Privacy Policy

Introduction

Last updated: October 28, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how BowSmith ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and shares personal information when you use our iPhone and iPad app and our website, bowsmith.app. There is no BowSmith account: we never ask for your name, email address or password to use the app.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

  • Your archery data (sessions, scores, competitions, equipment, notes, venues and settings). It is stored on your device and synced through your own private iCloud database, which we have no access to. We receive only what you choose to send us or allow, as described below
  • Social profile details: your username, and the display name, bio and photo you add (see Apple CloudKit below for who can see them)
  • On the website: your name, email address and message if you use the contact form, and your email address if you sign up for the newsletter
  • Feedback and bug reports you send from the app (see Other Services)

Automatically Collected Information

  • If you allow analytics in the app: usage events such as screens viewed and features used, device model, iOS version, language, region, time zone, display and accessibility settings, and a hashed device ID
  • If you allow analytics in the app: crash and error reports, including error messages and the recent actions before an error (which can include equipment names), and performance measurements, with a random ID
  • Location while you use the app, never in the background: to find venues, show distance and directions, get weather for your saved venue and, if you turn on course recording, save GPS points along the course you walk
  • On the website: your IP address and browser details. Our hosting providers process them to deliver the site, and the site keeps your IP address in memory for up to an hour to prevent abuse. If you use the contact form, your IP address is included in the email we receive

How We Use Your Information

  • Run the app features you use, including iCloud sync and the social features you turn on
  • Fix crashes and improve the app, if you allow analytics
  • Answer your messages and send the newsletter you signed up for
  • Measure website use and our ad campaigns, if you accept cookies
  • Keep the website secure and prevent abuse

GDPR Rights (EU Users)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have:

  • Right to access your personal data
  • Right to rectification of inaccurate data
  • Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
  • Right to data portability
  • Right to restrict processing
  • Right to object to processing
  • Right to withdraw consent
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (in Poland, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, UODO)

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@bowsmith.app

CCPA Rights (California Residents)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to:

  • Know what personal information is collected
  • Know if personal information is sold or disclosed
  • Say no to the sale of personal information
  • Access your personal information
  • Request deletion of personal information
  • Equal service and price (non-discrimination)

Data Security

How we protect your data:

  • Encrypted connections (TLS) for the website and the app's network traffic
  • Your data is protected on your device by iOS data protection, and in iCloud by Apple's iCloud security
  • An optional Face ID or Touch ID lock for BowSmith's settings
  • No BowSmith account, and analytics are off by default

Cookie Policy

Essential Cookies

Always on. They make the site work and remember your choices:

  • Your language (NEXT_LOCALE cookie)
  • Your cookie choice (stored in your browser)
  • Your display, currency and pop-up preferences (stored in your browser)

Analytics and Advertising

In your browser, these load only if you choose Accept All Cookies in the cookie banner:

  • Google Analytics 4: website usage statistics (cookies _ga, _ga_*)
  • Google Ads: measures newsletter sign-ups that come from our ads (cookie _gcl_au)
  • Meta Pixel: measures our Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns (cookies _fbp, _fbc)
  • Cloudflare Web Analytics: page statistics without cookies
  • Sentry: error reports from your browser, stored in the EU, without cookies

Cookie Management

You can manage cookies through:

  • Cookie settings, at the bottom of every page: change your choice at any time. If you withdraw consent, we delete the analytics and advertising cookies and reload the page
  • Your browser settings

Third-Party Analytics & Services

We use the following third-party services to provide and improve our app:

Analytics

TelemetryDeck - App usage analytics, only if you allow analytics in the app

  • Receives usage events and technical details such as device model, iOS version, language, region, time zone, and display and accessibility settings, plus a hashed device ID
  • Some events include the names you give your equipment
  • Data stored in the EU

Meta Pixel - Website analytics for advertising measurement on bowsmith.app

  • Loads only after you accept cookies
  • Used to measure ad performance and improve campaigns
  • Sets cookies once loaded
  • Operated by Meta Platforms (Facebook/Instagram)

Crash Monitoring

Sentry - Crash and error reports

  • In the app, only if you allow analytics. In your browser, only if you accept cookies
  • Receives crash and error details, including error messages and the recent actions before an error (which can include equipment names), performance measurements, device and app version, and a random ID
  • Our website's servers also send error reports, and performance measurements for a sample of requests, without asking for consent. Before sending, we remove IP addresses, cookies, form contents and email addresses; the page address, browser type and the error remain
  • Data stored in the EU (de.sentry.io)

Cloud Storage

Apple CloudKit - Cross-device sync and social features

  • Your archery data is stored in your own private iCloud database, which we have no access to
  • Apple encrypts iCloud data. It is end-to-end encrypted only if you have turned on Advanced Data Protection for your Apple Account
  • BowSmith also has a public iCloud database, which other BowSmith users can read. Follow requests and follows are stored there whatever your profile visibility. Your username is stored there once your profile is Friends Only or Public, and stays reserved there if you switch back to Private
  • Friends Only: only your username is public. Your display name, bio and photo go only to followers you accept, through an encrypted iCloud share
  • Public: your username, display name, bio, photo and follower counts, and the competition results and achievements you choose to share, are stored in the public database
  • Beta Tester directory (optional): if you join it, your username and bio are listed in the public database, even if your profile is Friends Only
  • Controlled by your Apple Account settings

