Byte Window

Privacy Policy

For the Fish Alert app and this website · Effective 14 July 2026

The short version. Fish Alert keeps your settings on your device. There is no account to create, no ads, and no tracking of you across apps or websites. To fetch the weather for your spot, your location goes through our own weather proxy, which logs a coarse, anonymous record of roughly where weather is requested (location rounded to about a 1 km grid, with a timestamp). It is not linked to you, your device, or your IP address. Granting device location is optional, because you can search for a place or drop a pin on a map instead. If you ask to join a private app test on this website, we collect the email address you provide so we can arrange access. Invitations to test future Byte Window apps are a separate, optional choice.

This Privacy Policy explains how Byte Window ("we", "us", "our") handles information in connection with the Fish Alert mobile application ("the app") and the bytewindow.org website. By using the app or site, you agree to this policy.

1. Information the app uses

Location. With your permission, the app accesses your device's location (latitude and longitude) to fetch local weather and calculate the fishability score. You can also set a fishing spot manually instead of granting location access, by searching for a place name or dropping a pin on a map.

Your settings. Your chosen spot, alert threshold, and preferences are stored locally on your device.

The app does not collect your name, email address, contacts, photos, or device identifiers, and it has no user accounts. The website tester form described below is separate from the app.

2. Information submitted through the tester form

If you request access to a private Fish Alert test on this website, we collect the email address you enter. We use it to add the relevant Google Account to the Google Play tester list, contact you with the private installation link, and manage that test.

You can separately choose to receive occasional invitations to test future Byte Window apps. That choice is optional and is not required to test Fish Alert. If selected, we keep a record of the consent wording and the date and time you agreed. You can withdraw that consent at any time by emailing [email protected] or by using the unsubscribe instructions in a future invitation.

3. How your location is used and shared

To make the app work, your coordinates reach the following third-party services.

  • Our weather proxy, then Open-Meteo. The app no longer calls the weather provider directly. To fetch the forecast for your spot, your coordinates are sent to a proxy server we operate (a Cloudflare Worker), which then requests the forecast data (pressure, wind, cloud, precipitation, and related conditions — plus, for spots on the coast, marine conditions such as waves, swell, tide, and sea temperature from Open-Meteo's Marine API) from Open-Meteo on your behalf. Our proxy logs a coarse, anonymous record of each request, as described in section 4. See open-meteo.com.
  • OpenStreetMap (map picker). If you set a spot by dropping a pin on the map, the app loads map tiles from OpenStreetMap's tile servers, which your device contacts directly. Their tile provider receives the requests needed to draw the map. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy.
  • Google (Android geocoding). To show a readable place name, for example in the app and in notifications, the app may use your device's built-in geocoding service. That service can send your coordinates to Google to resolve the name. It is part of your device's operating system and is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

We do not sell or rent your information, and we do not share it with anyone other than as described above to provide the app's core function.

4. Where your data is stored

Your settings and chosen location are stored locally on your device. Clearing the app's data or uninstalling the app removes this information from your device.

Byte Window operates the weather proxy described in section 3. When the app fetches a forecast, the proxy logs a coarse, anonymous record of that request. Each record contains only:

  • a coarsened location — the latitude and longitude rounded to two decimal places (about a 1.1 km grid), not your precise coordinates;
  • a timestamp of the request; and
  • the source of the spot — whether it came from your device's GPS, a pin you dropped on the map, or a place name you searched for.

This record is not linked to any user identity, account, device identifier, or stored IP address. Like any server, ours necessarily receives an IP address in order to respond, but we do not store IP addresses alongside these location logs, and there is no identifier that ties one request to another or to you.

We keep these records to understand, in aggregate, where people fish, so we can improve the app and inform future Byte Window products and content. Raw request rows are kept for up to 24 months; the derived aggregate statistics (for example, counts by region) may be kept indefinitely, since they are not personal information.

Tester email addresses and consent records submitted through this website are stored in a Cloudflare D1 database operated by Byte Window. A new signup also sends a notification to our verified Gmail inbox so we can add the tester manually in Google Play Console. We keep a Fish Alert tester address while the private test is active and for a reasonable period afterwards to resolve access issues. If you opted into future testing invitations, we keep the address and consent record until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it.

5. Notifications

If you enable alerts, the app posts a notification when conditions meet the target you set. This is processed on your device, and we do not run a messaging server.

6. No ads, no profiling, no third-party tracking

Fish Alert contains no advertising and no third-party analytics or tracking software. We do not build a profile of you and do not track you across apps or websites. The only usage usage information we collect is the coarse, anonymous request log described in section 4, which is not linked to your identity. If our practices change again, we will update this policy and the app's Google Play Data safety disclosure before the change takes effect.

7. Permissions

  • Location. Used to fetch weather for your spot. This is optional, since you can set a spot manually instead.
  • Notifications. Used to send the fishing alerts you have opted into.

You can grant or revoke these at any time in your device settings.

8. Children

The app is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

9. Your rights and choices

Your settings live on your device, so you control them directly: you can revoke permissions, clear the app's data, or uninstall at any time. Depending on where you live, you may have rights under the Australian Privacy Principles and, where applicable, laws such as the EU/UK GDPR or the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The request logs we keep on our weather proxy are coarse (location rounded to about a 1.1 km grid) and are not linked to your identity, account, device, or IP address. Because there is no identifier connecting a log entry to you, we treat these records as aggregate and anonymous, and we are not able to single out, look up, or delete the entries belonging to any one person. We have set them out plainly in section 4 so you can see exactly what is collected and why. You are welcome to contact us with any question about this.

Tester email records can be linked to the address you provided. You may ask us to correct or delete that record, or withdraw your optional future-testing consent, by emailing [email protected] from that address.

10. Third-party services

  • Open-Meteo provides weather data, which our proxy fetches on your behalf.
  • OpenStreetMap provides the map tiles for the in-app map picker.
  • Google provides device geocoding, distributes the app and private tests through Google Play, and provides the Gmail inbox used to process tester requests.
  • Cloudflare hosts this website, the weather proxy, and the tester signup database and form processing that Byte Window operates.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the effective date above and, for material changes, provide notice in the app or on this site.

12. Contact

For questions about this policy or your information, email [email protected].
Byte Window, Australia · ABN 83 717 459 226.