Privacy notice
How WaterWatch handles your data
The full, formal version. It sits under the plain-language summary and covers everything GDPR (Art. 13) and the Irish ePrivacy Regulations require. Last reviewed July 2026.
Who we are
Data controller
AutoM8 BIM is the controller for the personal data described here.
Data-protection queries or requests: autom8.tools@gmail.com (or the contact page).
What & why
What we process and our legal basis
- Showing water-quality observations on the public mapLegitimate interest
What you saw, a fuzzed location, the date, photos you add, an anonymous device token. Public-interest environmental monitoring. Submitting is voluntary; the map is a public record. We keep a legitimate-interest assessment on file.
- Your account & magic-link sign-inContract
Email address. Needed to sign you in and link reports to you so you can keep a history.
- Email alerts for your saved feedsConsent
Email address, feed criteria. Only if you opt in. Withdraw any time by turning the feed off.
- Showing a public display name on your reportConsent
The name you choose. Off by default. Only shown if you opt in.
Location & photos
Your location is never shown precisely
When you report, your device's location places the observation. The public map only ever shows a deliberately fuzzed area, never your exact position. Photos have their EXIF metadata (including any embedded GPS) stripped at upload.
Processors
Who else touches your data
- Brevo: Sends magic-link + alert emails.EU
- Cloudinary: Hosts observation photos (EXIF stripped).US, under Standard Contractual Clauses
- MapTiler: Serves the map tiles you requested.EU / Switzerland (adequacy)
- Render: Hosts the application + database.EU region; US transfers, if any, under Standard Contractual Clauses
Transfers
International transfers
Most processing stays in the EU/EEA or an adequacy-covered country. Where a processor (e.g. Cloudinary) processes data in the US, that transfer is covered by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
Retention
How long we keep things
- Session sign-in cookie30 days
- Magic-link tokenSingle-use; expires on verify or shortly after
- Account (email)Until you delete your account
- Citizen observationsKept as a public environmental record; the link to your account / device is severed when you delete your account
- PhotosUntil you purge them or delete your account (EXIF stripped at upload)
- Email alertsKept until you delete the saved feed; email digests are not retained beyond sending
Your rights
What you can do
- Access: get a copy of your data
- Rectification: correct data that is wrong
- Erasure: delete your account and personal data
- Portability: export your data in a machine-readable form
- Restriction & objection: limit or object to processing
- Withdraw consent: for alerts or your public display name, at any time
Signed-in users can download, purge photos, or delete their account directly from Privacy & data in the menu. For anything else, email autom8.tools@gmail.com.
Cookies & tracking
No tracking, no consent banner
WaterWatch sets no analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies. The only device storage is a strictly-necessary sign-in session cookie (after you log in) and first-party preferences like your theme. Webfonts are self-hosted, so no third party is contacted just by loading a page. Because there is no non-essential storage, no cookie-consent banner is required.
Complaints
Right to complain
If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, you can lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie).