Privacy Policy

What I Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, I collect your email address and any name you provide. This is used to identify your account and send you important updates about your hives (like inspection reminders, if you enable them).

Hive & Apiary Data

Any data you enter about your apiaries, hives and inspections is stored securely and associated with your account. This data is yours. I never sell it or share it with anyone. To run the service I see aggregate numbers — how many inspections were logged, which tools get used — and I can access an individual account when you ask me for help with it. I don't read your inspection notes otherwise, and the site's analytics are switched off entirely on my own admin pages.

Analytics

I use Google Analytics to understand how people use the site: things like which pages are visited and what devices people use. This helps me improve the tools. Google Analytics uses cookies and collects anonymized data. You can opt out using browser extensions or privacy settings.

Sharing You Control

Two features show your data to other people, and both are off until you turn them on. If you invite a collaborator to an apiary or hive, they can see and add to its records — inspections, notes and photos — until you remove their access. If you set your profile or a hive page to public or unlisted, whatever that page shows (hive names, inspection summaries, photos you attached to it) is visible to anyone who has the link, and search engines can index public pages. Making things private again takes effect immediately, but copies others already made are theirs.

Contact Form

If you contact me through the website, I receive your email address and message so I can respond. I don't add you to any mailing lists unless you specifically ask.

Location Data (Optional)

When recording inspections, you can optionally allow location access to auto-fill weather conditions. Your location is sent directly to a third-party weather service (Open-Meteo) to fetch current conditions. Your coordinates are never stored on our servers. They're only cached locally in your browser for convenience. You can deny location access at any time without affecting other features.

How I Use Your Data

• To provide and maintain the Apiary Tools service
• To send you inspection reminders and account notifications (if enabled)
• To respond to your questions or feedback
• To improve the website and tools based on usage patterns

Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored securely using Supabase, a trusted database provider with enterprise-grade security. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

Emails are sent through Resend, a secure email delivery service.

Cookies

There are two kinds, and they are treated differently:

• Strictly necessary: keeping you signed in and remembering your unit and currency preferences. The site cannot work without these, so they are always on and need no consent.
• Analytics (Google Analytics): these are off until you turn them on. Google is not contacted at all until you accept, so nothing is loaded and no data is sent before you choose. Declining is one tap and costs you no functionality.

You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of any page. Withdrawing also deletes the analytics cookies already set. We ask again once a year so a single click does not stand forever.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your data: you can see all your hive data in your account
• Export your data using the export feature in the app
• Delete your account and all associated data: contact me and I'll handle it promptly
• Correct any inaccurate information in your account

Third Parties

I use the following third-party services:

• Supabase: database and authentication
• Netlify: website hosting
• Resend: email delivery
• Google Analytics: website analytics. Only contacted if you accept analytics cookies.
• OneSignal: push notifications, only if you turn them on and allow notifications in your browser or device.
• Open-Meteo: weather data. Used when you enable location-based weather on an inspection, and by the forage calendar to work out whether bloom is running early or late for your area. Approximate coordinates are sent; your name and account are not.
• OpenStreetMap / Nominatim: turns a ZIP or postcode you type into an approximate location for the forage calendar and forage map. Your postal code is sent to them; your name and account are not.
• iNaturalist: the "spotted flowering near you" layer on the forage calendar. Approximate coordinates are sent to fetch nearby plant sightings.
• Google Gemini: the optional AI inspection helper. If you use it, the notes you wrote and the answers you ticked on that one inspection are sent to Google to be summarised, and the summary is saved with the inspection. Nothing is sent unless you accept the notice and ask for a summary, and your name, email and account are not included. The feature is entirely optional and the rest of the app works without it.
• OpenFreeMap: the map tiles behind the forage map. Your browser requests tiles for the area you are looking at.
• Buy Me a Coffee: donations, if you choose to support the site. Payment details are handled entirely by them and never reach us.
• Apple and Google Play: tips left from inside the apps, where offered. The purchase happens entirely through the store, which never tells us who you are, and we receive no card details. A tip unlocks nothing and is not linked to your account.

Each of these services has their own privacy policies and security measures. Several are based in the United States, so using the site involves transferring some data there.

How Long Data Is Kept

• Account, hive and inspection data: kept while your account is open, and deleted when you delete your account.
• Newsletter email addresses: kept while you are subscribed. If you unsubscribe, the address is removed within 12 months. A record of the unsubscribe is kept so we do not email you again by mistake.
• Contact form and forage report messages: kept while needed to answer you and to fix what you reported, then deleted.
• Analytics: only collected with your consent, and retained by Google for at most 14 months.

Children's Privacy

Apiary Tools is not directed at children under 13. I don't knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

I may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. For significant changes, I'll notify users via email.