Privacy Policy
Tidepool
In short: Tidepool works offline, with no account and no ads. Your finds log, your notes, your quiz scores and your settings stay on your device, and nothing is sent to us.
Who is responsible
Tidepool is published by LINK ADVISORS PTY LTD, trading as MoonBirch Interactive, 57 Berwick St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia. The director is Edward Foster. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Contact: rockpool@linkadvisors.website.
What stays on your device
- Your finds log: which creatures you've marked as seen, the dates, and any note you write about where you were.
- Your progress through the guide and your best quiz score.
- Your settings: accent colour and whether the gentle water motion is on.
The notes you write can name a beach you visit, so the log is kept in the app's private storage on your phone and never uploaded. We have no server for it and no way to read it. If Android's own backup is switched on, Google may include this app data in your device backup under your Google account.
What we don't collect
Tidepool has no sign-in, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. It doesn't ask for GPS or location permission, so your finds are placed only by whatever you type yourself. It doesn't use the camera, microphone, contacts or your files, and it doesn't send data over the internet.
Google Play
Google Play delivers the app under Google's own privacy policy. If you've chosen to share usage and diagnostics with Google, Google may pass us anonymous crash and performance reports through the Play Console. They don't identify you, and we use them only to fix problems.
Children
Plenty of rockpooling is done with kids, and Tidepool is fine for children to use. It collects no personal information from anyone, children included. Children exploring a shore should always have an adult with them.
Safety on the shore
Tidepool is an educational guide for looking at shore life. It is not a safety guide, a medical guide or a foraging guide, and an identification in the app should never be the reason you touch, collect or eat anything. Australian shores are home to animals that can cause serious injury or death, including blue-ringed octopus, cone shells, stonefish, blue-bottles and other stingers, so admire them where they sit and don't pick anything up. Watch the tide coming back in, take care on wet rock, and check local rules: many shores are in marine parks where collecting is restricted or banned. In an emergency in Australia call 000. For a bite, sting or suspected poisoning, call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.
If you email us
If you write to us, we receive your email address and your message, and any beach or species details you choose to include. We use them only to reply and to correct the guide, and we delete the conversation within 12 months of our last reply unless we're required to keep it longer.
Your rights
You can ask us for access to any personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it. In practice, the only information we could hold is an email you sent us. If you think we've mishandled your personal information, tell us first and we'll respond within 30 days. If you're still unhappy, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.
Removing your data
To clear everything Tidepool has stored, including the finds log, open Android Settings, then Apps, then Tidepool, then Storage, and tap Clear data. Uninstalling the app removes it as well.
Changes
If a future version changes how Tidepool handles information, we'll update this page and its effective date before that version goes live on Google Play.
Contact
LINK ADVISORS PTY LTD (MoonBirch Interactive)
57 Berwick St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia
rockpool@linkadvisors.website