Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information The Carp Cast collects, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. It applies to anyone who creates an account, contacts us, joins a waitlist, or otherwise interacts with the Platform.

We are committed to handling your data fairly and transparently in line with UK GDPR.

The Carp Cast is the data controller for the information described in this policy. You can contact us at support@thecarpcast.co.uk for any data-related queries.

When you sign up: your username, email address, password (hashed), and basic profile preferences.

When you log a catch: lake, fish species, weight, optional photo and notes, time and date.

When you join a competition or league: your entry submissions and scores.

When you take out a paid membership: payment is processed by Stripe. We do not store full card details. Stripe shares a customer ID, the last 4 digits of the card and the billing country with us so we can support your account.

When you contact us or join a waitlist: your name, email and the message or interest you indicated.

When you use the Platform: standard server logs (IP, browser, pages viewed) and lightweight analytics events (e.g. which premium features anglers click on most). These are used in aggregate to improve the product.

• To provide your account, catch log, leagues, competitions and memberships.

• To send transactional emails (account confirmations, password resets, membership receipts, prize notifications).

• To send membership-related and product-update emails. You can opt out of non-essential emails at any time from your profile.

• To moderate community content and prevent abuse, fraud or unauthorised use of the Platform.

• To improve the Platform — understanding which features are useful, where the friction is, and what to build next.

• To meet our legal obligations (e.g. tax, accounting, requests from law enforcement where lawful).

We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies (e.g. to keep you signed in) and aggregated analytics events to understand product usage. We do not run third-party advertising trackers.

You can clear cookies from your browser at any time. If you sign out, your session cookie is removed.

Membership payments are processed by Stripe Payments Europe Ltd. Stripe is the data processor for card details — those never touch our servers. Stripe's privacy policy is available at stripe.com/privacy.

When you start, change or cancel a membership we receive a notification (called a webhook) from Stripe so we can update your account. The webhook itself contains your Stripe customer ID and event metadata — not your card details.

Transactional and product emails (account confirmations, membership notifications, occasional product updates) are sent through Resend, our email delivery provider. Resend handles delivery, bounces and basic engagement metrics on our behalf and acts as a data processor.

You can opt out of non-essential email at any time using the unsubscribe link in the footer of any marketing email, or by emailing support@thecarpcast.co.uk.

When you upload a catch photo, it is hosted by us and shown on the Platform alongside your username. If you delete a catch the public-facing entry is removed; we may retain anonymous metadata (species, weight, lake) in aggregate competition records.

• Stripe — for processing payments (see above).

• Resend — for sending email (see above).

• Our cloud and database hosting providers — strictly for running the Platform under appropriate data-processing agreements.

• Fishery and brand partners — only where you have explicitly opted into being shared with that partner (e.g. by entering a sponsored competition or buying from a partner). We will tell you what data will be shared and why before you do so.

• Law enforcement or regulators — where we are legally required.

We never sell your personal data.

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we retain payment and tax records for as long as required by law, and we anonymise competition and league records so the historical leaderboards remain valid.

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.

• Correct inaccurate data.

• Request deletion of your data, subject to legal retention requirements.

• Object to or restrict certain types of processing.

• Receive a copy of your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@thecarpcast.co.uk. We aim to respond within 30 days.

You can request deletion of your account from your profile or by emailing support@thecarpcast.co.uk. We will confirm by email, then delete your personal data within 30 days, retaining only what we are legally required to keep (e.g. tax records on past payments) or what is fully anonymised.

We take security seriously. Passwords are stored hashed (bcrypt). All traffic to the Platform is encrypted via HTTPS. We restrict access to personal data to staff who need it to do their jobs.

No system is 100% secure — if you suspect your account has been compromised, please reset your password and email support@thecarpcast.co.uk immediately.

The Platform is intended for users aged 16 and over. If you believe a child under 16 has provided personal data to us, please contact support@thecarpcast.co.uk and we will delete it.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified inside the Platform and (where significant) by email.

Questions about your privacy? Email support@thecarpcast.co.uk or use the contact form. If you are unhappy with our response, you can also raise a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).