Privacy Notice

Last updated March 17, 2026

This Privacy Notice for Fishword.com ("we," "us," or "our") describes how and why we might access, collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your personal information when you use our services ("Services"), including when you:

• Visit our website at https://fishword.com or any website of ours that links to this Privacy Notice
• Register for an account or sign in with Google or Facebook
• Contact us or use any other features of our Services

Questions or concerns? Reading this Privacy Notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have questions, contact us at hello@fishword.com.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

• We collect limited personal data — primarily account credentials, reading history, and contact messages you submit.
• We do not sell your personal data to any third party, ever.
• We do not serve personalized advertising on FishWord.
• We use third-party services (Supabase, Sentry, Google OAuth, Facebook OAuth) which have their own privacy practices.
• You can delete your account and associated data by contacting us at hello@fishword.com.

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Information you provide to us

• Account registration — username and, optionally, an email address if you choose to provide one.
• Social sign-in — if you sign in with Google or Facebook, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from that provider. We do not store your Google or Facebook password.
• Contact form — name, email address, topic, and message body. Submissions are stored in our database and emailed to our team.
• Profile preferences — fishing interest categories you select (e.g. Fresh Water, Kayak), newsletter opt-in status, and dark mode preference.

Information collected automatically

• Reading history — when you click an article we record the article ID and your user ID so we can show you a "History" feed on your profile.
• Favorites — articles you bookmark are stored against your account.
• Session cookies — Django uses a signed, server-side session cookie to keep you logged in. No third-party tracking cookies are set by FishWord.

Information collected by third-party services we use

2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?

We process your personal information for the following reasons:

• To create and manage your account — we need your username (and email, if provided) to authenticate you and maintain your profile.
• To personalize your experience — your selected interests and reading history power the "For You" article feed.
• To respond to your messages — contact form submissions are stored and forwarded to our team so we can reply.
• To send newsletters — only if you have opted in. You can opt out at any time from your Profile → Settings.
• To monitor errors and maintain security — Sentry receives anonymized error reports to help us fix bugs. Reports may include the URL you were visiting and your user ID.
• To comply with legal obligations — we retain data as required by applicable law.

3. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION?

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We share data only in these limited circumstances:

• Service providers — Supabase (database), Sentry (error tracking), and email providers store or process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
• Social auth providers — when you use "Sign in with Google/Facebook," the OAuth handshake shares only the minimum required data (email and profile) with us.
• Legal requirements — we may disclose information if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request.
• Business transfers — if FishWord is acquired or merged, your information may transfer to the new owner, who will be bound to honor this Privacy Notice.

4. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

FishWord uses only essential cookies:

We do not use advertising cookies, fingerprinting, or any third-party analytics trackers (e.g. Google Analytics is not installed on FishWord).

5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

We implement the following safeguards:

• All traffic is served over HTTPS/TLS.
• Passwords are stored using Django's PBKDF2 hashing — plaintext passwords are never stored.
• Our database (Supabase) is protected by row-level security and encrypted at rest.
• Access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel only.

Despite these measures, no electronic transmission over the internet is 100% secure. Use our Services at your own risk.

7. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 13 years of age. If you believe we have collected data from a child under 13, please contact us at hello@fishword.com and we will delete it promptly.

8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

Depending on where you are located, you may have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct — request that we update inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete — request deletion of your account and associated personal data.
• Opt out — unsubscribe from newsletters at any time via Profile → Settings → "Receive newsletter emails."
• Withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent to process data, you may withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@fishword.com. We will respond within 30 days.

California Residents (CCPA)

We do not sell personal information. California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect and to request deletion under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Contact us at hello@fishword.com to exercise these rights.

EEA / UK Residents (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, our lawful bases for processing are:

• Contract — processing necessary to provide our Services to you.
• Legitimate interests — error monitoring and security.
• Consent — newsletter emails (you may withdraw at any time).

You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. We encourage you to review this notice periodically.

10. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may contact us at:

FishWord Melbourne, Florida, USA Email: hello@fishword.com Website: fishword.com/contact/

11. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?

You have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, details about how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, or delete your personal information. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please visit fishword.com/contact/ or email hello@fishword.com.