Privacy Policy

Last updated: 16 October 2026

Akinta ("the app") is developed by MelberLabs. This policy explains what data we process, why, who we share it with and your rights. Questions: melberlabs@gmail.com

Account

• When you first open the app, a guest (anonymous) account is created without asking for personal information. It keeps your logbook, private spots, marked points and purchases safe across devices.
• You can link your account with Sign in with Apple (iOS only) or email and password. Your email address (including Apple's "Hide My Email" address) is then associated with your account. Your password is stored only as a one-way hash (argon2id).

Data we collect and why

• Location (only if you allow it, while the app is open): to find the nearest spot, show the Shore Scanner and fetch the weather and sea forecast. Forecast requests reach our server rounded to a grid cell of about 5 km and aren't stored with your identity.
• Logbook: species, length, weight, bait, technique, notes, date, the spot you choose and the weather/sea conditions at that time. These entries are yours and visible only to you.
• Fishing sessions: start and end time, spot, conditions and how many fish you caught. "The score that learns from you" is calculated from these on your phone.
• Marked points and private spots: points you name and place; visible only to you.
• Photos: only photos you add. Location (GPS) and other metadata are removed before upload, and our server re-encodes the photo to remove metadata a second time. Photos are kept in private storage and never shared.
• Purchases: transaction identifiers from Apple or Google to verify your subscription or lifetime purchase. Your payment details never reach us.

Optional features

• Species identification from photo: only with your explicit consent, the chosen photo is downscaled, stripped of metadata and sent to Google's Gemini service (USA) for identification. The photo is used only for identification; we don't store it, and under the paid Gemini service terms Google doesn't use it for model training. You can withdraw consent in Settings.
• Voice logging (Wet Hands Mode, iOS only): speech recognition runs on your phone; audio isn't recorded, and neither audio nor text is sent to our server. If your device can't recognise Turkish on-device, the feature doesn't work.
• Anonymous area statistics: only if you say "Yes", your catches count towards weekly area totals (e.g. "Istanbul · Black Sea coast, 41 horse mackerel this week") without spot names, locations or your identity. Anything with fewer than 5 different anglers is never shown. Off by default; change it on the Account screen.
• Offline areas: downloaded map tiles and forecasts are stored only on your phone.

What we don't use

• No advertising, advertising identifiers, tracking, analytics or crash-reporting SDKs.
• We don't sell, rent or share your data for marketing.

Service providers

• Our server: our own server hosted by OVHcloud in Milan (Italy). Your account, logbook, photos and purchase records are stored there.
• MET Norway (Norwegian Meteorological Institute): weather forecasts. Only the rounded location cell reaches this service, through our server — never your identity.
• Copernicus Marine Service (EU): wave, current and sea temperature data. Our server downloads it per region; none of your data is sent to this service.
• Resend (USA): delivery of email verification and password reset codes. Only your email address and the code are sent.
• Google Gemini (USA): only if you allow species identification, as described above.
• OpenFreeMap / OpenStreetMap: map imagery. These services can see your IP address when map tiles load.
• Apple / Google: sign-in and purchase verification.

Retention and deletion

• Your data is kept while your account exists. Guest accounts unused for 90 days are deleted automatically with their data.
• Delete account: Settings › Account › Delete account. Your logbook, sessions, photos, private spots, marks and account are permanently deleted; for Apple-linked accounts the Sign in with Apple token is revoked. Encrypted backups are purged within 7 days. Deleting your account does not cancel an Apple/Google subscription; cancel it in your store account settings.
• Web deletion request: https://akinta.melberlabs.com/en/delete-account

Your rights

Under KVKK (Turkey) and GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete, export (Settings › Account › Download my data) and object. Requests: melberlabs@gmail.com

Children

The app isn't designed for children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we update this policy we'll publish the new version in the app and on our website.