Overview

Ship's Clock is a maritime bell-time clock application for iOS, iPadOS, and Android. We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains plainly what information the app may access, how it is used, who it is shared with, and — importantly — what is never collected.

The short version: Ship's Clock does not require an account, does not ask for your name, email, or phone number, and does not display ads. The app uses anonymous usage analytics (from Google Firebase) to help us understand which features people use so we can improve the app. Your chosen weather location is sent to third-party weather and tide services so we can display your local conditions. No data broker ever sees your activity, and nothing is used to track you across other apps or websites.

What We Access

  • Weather location you choose — a ZIP code, city, or address you enter in Settings. Used only to retrieve current weather, tides, and astronomical data from third-party services. The app does not request precise GPS unless you explicitly opt in.
  • Anonymous app usage events — taps on buttons, settings changes, alarm configurations, and purchase events. No content, no personal identifiers, no names. Details below under "Analytics."
  • Your purchase status — whether the one-time lifetime unlock has been purchased. Stored locally on your device and, anonymously, in our analytics profile so we can measure conversion without knowing who you are.
  • Local preferences — your chosen bell type, clock face, theme, alarm time, and quiet hours. Stored entirely on your device. Never uploaded.
What we never access: name, email, phone number, contacts, camera, microphone, photos, calendar, browsing history, health data, financial data, or your Apple ID / Google account identity. Ship's Clock requires no sign-in of any kind.

Analytics

Ship's Clock uses Google Firebase Analytics to understand how the app is used in aggregate. This helps us decide which features to improve and which to retire. We see statistics, never individuals.

Each install is assigned a random, anonymous identifier by Firebase (an "app-instance ID"). This ID is not linked to your Apple ID, Google account, email, or any real-world identity. If you uninstall and reinstall the app, a new ID is generated — the old one is gone.

The analytics events recorded include things like "alarm set," "bell type changed," "paywall viewed," "purchase complete," "settings opened," and similar feature-usage signals. Along with each event, Firebase automatically collects standard diagnostic fields: app version, device model, operating system version, session duration, and an approximate country derived from your IP address. These are used strictly to diagnose issues (e.g. "is this crash only on older iPads?") and inform product decisions.

Not used for advertising. Ship's Clock does not display advertisements and does not share analytics data with ad networks, data brokers, or any third party for marketing or cross-app profiling. Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt is not required because the app does not "track" you in Apple's sense of the term.

You can opt out at any time by deleting the app. On iOS, you can also disable analytics for all apps by enabling Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements → Share iPhone Analytics → off (this affects Apple's own telemetry).

Weather, Tide & Astronomical Data

To display the atmospheric sky scene, rain, fog, barometer, tide curve, and moon phase, the app queries a handful of free, public scientific data sources. The location you entered in Settings is sent to each along with the request. No personal identifier accompanies the request — just coordinates or a station ID.

ServiceUsed For
Open-MeteoCurrent conditions, temperature, wind, cloud cover.
NOAA CO-OPSOfficial U.S. tide predictions for the nearest station.
OpenStreetMap NominatimConverting a ZIP or city name to approximate coordinates.
U.S. Naval ObservatorySunrise, sunset, and moon phase reference data.
Google FontsLoading the Cinzel and IM Fell typefaces used on the clock dial.

These requests happen directly from your device. We do not operate a proxy, server, or database that logs them. If you change your weather location or uninstall the app, the requests stop.

In-App Purchases

Ship's Clock offers an optional one-time lifetime unlock. All payment processing is handled entirely by the platform you installed from:

  • iOS & iPadOS: Apple's App Store (StoreKit). Apple handles your payment and subscription information. We never see your card or billing details.
  • Android: Google Play Billing. Google handles payment. We never see your card or billing details.

After a successful purchase, the platform tells the app that unlock has been granted. We record the purchase event (anonymously) in analytics so we can measure conversion, but no payment identifier is stored. Please refer to Apple's and Google's respective privacy policies for how they handle payment data.

Ship's Log (Companion Web App)

The Ship's Log at binauralbeats.fun/ships-clock/ships-log/ is a separate companion web application. It uses Google Sign-In (via Firebase Authentication) to identify users and store log entries in Firestore. Use of the Ship's Log is entirely optional and separate from the Ship's Clock app itself.

Log entries you create there are associated with your Google account and stored securely in Firebase. They are not shared with third parties and are accessible only to you when signed in. Google's own privacy policy governs how Google handles authentication data.

Data Retention & Your Rights

Because Ship's Clock has no accounts, the app holds no server-side record tied to you personally. The data we do hold is:

  • On your device — preferences, alarm settings, purchase status. Deleting the app removes all of it.
  • In Firebase Analytics — aggregated, anonymous event counts tied to a random install ID. Individual events are retained for up to 14 months as per Firebase's default retention. Uninstalling the app effectively retires your install ID; reinstalling issues a new one.

If you would like us to delete the aggregated analytics tied to a specific install, email us with the approximate install date and country and we will request its removal from Firebase. Because we have no way to identify you within the dataset, this is best-effort.

Children's Privacy

Ship's Clock does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. The app does not target children, contains no advertising, and has no social features. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the Ship's Log companion app, please contact us and we will remove it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time — for example, if we add a new feature that touches data, or if a third-party service we use changes its own practices. The "Effective" date at the top of this page will be updated to reflect the latest revision, and a short note will be added to the app's release notes describing what changed. Continued use of Ship's Clock after any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this privacy policy or the data practices described above, please contact us at:

Email: support@binauralbeats.fun

We aim to respond to all enquiries within 48 hours.