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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 9 March 2026

The Hide Guide ("we", "us", "our") operates the website thehide.guide and the The Hide Guide mobile application (together, the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and safeguard your information when you use the Service.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information you provide

  • Account details — name, email address and password when you register.
  • Sighting submissions — species observations, photographs, dates and locations you submit.
  • Support enquiries — any information you include when you contact us.

1.2 Information collected automatically

  • Device & usage data — IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited and access times.
  • Location data — approximate or precise location when you grant permission, used to show nearby reserves and contextualise sightings.
  • Cookies & local storage — session tokens and user preferences. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • Provide, operate and improve the Service.
  • Display relevant wildlife sightings, reserves and map layers.
  • Authenticate your account and remember your preferences.
  • Respond to support requests and communicate Service updates.
  • Generate anonymised, aggregated statistics about wildlife observations (no personally identifiable information is shared).

3. Data Sources

The Service displays wildlife observation data sourced from publicly available datasets including eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Atlas and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). These records are used under the respective open-data licences of each provider.

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share data with:

  • Service providers — hosting, database and analytics providers who process data on our behalf under contract.
  • Legal obligations — when required by law, regulation or legal process.
  • Aggregated data — anonymised usage statistics that cannot identify you.

5. Data Retention

We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. Sighting submissions become part of the community dataset and are retained in anonymised form. You may request deletion of your account and personal data at any time by contacting us.

6. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (TLS), hashed passwords and restricted server access. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction you may have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you.
  • Request correction of inaccurate data.
  • Request deletion of your personal data.
  • Object to or restrict certain processing.
  • Receive your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the address below.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The revised version will be indicated by an updated effective date at the top of this page.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected].