Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated [EFFECTIVE DATE]
1. Information we collect
Account information
- Sign-in method — a Google account, an email and password, or an anonymous guest session. Guest sessions let you report without giving us an email.
- Email address, if you sign in with email or Google.
- Display name, if you choose to add one.
- A user ID we generate to associate reports with your account.
Reports you submit
- Photos of the issue (see How we handle your photos below).
- Your device’s GPS location at the time of the report, used to place the issue on the map and identify the responsible city. You can decline location access, but reports are less accurate and may not route correctly without it.
- An optional street address or written description you add.
- Optional category tags (for example, “pothole”).
- Basic timing data about how long a report took, which we use to improve the app.
Information collected automatically
- Device and browser information needed to run and display the app.
- Your IP address, used only momentarily to rate-limit our AI service and prevent abuse. We do not store your IP address in our database.
- Error and diagnostic logs, processed by our error-reporting provider (see How we share information).
2. How we handle your photos
Photos get special handling because they can capture people and license plates. Here is exactly what happens to a photo you submit:
- Before any public sharing, your device attempts to blur faces and license plates, creating a blurred copy on your phone.
- The blurred copy is stored on a public content-delivery network and may be displayed publicly — on city maps, in issue feeds, and to other residents — as part of the report.
- The original, unblurred photo is uploaded to private storage that only authorized city staff can access, and is automatically deleted after 30 days.
- The original, unblurred photo is also sent to our AI provider (Google) to classify the issue (see Automated classification below).
Important limitation of automatic blurring
Automatic blurring relies on a feature available only in some web browsers. Where it isn’t available, the app falls back to blurring the top and bottom portions of the image, which may not cover a person centered in the frame. Because blurring is not guaranteed, please avoid photographing identifiable people, bystanders, or readable license plates — capture only the infrastructure issue itself.
3. Automated classification (AI)
Tidewater uses Google’s Gemini AI model to look at your submitted photo and predict the type of issue (for example, “pothole”), its likely severity, and whether it may be an emergency. This helps route your report to the right city crew.
- The unblurred original image is sent to Google, which processes it as our service provider.
- The model’s output is a prediction and can be wrong. An incorrect or low-confidence classification does not change your rights, and city staff review reports before acting.
- You can ask us to review or correct an automated classification of your report by contacting us.
4. How we use your information
- Provide and operate Tidewater.
- Classify reports and route them to the responsible city.
- Detect duplicate or related reports and merge them.
- Notify you of status updates on your reports.
- Maintain safety and prevent abuse, fraud, and spam.
- Debug, secure, and improve the app.
- Comply with legal obligations.
7. How long we keep information
- Original (unblurred) photos — automatically deleted after 30 days.
- Blurred photos — kept as part of the public report record and may remain available indefinitely.
- Reports, classifications, and your account — kept while your account or the report is active, and as needed to provide the service, resolve issues, and meet legal obligations.
- IP addresses — not stored (used only in-memory for rate limiting).
- Error logs — retained by us and Sentry for a limited period to debug problems.
8. Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights. To exercise any of them, contact us at [contact@your-domain.com].
- Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction — ask us to fix inaccurate information.
- Deletion — ask us to delete your account and personal information, subject to records a city may already hold or that we must keep by law.
- Location — allow or deny location access in your browser or device settings at any time.
- Photos — you choose what to photograph; avoid capturing people or readable plates.
California residents (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion, to opt out of “sale” or “sharing” (we do neither), and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Submit a request to [contact@your-domain.com].
9. Security
We protect information with encryption in transit, access controls, and database row-level security that limits each user to their own data and restricts unblurred photos to authorized staff. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children's privacy
Tidewater is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. International users
Tidewater is operated from, and stores data in, the United States, and our providers (such as Google and Supabase) may process data in the United States and other countries. By using Tidewater, you understand your information may be processed in the U.S.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy. We’ll change the “Last updated” date above, and significant changes may be highlighted in the app. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.
13. Contact
Questions or requests? Contact [YOUR ORG / TEAM NAME] at [contact@your-domain.com].