Other Services

  • App feedback: reports you send from the app are posted as issues in our public GitHub repository, with your description, any screenshot (shake-to-report captures one automatically) and technical details such as device model, app and iOS version, language and time zone. An optional contact email is stored with the report in BowSmith's public iCloud database, where other BowSmith users can read it. To write to us privately, email support@bowsmith.app instead
  • Feature requests: our feature-request page shows issues from our public GitHub repository. If you post an idea there, GitHub's privacy policy applies
  • Newsletter: Buttondown stores your email address. You confirm your sign-up by email, and every newsletter has an unsubscribe link
  • Contact form: messages are delivered by email (Google Gmail) to our support inbox
  • Website hosting: Render hosts the site and Cloudflare delivers it
  • Apple: iCloud (CloudKit), weather (WeatherKit), map search, notifications and purchases

Community Events

Community events, such as the Independence Event 2026 (11–30 November 2026), are optional, and joining needs a signed-in iCloud account. When you join, the app stores an event entry in BowSmith's public iCloud database. It includes the name you chose for the event (or no name, if you hide it), your country and continent if you picked one, your session, hand-added and total arrow counts, your number of sessions, when your session count last went up, when you joined and last updated, and your app version. The entry is linked to your iCloud user record, and only you and our event service can read it.

Our event service is an automated job that runs on GitHub Actions. It builds the event rankings from the entries and stores them in the public database, where anyone can read them: a random entry ID, your chosen name (or no name), country, continent, arrow counts and ranks. Your email address, postal address and Apple Account identifier are never published.

Your event code comes from a secret stored only in your entry and is never published. It is how you prove a win when you email us. If you win, we arrange the prize with you by email and use your postal address only to send it.

When the event closes, the job saves a results file with each entry's event name, event code, country, counts and ranks, kept for 90 days in a private GitHub repository so we can check the winners. A copy without names (entry ID, event code, country and counts) is kept as the event's record.

Leaving the event, or using Delete All My Data in the app, deletes your entry. Final counts and ranks remain part of the event's public results, with your name and country removed there. The record copy described above contains no names.

Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

BowSmith is rated 4+ and designed for family use:

  • Purchases go through Apple; with Ask to Buy in Family Sharing, a parent can approve them first
  • Optional social features let you follow other archers and join challenges. Profiles start as Private. Anyone in the BowSmith community can find a Public profile and see its username, the name, bio and photo you add, and the competition results and achievements you choose to share (both off by default); a Friends Only profile can be found by its exact username
  • No advertising or marketing to minors
  • Location is used for weather, finding places and, when you record an outdoor course, GPS waypoints; it is not tracked in the background
  • Parental controls available through iOS Screen Time

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

Contact Us

For privacy concerns or data requests, contact us at: support@bowsmith.app

Data Retention Periods

How long we keep each kind of data:

  • Your archery data: stored on your device and in your iCloud, where you can delete it in the app
  • Public profile and shared results: until you set your profile to Private or delete your data in the app
  • Community event entries: until you leave the event or use Delete All My Data. Final counts and ranks stay in the public event results without your name or country. The private results file is kept for 90 days, and a copy without names is kept as the event's record
  • Follow records and your reserved username: until you delete your data in the app, or ask us to remove them
  • App feedback: the GitHub issue and the stored report stay until we delete them; ask us at support@bowsmith.app
  • App analytics (TelemetryDeck): for the retention period TelemetryDeck applies to its service
  • Crash and error reports (Sentry): 90 days
  • Website analytics (Google Analytics): 2 months
  • Newsletter address: until you unsubscribe. To have it erased from Buttondown as well, email support@bowsmith.app
  • Contact-form emails, including your IP address: 2 years after our last reply
  • Hosting logs (Render, Cloudflare): for the period each provider sets by default

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to:

  • Provide our services to you
  • Comply with legal obligations
  • Resolve disputes
  • Enforce our agreements

You can request deletion of your data at any time by contacting us at support@bowsmith.app

Privacy Controls

You can manage your privacy preferences:

  • App analytics: Profile › Settings › Support & Info › Privacy › Analytics & Privacy › Share Analytics. Turning it off takes full effect the next time you open the app
  • Profile visibility: Profile › Settings › Support & Info › Privacy › Profile Visibility (Private, Friends Only or Public)
  • Location: iOS Settings › BowSmith › Location
  • iCloud sync: turn off in iOS Settings › your name › iCloud
  • Delete your data: Profile › Settings › Advanced › Delete All My Data deletes your data on the device, in your iCloud and in BowSmith's public iCloud database. The app tells you if a step can't finish, for example when iCloud is unavailable. It does not remove feedback you sent, data already sent to analytics, records other people created (such as their follow requests to you), or copies you made yourself (exports, backups, images saved to Photos, calendar events); email support@bowsmith.app for anything we hold
  • Website cookies: Cookie settings, at the bottom of every page