1. Who we are
BlueCruise is built and run by:
- Data controller: Ulrik Grarup Gehrcke (private individual, sole operator)
- Postal address: Sporegangen 12, st. tv., 3000 Helsingør, Denmark
- Email: privacy@bluecruise.dk
- Website: https://bluecruise.dk/
BlueCruise is published on Google Play as a single Android app with package name com.bluecruise.premium. This policy applies to that app.
2. What this policy covers
This policy explains:
- What data the BlueCruise app and our backend at
bluecruise.dkhandle - Why we handle it (the legal basis under GDPR)
- How long we keep it
- Who we share it with
- What rights you have and how to use them
3. Data stored only on your device
Most of what BlueCruise produces lives on your phone and never leaves it unless you sign in and explicitly turn on cloud backup or live sharing:
- Trip logs: GPS position, speed, course, timestamps and mode (sail / engine / anchor) recorded when you press Start log.
- Soft polar data: Boat-specific performance bins derived from your own logs, used for ETA, polar curves and target-speed indicators.
- Anchor watch: Anchor position, drift radius, alarms.
- Routes: Saved routes and waypoints you create.
- Maintenance & engine hours: Tasks, intervals, history.
- Moments: Photos and videos you create in the app, including overlays such as position, speed or course.
- Harbour notes you draft locally before publishing.
- Settings and preferences: Theme, units, map style, alarm thresholds, language.
This data lives in the app's local database and in your device's photo/file storage. You can wipe it by deleting the data inside the app or uninstalling the app. Deleting your account from inside Settings also wipes this local data.
4. Data on our server (Denmark)
You only have data on our server if you sign in. The server runs on hosting in Denmark (Simply.com).
4.1 Account
- Username
- Email address
- Password (stored hashed, never in clear text)
- Account creation timestamp, last-seen timestamp
- Password-reset tokens (short-lived; one-time use)
Legal basis: performance of contract (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)) – we need the account to provide the service.
4.2 Boat profile
If you create a boat (you can use BlueCruise without one):
- Boat ID and human-readable "connect code"
- Boat name, type, length, model, MMSI, callsign, flag, home port, image (if uploaded), free-text contact field
- Boat membership records (which user owns / belongs to which boat)
Legal basis: performance of contract – needed for friends, harbour notes and live tracking to identify "your" boat.
4.3 Live position (only while you're using "Location sharing")
When live tracking is turned on:
- Position (latitude / longitude), speed, course, mode
- Boat ID, boat name (optional), destination / ETA (optional, free-text fields you control)
- Share level (
socialfor friends-only,anonymousfor the public density layer) - Last-updated timestamp
Positions stop showing as "active" 90 minutes after the last update. Rows are then deleted by an automated daily cleanup; the longest a single row can live on our server is 7 days.
Legal basis: consent – sharing is opt-in and you can stop it at any time from inside the app.
4.4 Friends
- Friend requests sent / received between boats (boat IDs, timestamps, status)
- Accepted friendships (pair of boat IDs)
Legal basis: performance of contract.
4.5 Harbour notes (public content)
Notes you publish about harbours are visible to other BlueCruise users. Each note stores:
- Harbour identifier, title, body text, optional metadata (services, ratings)
- Author user ID, author boat ID, author boat name, author connect-code
- Created / updated timestamps
If you delete your account, the note itself stays public (it's a contribution to the community), but the author fields are anonymised – they become "Deleted user" with no link back to your account.
Legal basis: performance of contract (you ask us to publish), and our legitimate interest in keeping useful community content available.
4.6 Cloud backup & sync (optional)
If you enable cloud sync:
- Sailing logs, saved routes, maintenance records and engine hours are copied to our server in JSON form
- A single combined backup file (one per boat) is stored on disk at the server
You can disable sync from Settings; deleting your account deletes the backup file and all sync rows for your boat (if you were the last member).
Legal basis: consent.
4.7 Subscriptions (Premium)
If you buy a Premium subscription via Google Play:
- Boat-level entitlement (premium yes/no, plan ID, expiry timestamp)
- Google-Play purchase token (used to verify the subscription with Google's Real-Time Developer Notifications)
We do not receive your card details, billing address or full payment information – that stays with Google Play.
Legal basis: performance of contract.
4.8 Feedback & community
- Feedback-board items and votes (if you use the in-app feedback board)
- Club / list memberships (if you use the club or list feature)
- Rating-prompt answers (your "yes / no" + optional reason) if you give them
Legal basis: consent / legitimate interest (improving the app).
4.9 Server logs
Our web server keeps short-lived technical logs (IP address, request path, timestamp, HTTP status) for security and abuse detection. These are not used for tracking and are rotated/discarded within 30 days.
