Privacy

What the app uses

• The app can request your location only when you tap Near me.
• Favourite pools and guide items are stored locally on your device so you can reopen them later.
• Stable directory data may be cached locally so the app can still show recently loaded venue information if the network is unavailable.

What the app does not require

• No sign-in or user account is required.
• No in-app payments or subscriptions are used in this build.
• Notification permission is not requested unless you choose Enable alerts when that option is available.
• No profile details such as your name or email are required to browse pools, lessons or guides.

How location is used

If you allow location access, the app uses it to show your position on the map and sort nearby pools and recovery venues by distance. Your precise location is processed on your device for those features and is not stored by Aqua Local or included in the analytics event file. The iPhone app renders maps with Apple MapKit under Apple's privacy terms. On the website, the selected map provider receives the viewport information needed to render the map. This can reveal the approximate area being viewed, together with ordinary connection data such as your IP address, under that provider's privacy terms. You can revoke location access at any time in iPhone Settings under Privacy & Security, Location Services, Aqua Local. You can still use typed suburb, postcode or address search without device-location permission. Typed searches first use Aqua Local's local directory. If a place cannot be matched locally, the app asks before allowing that search to use OpenStreetMap's Nominatim geocoder. You can turn external lookup off again under Help > Privacy. Search text is not copied into the analytics event file or linked to an account.

Usage analytics

Usage analytics is off unless you explicitly choose Allow analytics. If allowed, Aqua Local records lightweight events such as section views, pool detail opens, refreshes, shares and calendar-export taps so the app can improve lane predictions, navigation and content coverage. Analytics events do not include your name, email, favourite pools, search text or precise location. The server immediately transforms the request IP address and browser or app user-agent into a salted daily visitor key used to estimate daily usage and limit abuse. The raw values are not written to the analytics event file, the key changes each day and it is not used to follow activity across days. Raw analytics events are kept on a rolling 90-day basis. You can withdraw consent at any time under Help > Privacy; new analytics and frontend-diagnostic events stop immediately.

Optional saved-pool alerts

If saved-pool alerts are available and you enable them, Aqua Local sends Apple Push Notification service the notification content needed for delivery and stores the iPhone push token, a random app-installation identifier and the IDs of the pools you saved. This information is used only to deliver lane alerts for those pools. It is not attached to an Aqua Local account, name, email, search text or location, and is not used for advertising or tracking. The server subscription expires after 180 days without a sync. Turning alerts off in Aqua Local immediately requests deletion of the server subscription and unregisters the app from remote notifications. You can also withdraw notification permission in iPhone Settings.

Reports and support requests

The in-app report form lets you send a private correction or missing-venue report. Reports can include the issue type, section, item, app path and the message you choose to write. The form does not ask for your email, and you should not include sensitive personal details. Reports use the same rotating daily visitor key for rate limiting and are stored for admin review. Report bodies and their admin status notes are deleted on a rolling 90-day basis. After submission, the app shows a report reference. To request earlier deletion, submit a Privacy request through the same form and include that reference; the administrator can then remove the original report and its status data from Aqua Local's active storage. If an infrastructure provider maintains backup copies, residual data may remain until those backups expire or are overwritten under that provider's normal backup lifecycle; those copies are not available through the live app.

Your choices and deletion

• Usage analytics and external address lookup are off until allowed and can be turned off under Help > Privacy.
• Location permission can be withdrawn in iPhone Settings or the equivalent browser/site settings.
• Saved-pool alerts can be turned off from Saved; this deletes the active Aqua Local server subscription. Notification permission can also be withdrawn in iPhone Settings.
• Saved places can be removed individually. Deleting the app or clearing Aqua Local site data removes all Aqua Local data stored locally on that device.
• Server analytics and reports expire after 90 days. A referenced report can be removed from active storage earlier through an in-app Privacy request.
• There is no account or persistent cross-day identifier, so Aqua Local cannot reliably identify a particular person's anonymous analytics events for individual deletion.

Diagnostics

When usage analytics is allowed, the app may send lightweight frontend-error events so broken screens can be found and fixed. These events are limited to the broad error type and source hostname, without full URLs, query strings, stack traces or user-entered content. They stop when analytics is turned off and are not used for advertising or tracking.

Official pages and third-party services

The app opens official venue websites, map searches and phone links outside the app when you choose them. Map screens use Apple MapKit in the native iPhone app, Google Maps on the website and OpenStreetMap/CARTO tiles where the website's open-source fallback is used. Web map tile and viewport requests may reveal the approximate map area being viewed. Unmatched typed location searches use OpenStreetMap Nominatim only after permission is given. These providers process limited request data under their published privacy commitments and applicable law. Aqua Local uses them only for the requested map or lookup function and does not authorise their use for Aqua Local advertising or cross-service tracking.

Guide data and public feeds

Aqua Local uses public venue information and official schedule feeds where available. Lane times, lesson prices, recovery offers and event details can still change at the venue after publication, so official venue pages should be treated as the final source before travel or booking.

Support

For app help and release notes, use the support page below. For venue-specific questions, use the official venue links and phone numbers shown inside the app.