Privacy Policy
Effective 25 August 2026
FishByte builds catch-photo-release tournament apps for fishing organizations. This policy covers the FishByte platform and every app built on it, including the organization-branded apps distributed on the App Store and Google Play.
Who is responsible for your data
FishByte operates the platform and the servers your data is stored on. The tournament organization whose event you enter — the series named on the app you installed — decides which tournaments exist and reviews the catches submitted to them. Both can see the information described below.
What we collect
Account information
Your display name, email address, and a password. Passwords are stored only as a cryptographic hash; nobody at FishByte or at your tournament organization can read them. We also record when the account was created.
Catches you submit
When you submit a catch we store the species, the measured length, the date and time you caught it, the precise GPS coordinates of where it was caught, a photo of the fish on the measuring board, a second photo of the fish, and — when the tournament requires one — a short video of the release.
Information read from your photos
We read the timestamp and, when present, the GPS coordinates embedded in the photos you submit. These are compared against the time and place you claim the catch was made. This is how tournaments stay fair: it is what lets a result be corroborated rather than simply believed. Photos are stored with the catch.
Tournament activity
Which tournaments you register for, which boat or team you fish with, your submitted catches and their review status, and your position in standings.
Payments
Entry fees are processed by Stripe. Your card number never reaches FishByte's servers — Stripe collects it directly. We store only a reference to the Stripe payment, the amount, and whether it succeeded, was refunded, or failed.
Permissions the app asks for
- Camera — to photograph your catch on the measuring board.
- Microphone — to record the audio of your release video.
- Photo library (add only) — to save a copy of each catch photo and release video to your own library, so you keep your own record of the evidence. The app never reads photos already in your library.
- Location while using the app — to record where each catch was made, for tournament verification.
You can decline or later revoke any of these in your device settings. Declining camera or location access means catches cannot be submitted, because a catch without a verifiable time and place cannot be scored.
How we use it
To run tournaments: to register you, to verify and review the catches you submit, to produce standings and season results, to process entry fees, and to answer you when you contact support. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising or behavioral profiling.
Who else sees it
- Your tournament organization. Directors and judges for an event you enter can see your account details, your catches, and their locations.
- Other anglers see only what standings show: your name, your results, and catches the organization has published.
- Stripe, which processes entry-fee payments under its own privacy policy.
- Amazon Web Services, which hosts the platform. Data is stored in the United States.
We otherwise disclose personal information only when the law requires it.
How long we keep it
Catches and tournament results are kept as part of the permanent record of the event they belong to — a season's standings would not survive their deletion. Account information is kept while your account is active.
Deleting your account
You can ask us to delete your account and the personal information attached to it by emailing sam@fishbytetech.com from the address on the account. We will confirm and complete the request within 30 days.
Where a tournament has already concluded, we may keep the catch record and result in the event's history with your name removed, so that published standings other anglers competed against remain intact.
Security
Traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit. Photos, videos, and database contents are encrypted at rest. Passwords are stored as salted hashes. No system is perfectly secure, and we do not claim otherwise.
Children
FishByte is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Younger anglers who fish in a family tournament should be registered by a parent or guardian using that adult's account. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
Changes
If this policy changes materially we will update the effective date above and, where the change affects how your information is used, tell you in the app.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or about the data held on you, go to sam@fishbytetech.com. There is more on getting help at Support.