Legal basis: legitimate interest (security).
5. Crash reports & analytics
5.1 Firebase Crashlytics (crash reports)
When the app crashes, a stack trace and basic device/OS info are sent to Google's Firebase Crashlytics so we can fix bugs. The report does not contain your trips, your boat data or any free-text content you wrote. Firebase keeps crash data for up to 90 days.
Legal basis: legitimate interest (keeping the app stable).
5.2 Firebase Analytics (anonymous usage)
The app sends anonymous, aggregated usage events to Firebase Analytics (daily/monthly active users, devices, country, app version). These cannot identify you personally.
You can turn analytics off at any time under Settings → Privacy → Anonymous usage analytics. When off, the app sends no analytics events at all.
Legal basis: legitimate interest, with an easy opt-out.
6. Third-party services we use
| Service | What it does | What we send them |
|---|---|---|
OpenFreeMap (tiles.openfreemap.org) | Map tiles, fonts, sprites | The map area you look at (z/x/y tile coordinates), your IP address |
| Open-Meteo | Weather forecasts | Approximate position (lat/lng), your IP address |
| OpenRouteService | Route planning (when you use it) | Route waypoints you choose, your IP address |
| Google Play Billing | Subscription processing | Whatever Google needs for the purchase – we never see your card |
| Google Firebase (Crashlytics + Analytics) | Crash reports + anonymous usage | Crash stack traces, anonymous usage events, device model, OS version, country |
| Simply.com (web hosting + SMTP) | Hosts bluecruise.dk and sends password-reset emails | Your email address when we send you a reset link |
We never sell your data to anyone, and we don't run ads.
7. International transfers
Most of our processing happens in Denmark / the EU. Firebase (crash reports + analytics) and Google Play are operated by Google LLC in the United States. Transfers to Google rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and Google's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC).
8. Permissions the app asks for
- Location (foreground + background): needed for trip logging, anchor watch and live tracking. Background access is only used while a log or anchor watch is actively running.
- Camera / microphone: used only when you record a Moment.
- Notifications: ongoing trip-log / anchor-watch status, alarms (anchor drift, low GPS quality, harbour-arrival).
- Internet: map tiles, weather, routing, account, friends, sync.
- Foreground service: required by Android so trip logging and anchor watch keep running with the screen off.
You can revoke any of these in Android system settings. Some features stop working without them (e.g. you can't run an anchor watch without location).
9. How long we keep data
| Data | Where | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
| Trips, anchor watches, routes, maintenance, soft polar | Your device | Until you delete them or uninstall |
| Account + boat profile | Server | Until you delete your account |
| Cloud-synced logs / routes / maintenance / engine hours | Server | Until you delete your account or turn off sync |
| Live position | Server | Up to 7 days, then automatically deleted |
| Harbour notes you wrote | Server | Stays public; author info anonymised on account deletion |
| Friend requests / friendships | Server | Until you remove them or delete your account |
| Subscription entitlement | Server | Until subscription ends + 12 months for accounting |
| Crash reports | Firebase (Google) | Up to 90 days |
| Anonymous analytics events | Firebase (Google) | Up to 14 months |
| Server access logs (IP etc.) | Server | Up to 30 days |
10. Your rights under GDPR
If you are in the EU/EEA, UK or another jurisdiction with comparable rights, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct it if it's wrong
- Delete it – the fastest way is to open the app and tap Settings → Account → Delete account. This wipes both the server-side account/boat data and the local data on your device, and anonymises harbour notes you wrote.
- Restrict or object to our processing where it's based on legitimate interest
- Withdraw consent at any time – e.g. turn off location sharing, cloud sync or analytics
- Data portability – the in-app Backup / Export feature gives you a JSON copy of your logs, routes, maintenance and engine-hours data
- Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. In Denmark that is Datatilsynet.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@bluecruise.dk. We aim to respond within 30 days.
11. Children
BlueCruise is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has given us data, email us and we'll delete it.
12. Security
All traffic between the app and the server uses HTTPS / TLS. Passwords are stored as salted hashes (PHP password_hash). The server is patched and access-restricted. No system is 100% secure – if you spot a security issue, please email privacy@bluecruise.dk.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when we add features or change a provider. The "Last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version. Material changes (e.g. new categories of data, new third parties) will be highlighted in the app the first time you open it after the change.
14. Contact
- Email: privacy@bluecruise.dk
- Website: https://bluecruise.dk/
- Postal address: Ulrik Grarup Gehrcke, Sporegangen 12, st. tv., 3000 Helsingør, Denmark