident recovery.

8. Children's privacy

The service is not intended for children under 13 and is not designed as a child-directed or Google Play Designed for Families app. Pétole contains optional precise location, public profiles, user-generated content, comments, photos, GPS track logs, and connected-account features that are intended for older water-sport users. Personal information is not knowingly collected from children without the required parental authorization.

9. International access

Users who access Pétole from outside Europe should understand that information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in Europe in connection with the operation of the service.

10. Data safety summary for store distribution

This summary is prepared to support Google Play distribution and future App Store publication, and mirrors the current Android beta and web product.

• Collected data may include account identity, location when authorized, app usage data, connected-account data, user-generated session content, trusted live-sharing safety data, and moderation reports.
• The main purposes are product functionality, personalization, community features, safety alerts chosen by the user, support, security, and compliance.
• Personal data is not sold.
• Users can request account or data deletion, request correction, disable location access at the device level, and disconnect optional integrations.

11. Contact

For legal, privacy, or operational questions related to Pétole, contact contact@petole.net.