This Privacy Policy explains how Things With Wings (https://thingswithwings.uk) collects, uses, and protects your personal information. Optional analytics and advertising cookies are used only after you consent.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you register, we collect your name, email address, username, and password (stored as a secure hash).

Photos and EXIF Data

When you upload photos, we create metadata-stripped WebP copies and do not retain the raw original. We may store selected camera details, date taken, and GPS coordinates separately. New locations are private by default; if you opt into the public map, coordinates are rounded before being shown publicly.

Usage Data

We collect standard server logs including IP addresses, browser type, pages visited, and timestamps to help us operate and improve the service.

Payment Information

If you subscribe to Warden or Guardian membership, payment is processed by Stripe. We store Stripe customer and subscription references, but not your card details.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account
• To display your photos, profile, and sightings on the platform
• To process paid memberships via Stripe
• To send transactional emails (account confirmations, password resets) via Resend
• To show your wildlife sightings on the community map (if you opt in)
• To improve the platform through aggregated, anonymised analytics

3. Advertising

With your consent, we use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google may use cookies and similar technologies to measure and personalise ads. Rejecting optional cookies does not prevent you from using the community.

You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or by visiting aboutads.info.

4. Cookies

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — required for login sessions and security (NextAuth session cookie)
• Analytics cookies — Google Analytics, used only with consent to understand aggregate site usage
• Advertising cookies — set by Google AdSense to show relevant ads

Analytics and advertising cookies are blocked until you choose “Accept optional cookies”. You can reject them or reopen Cookie settings in the footer at any time.

5. Third-Party Services

• Stripe — payment processing (privacy policy)
• Google AdSense — advertising (privacy policy)
• Google Analytics — consent-based usage analytics
• Resend — transactional email delivery
• Cloudflare R2 — storage for processed images
• Anthropic — species identification when an eligible member explicitly submits an image
• Wikipedia — species thumbnail images (no personal data shared)

6. Data Retention

We retain your account data and uploaded photos while your account is active. The in-account delete control removes your account records and stored images; limited payment or security records may be retained where the law or prevention of abuse requires it. Invite-request photos are deleted after review.

7. Your Rights (UK GDPR)

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Object to processing of your data
• Data portability

You can export or delete your account from your profile settings. You can also contact us at [email protected].

8. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected].