Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 14, 2026
Boat Partner ("we," "us," or "our") is a boat app for owners and their partners, built and operated in Newport Beach, California. This privacy policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices regarding your data.
We are a small, independently operated service. We do not sell your data. We collect only what is needed to make the app work for you and your boat partners.
1. Information Collected
Account Information
When you create an account, Boat Partner collects your name and email address. These are used for login, identification within your boat partnership, and to send you important notifications about your boat.
Photos and Videos
You can upload photos and videos to your boat's gallery. These files are stored in the Boat Partner database and are visible to other partners on the same boat. You choose what to upload; the app does not access your camera roll without your permission.
Location Data (Optional)
If you grant permission, photos may include location metadata (GPS coordinates) for tagging where they were taken. Location access is optional and can be disabled in your device settings at any time.
Trip Logs, Maintenance Records and Reports
When you log a trip, record a service, or file a boat report, the information you provide (dates, engine hours, stops, notes, issues, costs) is stored to maintain a record for you and your partnership.
Banking Information (Optional)
If you choose to link a bank account, Boat Partner collects bank account names, account types, balances, and transaction history through Plaid. It does not collect or store your bank login credentials. See Section 6 for full details.
Forum Posts and Messages
Messages and forum posts you create through the app are stored so they can be delivered and displayed to your boat partners.
Usage Data
Boat Partner collects basic usage analytics to understand how the app is used and to improve it. This may include screen views, feature usage, and crash reports. The app shows no advertising. On the website, Google Analytics records page views and, when you arrive from one of our ads, whether the visit led to an app store click, so we can tell which campaigns bring real boaters. Nothing about your boat is included in that measurement.
2. Subscription and Payment Information
When you subscribe to Boat Partner through an in-app purchase, payment is processed entirely by Apple through the App Store or by Google through Google Play. Boat Partner does not collect, store, or have access to your credit card number, billing address, or other payment method details.
Boat Partner does store subscription-related information necessary to operate the service, including:
- Your subscription status (active, expired, or none)
- The subscription plan you selected
- Store transaction identifiers for purchase verification
- Subscription start and renewal dates
This information is used solely to grant you access to subscription features and to verify your subscription status.
3. How Your Information Is Used
- Authenticate your account and manage login sessions
- Display your name and information to your boat partners
- Store and serve photos, videos, and messages within your partnership
- Send notifications about calendar assignments, trip logs, maintenance and reports
- Improve the app based on usage patterns
- If you choose to link a bank account, import and display transactions for the financial management of your yacht-partnership LLC
- If you subscribe to YachtBot, answer your questions and notice things about your boat (Section 4)
4. YachtBot and AI Models
If you subscribe to YachtBot, the photos you add and your boat's records (logs, maintenance, calendar, messages on that boat) are sent to an AI model so it can answer you and notice things about your boat. Nothing it notices becomes fact until you confirm it. The model provider does not keep your photos and does not use them to train. If you are not on YachtBot, none of your data goes to an AI model.
YachtBot never writes a record, sends a message, or books a day on its own: every action it proposes is a card you confirm first. Photos and records are sent to the model provider only to produce a reply or an analysis for you, over an encrypted connection, and are not used for advertising.
The plain-language version of this section is at boatpartner.co/how-we-use-ai.
5. Third-Party Services
Boat Partner uses a small number of trusted third-party services to operate:
- Supabase — Database hosting and authentication. Data is stored on servers in the United States. See Supabase Privacy Policy.
- Apple and Google — The mobile app is distributed through the App Store, TestFlight, and Google Play. Apple and Google may collect their own analytics. See Apple Privacy Policy and Google Privacy Policy.
- OpenAI — The AI model behind YachtBot, for subscribers only (Section 4). Photos and records sent to it are not retained by OpenAI or used to train its models. See OpenAI Privacy Policy.
- Plaid — Bank account linking and transaction data, for users who choose to connect a bank account. See Plaid Privacy Policy. Full details in Section 6 below.
- Microsoft Azure — Website hosting. See Microsoft Privacy Statement.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
6. Banking Connections (Plaid)
Some Boat Partner accounts, primarily boat managers running yacht-partnership LLCs, choose to link a business bank account so the app can automatically import transactions for partnership bookkeeping. This is an optional feature. If you do not link a bank account, none of this section applies to you.
What Plaid is
Boat Partner uses Plaid Inc. ("Plaid") to securely connect your bank account. Plaid is a financial-services company that specializes in linking bank accounts to third-party apps. When you choose to connect a bank account, Plaid (not Boat Partner) handles the login to your bank, and Plaid returns account and transaction information to Boat Partner so it can be displayed and categorized inside the app.
Plaid is a separate company with its own privacy practices. Plaid's own privacy policy applies to your use of Plaid in addition to this one. You can read it here: https://plaid.com/legal/#end-user-privacy-policy.
