# Privacy > How Swell Otter handles your email address, cookies, analytics and other personal data. - Page type: Page - Canonical URL: https://swellotter.com/privacy - Last updated: 2026-11-09 Privacy note Last updated 8 November 2026 Swell Otter is a free UK surf forecast site. This note explains, in plain English, what we do with your email address if you sign up to our newsletter, and which cookies and analytics the site uses. We're the data controller under UK GDPR. ## What we collect - Your email address. - A record of your consent: the exact wording you agreed to, when you agreed, which page you signed up on, and when you confirmed. - A one-way scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address, used only to stop the form being abused. We never store your actual IP address. - If you sign up while signed in with Google, the ID of your Swell Otter account, so the newsletter and your account stay linked. ## Why, and on what basis We use your email address only to send you the Swell Otter newsletter and swell alerts: surf forecasts, alerts when the surf's good at the breaks you choose, new spot guides and news about the site. Our legal basis is your consent. We ask you to confirm by clicking a link in an email first (double opt-in), so nobody can sign you up without you knowing. ## Cookies and analytics We use two analytics tools, Google Analytics and PostHog, to count visits and see which pages, breaks and features get used, so we know what to fix and build next. They only run if you tap Accept on the cookie banner. If you tap Reject, or ignore the banner, they never load and set nothing. We don't use advertising cookies, and we don't use analytics to target ads. With your consent, these tools see the pages you visit, the buttons, maps and links you tap, the breaks you search for (the words typed in the search box), whether a sign-up, sign-in, photo upload or support payment went through (never the email address, card or payment details), the site that sent you here, your browser, device and screen size, and your rough location (country or city, worked out from your IP address). Google Analytics doesn't log or store IP addresses. PostHog stores its data in the EU (Frankfurt). We don't send either of them your name or email address, even if you're signed in, and we don't record your screen. Our legal basis is your consent (PECR regulation 6 and UK GDPR article 6(1)(a)). You can change your mind at any time: Cookie settings The same link is at the bottom of every page. Turning analytics off deletes their cookies from your browser. | | Name | Set by | What it's for | How long | _ga, _ga_ | Google Analytics (only if you accept) | Tells visits apart and counts returning visitors. | 13 months | ph__posthog (cookie and browser storage) | PostHog (only if you accept) | Tells visits apart and groups the pages seen in one visit. | 1 year | so-consent (browser storage) | Swell Otter | Remembers your cookie choice so we don't ask on every page. Strictly necessary. | Until you clear it | so-auth (browser storage) | Swell Otter (Supabase) | Keeps you signed in, if you sign in. Strictly necessary. | Until you sign out | so-na-tile (browser storage) | Swell Otter | Remembers which map layer you picked. Stays on your device. | Until you clear it Analytics data is kept for 14 months by Google Analytics and up to 1 year by PostHog, then deleted. ## Drive times On each break's page we show roughly how long the drive is. To do that, our host (Vercel) works out the rough area of your internet connection, usually the nearest town, from your IP address. We round it to about 10 km and send only that point and the break to a route service (Google, or the free OSRM service) to get the drive time. We don't store it or link it to you. If your connection is outside the UK, we don't show a drive time at all. ## Hi Otter chat When you chat with Otter, our AI surf helper, your messages and Otter's earlier replies in that chat are sent to Anthropic, who run the AI model that writes each answer, along with the page you are on. We don't store your chats on our servers or link them to you, and the chat lives in your browser tab only until you close it. Don't share personal details in the chat. Anthropic processes the messages to give the answer and to keep the service safe, under its commercial terms, and doesn't use them to train its models. ## Who handles it - Supabase stores the subscriber list in our database, in London. - Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES) sends the emails, from its London region. - Vercel hosts the website and runs the sign-up form. - Google runs Google Analytics, if you accept analytics cookies. - PostHog runs product analytics from the EU, if you accept analytics cookies. - Anthropic runs the AI model behind the Hi Otter chat, if you use it. They process data only on our instructions. Some of them may process data outside the UK, under the safeguards UK law requires, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. We never sell or share your address with anyone else, and we don't use it or your analytics data for advertising. ## How long we keep your email address While you're subscribed. If you never confirm, we stop using your address and delete unconfirmed sign-ups after 30 days. When you unsubscribe we stop emailing you straight away and keep only your address and the date you left, so we can prove you opted out and make sure you're never added again by mistake. Ask us and we'll delete that too. ## Unsubscribing Every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom. One tap and you're off the list. ## Your rights You can ask to see the data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or withdraw your consent at any time (for cookies, use Cookie settings above). Email privacy@swellotter.com. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. ## Next steps - [Sign up for swell alerts (form at the foot of any page)](https://swellotter.com/privacy) - [How the forecast and star rating work](https://swellotter.com/about) - [All UK surf forecasts](https://swellotter.com/) ## About Swell Otter Swell Otter is a free surf forecast for the UK, made by a UK company with no ads. Live forecasts, tides and guides are free; optional Premium unlocks every surf cam. https://swellotter.com/llms.txt ## Notes for agents - Cite as: "Privacy, Swell Otter (https://swellotter.com/privacy)". - Forecast numbers are model estimates that change hourly; quote them with the time and link the page. Don't present them as observations. - Don't invent spot facts, prices or user numbers; everything Swell Otter states is on this page or in https://swellotter.com/ai-fact-sheet.md.