Draft — pending legal review. This is a plain-English starting point written to reflect
how Telltale actually works. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed by a qualified
NZ privacy/tech lawyer before Telltale is scaled or charged for. Effective date: [to be set].
Privacy
Who we are
Telltale is a free watersport racing tracker and results platform. This policy explains what personal
information we collect, why, who can see it, and your choices. We aim to collect as little as possible.
What we collect
- Account details — the name/username (and email, if you use Google sign-in) you give when you register.
- Boat & race data — boat name/sail number, GPS tracks from your phone, and any instrument data
(NMEA/GPX) you choose to upload.
- Live position — while you are actively tracking a race, your real-time location.
- Participation tags — races, boats and roles you (or coaches) tag yourselves to, and your club.
Why, and who can see it
- Public (visible to anyone): season results, champions, the participation board, club branding — the
"shop window" that helps grow the sport.
- Club-only (signed-in members): the detailed race replays and raw GPS/instrument tracks.
- Live tracking is public by default so parents and spectators can watch — unless the organiser
marks a race private, in which case only signed-in club members can view it.
🔒 Children & youth. Real-time location of minors is treated with special care.
For youth events we recommend sail numbers, not names, and organisers should mark youth races
private (club-only) so the public cannot watch a child's live location. If you are under 16, please use
Telltale only with a parent/guardian's involvement and consent. Parents may ask us to remove a child's data at
any time (see "Your rights").
How we protect it
Passwords are stored only as salted hashes (never in plain text). Access to detailed tracks requires signing in.
We keep data for as long as it is useful for results and history; you can ask us to delete yours.
Your data, your rights
- Access & correct — see and fix your information.
- Delete — ask us to remove your account and data (and a parent can ask for a child's).
- Take it with you — export your tracks as GPX (an open format) any time, from the phone tracker
or a replay. Your data is yours; there is no lock-in.
Third parties
We use a small number of services to make Telltale work: map tiles (OpenStreetMap, LINZ), optional
"Sign in with Google", and public AIS vessel data (aisstream.io). We do not sell your personal
information. Aggregated, de-identified environmental data (e.g. wind and tide observations) may be used to
improve forecasts and tools.
Cookies
We use a single sign-in cookie to keep you logged in. No third-party advertising trackers.
Terms of use
⚠️ Not for navigation. Telltale is for racing, coaching and fun. Its maps, wind,
tide and position data are indicative and may be wrong or delayed. Do not rely on it for navigation or safety
decisions. Always use proper charts, instruments and seamanship.
- Fair use — tag only yourself and boats/races you took part in; don't impersonate others or upload data
that isn't yours to share.
- Accuracy — results and tracks are provided as-is with no warranty; official club records prevail.
- Your content — you keep ownership of your tracks and tags; you grant Telltale permission to display
them per the visibility rules above.
- Changes — we may update these terms; material changes will be posted here.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or removal requests: [contact email]
— or ask your club.
