Privacy Policy

Privacy at a glance

What we collect

The vast majority of visitors browse Sargazo Watch completely anonymously. We only collect personal information when you actively give it to us. Here is everything:

Anonymous usage

A random visitor ID and session ID (stored in your browser), the pages and beaches you open, time on page, device type (mobile/desktop), and the site that referred you. None of this identifies you personally.

Account / alerts

If you create an account, your email address, an optional name, your chosen beaches and alert preferences. Email is verified with a one-time code.

Photo submissions

If you submit a beach photo, the image itself, the beach you tagged, an optional display name, and — only if your photo contains it and you allow it — the photo's embedded GPS coordinates, used to verify the location.

Messages

If you use our contact form, the name, email and message you provide, so we can reply.

Approximate location

A coarse country / city derived from your connection by our infrastructure provider (Cloudflare). We never store your precise GPS unless you submit a geotagged photo.

Cookies & local storage

Sargazo Watch does not set advertising cookies of its own. For our own features we mainly use your browser's local storage (a private space on your own device) to keep things working, for example remembering your analytics ID, your account session, your saved beaches, and small UI preferences; this stays on your device. Separately, Google Analytics, which we use to measure traffic, sets its own analytics cookies.

We display ads through third-party advertising partners, which may set advertising cookies in your browser to show and measure ads. A consent tool may appear so you can set your ad-cookie preferences. Google Analytics and other embedded services (such as Google Maps) may also set their own cookies when their content loads. For visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland, a consent message lets you accept or refuse these non-essential cookies before they are used. See Third-party services below.

Analytics

We use two analytics systems to understand which beaches and pages are useful. Our own lightweight, first-party analytics counts each visitor with a random ID created in their own browser. We also use Google Analytics (GA4), which may set cookies and process usage data under Google's privacy policy. Both are used only in aggregate (totals, popular beaches, rough traffic sources); an internal admin console lets our team review these aggregate figures and is not accessible to visitors.

IP addresses

Like every website, our infrastructure provider processes your IP address momentarily to deliver pages and protect the service from abuse. We use it only to derive an approximate country/city for aggregate statistics; we do not store raw IP addresses in our own database or use them to identify you.

Third-party services

We rely on a few reputable providers to run the site. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Hosting & infrastructure provider — hosting, content delivery, security and the data backend that stores conditions, accounts and submitted photos.
• Google Maps — the interactive map. Google may set cookies and process data when the map loads, under Google's privacy policy.
• Google Analytics (GA4) — measures site traffic and usage. Google may set cookies and process usage data under its own privacy policy.
• Advertising partners — a third-party advertising-management partner runs ads on the site through Google Ad Manager and works with multiple advertising partners. These partners may set advertising cookies and process data to show and measure ads, under their own privacy policies. Visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland are asked for consent first.
• NOAA / University of South Florida — public satellite imagery shown on the Forecast page (no personal data involved).
• Affiliate partners (Viator and hotel booking links) — when you click a "book" or "see rates" link, you leave our site for the partner, whose own privacy policy then applies. We record only that a link of a given type was clicked.
• Google Fonts — the Manrope typeface used across the site.

How we use your data

• To show live and historical beach conditions, cams, photos and maps.
• To send the beach alerts and account emails you have asked for.
• To review and publish photos submitted by visitors.
• To reply to messages you send us.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the site is used so we can improve it.
• To keep the service secure and prevent abuse.

Data retention

Submitted photos rotate automatically: only the most recent images per beach are retained.

Managing your data

You can unsubscribe from alerts anytime from your account menu. This applies wherever you live, including under the GDPR (EU/UK) and CCPA (California).

Children

Sargazo Watch is made for travellers, not children. We don't knowingly collect their data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the site evolves or the law changes. When we do, we'll revise the "Last updated" date above. Significant changes will be highlighted on the site.

Contact

Questions about your privacy, or want to exercise a right above? Use our contact form — it reaches us directly and we'll get back to you.