MARAP Privacy Policy

Last updated: 11/12/2025

MarAlliance is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how your personal information is collected, used, and disclosed by MARAP. By accessing or using our service, you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

Information We Collect

Personal Information

When you register for an account, we collect the following personal details to create your user profile and manage your account:

• Name
• Email Address
• Username
• Password (stored securely using encryption)

Location Data

MARAP collects precise location data (GPS location) to enable key features of the application, including:

• Mapping Sightings: to accurately plot where marine species, reports, or catches are observed.
• Event Tracking: to record 'effort' tracks during scientific surveys or tournaments (e.g. BioBlitz events).
• MPA Alerts: to determine if you are within a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and display relevant rules.

Location data is collected while you are using the app and, for specific tracking features, may be collected in the background once you have started a tracking session.

Camera and Photos

MARAP requests access to your device's camera and photo gallery so you can:

• Upload evidence: take or select photos of species, catches, or environmental reports to validate your sightings.
• Profile picture: set or update your user profile image.

Images uploaded to the service are stored on our secure servers and may be reviewed by administrators for scientific validation.

How We Use Your Information

• Scientific Research: aggregated sighting, catch, and monitoring data is used for marine conservation monitoring and research.
• App Functionality: to display your logs on the map (only if the log is marked 'public'), manage event leaderboards, and verify community reports.
• Communication: to send password reset emails (if requested) or important updates about the service.

Anonymous Alerts

Alerts let you report suspicious activity, incidents or phenomena. They are published anonymously. Because people use alerts to report sensitive things, we want to be precise about what "anonymous" means.

What other users see

Before an alert is sent to anyone else's device, we remove your name, your profile photo and your user ID from it. Other MARAP users cannot see who filed an alert. Alerts are also excluded entirely from the public map on our website.

What MarAlliance sees

Anonymous means anonymous to other users, not to MarAlliance. Our records still link your account to the alerts you submit, so that our staff can verify reports, follow up where necessary, and prevent misuse. Your own alerts stay visible to you in your Diary. As with all data we hold, we may have to disclose alert records if required by law, as described below.

What the alert itself reveals

An alert still shows the location and time you reported, along with any photo or description you add. Other users can see these. They may indicate where you were, or identify you indirectly. Please consider this before adding photos or details to an alert.

Data Sharing and Disclosure

Your data is owned by you. We do not sell your personal data. We may share information only in these circumstances:

• Scientific Partners: anonymized, aggregated sighting data may be shared with conservation partners for research analysis.
• Legal Requirements: if required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your data. Passwords are hashed before storage, and communications between the app and our servers are secured. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Rights

• Access: view the data associated with your profile via the Diary or Profile screens.
• Correction: update your profile information at any time.
• Deletion: request deletion of your account and associated data from your account settings, or by contacting us below.

Children's Privacy

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us:

• By email: marap@maralliance.org
• By website: https://maralliance.org