What Plaid product is used
Boat Partner uses the Plaid Transactions product. This provides:
- The names and types of the bank accounts you connect (for example, "Bank of America Business Checking — ...4321")
- The current balance of those accounts
- The history of transactions on those accounts (date, amount, description, merchant, category)
Boat Partner does not use Plaid to move money, initiate payments, verify your identity for KYC, or pull credit reports.
Why it is used
The purpose is internal financial management of the yacht-partnership LLCs that operate boats on Boat Partner. Importing transactions lets boat managers see income and expenses, allocate costs to partners, and produce statements without retyping data from a bank website.
How banking data flows
- You choose to connect a bank account in the app.
- Plaid opens its own secure login screen. You enter your bank credentials directly into Plaid — Boat Partner never sees, stores, or has access to your bank username or password.
- After you authorize the link, Plaid gives Boat Partner an "access token." This token is stored in the database in encrypted form (AES-256-GCM).
- Boat Partner uses the access token to ask Plaid for account information and transactions. Plaid returns the data, and it is stored alongside the other records in your boat's partnership.
- Banking data is visible only to people on that boat's partnership who have permission to see financial records (typically the boat manager and designated partners). It is never shared with other boats, sold, or used for advertising.
Retention of banking data
Financial transaction records are kept for at least seven (7) years after the transaction date. This is a US recordkeeping practice for business tax records and is longer than the retention period applied to other personal data.
The Plaid access token itself is treated differently: it is encrypted at rest and is destroyed immediately when you disconnect a bank account inside Boat Partner, when your account is deleted, or when an LLC ends its use of Boat Partner. Once the access token is destroyed, Boat Partner can no longer reach your bank through Plaid and no further data is imported.
Your choices and your rights
- Disconnect at any time. You can remove a linked bank account from inside Boat Partner. This destroys the Plaid access token and stops all future syncs. Past transactions that were already imported remain in the records for the retention period above, because they are part of the LLC's financial history.
- Delete your Boat Partner account. When you request account deletion (see Section 9, "Your Rights"), the Plaid access token associated with your account is destroyed and future syncs stop. Historical financial records belonging to a partnership LLC may be retained by that LLC for tax and recordkeeping purposes.
- Ask Plaid directly. Plaid offers its own end-user portal at https://my.plaid.com where you can see and manage every app you have connected to Plaid, including Boat Partner, and revoke access there as well.
Security
The Plaid access token is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM with a key that is never stored in the codebase. The connection between Boat Partner and Plaid uses TLS. Banking data inside the database is protected by the same row-level security and authentication that protects all other partnership data.
7. Data Storage and Security
Your data is stored in secure, hosted databases in the United States. Boat Partner uses industry-standard security practices including encrypted connections (TLS), row-level security policies on the database, and secure authentication. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
8. Data Retention
Boat Partner retains your account data and content for as long as your account is active. If you leave a boat partnership or request account deletion, your personal data is deleted within 30 days. Photos and messages shared with a partnership may be retained for the benefit of remaining partners unless you specifically request their removal. Financial transaction records imported via Plaid are an exception: they are retained for at least seven (7) years from the transaction date as part of the LLC's business recordkeeping, even if you disconnect the bank or delete your account. The Plaid access token used to fetch this data is destroyed when you disconnect the bank or delete your account.
Your records are never locked behind a subscription. If a plan lapses, everything you entered stays readable and exportable.
9. Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data Boat Partner holds about you
- Request correction of inaccurate data
- Request deletion of your account and personal data
- Withdraw consent for optional data collection (such as location)
- Export your data in a portable format
Your data is always yours. You can request a complete copy of everything on your account — trip logs, maintenance records, reports, photos, messages, and financial records — at any time, either from the app (Settings → Request My Data) or by contacting us at the address below. Your export will be emailed to you within 48 hours.
To exercise any other rights, contact us at the address below. We will respond within 30 days.
If you have linked a bank account through Plaid, you can disconnect it at any time inside Boat Partner. You can also manage your Plaid connections directly at my.plaid.com. Disconnecting destroys the encrypted access token and stops all future data imports.
10. Children's Privacy
Boat Partner is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
11. Cookies
The Boat Partner mobile app does not use cookies. The website uses minimal cookies necessary for authentication and session management. The website uses Google Analytics to understand traffic and Google Ads conversion measurement to see which campaigns lead to app downloads; both may set their own cookies. You can control cookie behavior through your browser settings.
12. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have the right under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to:
- Know what personal data is collected and how it is used
- Request deletion of your personal data
- Request a portable copy of your personal data
- Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights
To make a request, contact us at support@boatpartner.co. We will verify your identity and respond within 45 days.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you through the app or by email. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.
14. Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your data, reach out: