Privacy Policy
Who we are
Koi Companion is operated by West Coast Aerial Ltd. Koi Companion is an account-based koi and pond record, cloud-backup, community and decision-support app. Contact koicompanion@gmail.com.
Account and profile data
An account is required. Supabase Auth processes your email address, password credential, authentication identifier, session information and account-security records. Profile completion requires first and last name. You may also provide a display name, avatar and profile-discovery preferences.
Apple, Google or supported web checkout providers process purchases. We receive product, entitlement and subscription-status information, not your payment-card or bank details.
Keeper records and cloud services
The app stores records you create, including pond or tank details and locations, koi profiles and measurements, water tests, equipment, maintenance, routines, reminders, observations, wounds, scrapes, health cases, treatments, doses, mortalities, reports, backups and audit information.
Records may be cached on your device. Signed-in records and supported backups are also stored against your account in Supabase for recovery, synchronisation and online features.
Authorised owner or admin roles can access cloud-synced account, pond, koi, health, water and media records where needed for support, security, abuse prevention and service operation. This role-controlled access is not limited only to records attached to a support request.
Photos, videos, files and visibility
When you choose a media action, the app may process photos, videos, including sound recorded with the video, evidence files, reports or backup files.
- Private record media is not public; it is available to the account and authorised owner or admin roles under the applicable access rules.
- Support or evidence media can be accessed by authorised staff or processors where needed.
- Community media is shared with authorised room members.
- An exported file is handled by the destination you choose.
Ask Companion and evidence review
The question, selected image or file and context you submit are sent to authenticated Supabase Edge Functions and then to OpenAI. The service stores account and operation identifiers, request fingerprints, allowance and replay state, result data and failure or security metadata needed to operate and protect the feature.
The app does not automatically send every private record to AI. AI output is general decision support, not veterinary diagnosis, and may be inaccurate.
Community content and private messages
Community messages, reactions, selected media, reports, blocks and membership are stored in Supabase. Other authorised room members can see content you choose to post. Moderators or authorised administrators may review reported content.
Private messages — Buddy chats, Pond Link owner or carer threads, support chats and remote-consult threads — are also stored in Supabase with the sender, recipients, text, any attached media, read state and timestamps. They are visible to the participants, and to authorised moderators or owner or admin roles where needed for a report, a safety concern or service operation. Private messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Pond Link threads are kept after the link ends so both people retain the history.
Expert questions may include your question, account reference, optional pond or koi context, urgency, reply and timestamps. Approved experts and authorised safety reviewers can access the material needed to answer or audit the request.
Private Companion chat history
New Companion text questions and answers are stored in Supabase, privately for your account, selected pond and country, and synchronised across devices. Co-keepers do not share this chat history. General / What if conversations are stored separately without a pond and are excluded from pond memory. A bounded, dated sample of pond discussions may be sent to OpenAI with later pond questions to help identify recurring concerns; questions and prior AI suggestions are not confirmed observations or measured trends. Measured trends continue to use saved pond records. Earlier device-only chats remain read-only and are not silently uploaded. Images are not backed up in the chat-history tables; evidence processing and storage follow the media policy above. Clear chat removes that conversation and its future AI recall across devices, without removing pond records or other chats. Provider logs, AI operation replay records, backups and security logs have separate retention. History is retained until cleared, the pond is permanently deleted, or the account deletion is processed. Authorised service operators may access it for legitimate support, security or legal needs; other keepers cannot.
Support and account deletion
Support tickets store your account identity, category, title, description, status, timestamps and chosen attachments. Replies may be sent to your account email.
Use the in-app deletion screen or, without app access, email koicompanion@gmail.com to request deletion. Never send a password or one-time code. A request is manually reviewed and does not immediately delete data. Some records may be retained for security, fraud prevention, legal obligations, disputes or backup expiry.
Usage, presence and diagnostics
While signed in, the app records operational events such as session start and end, broad screen or feature activity, resume or heartbeat, platform, app version, subscription or allowance activity, backup or support milestones and security or failure information. This is used for app functionality, support, abuse prevention, reliability and aggregate improvement.
Providers may also process IP address, timestamps, device or browser information and request logs. We do not sell personal data, use it for third-party advertising or track you across other companies’ apps and websites.
Live Pond Watch, postcode and weather
Live Pond Watch is optional. If you turn it on and enter a UK postcode, the app sends that postcode to postcodes.io to look up approximate coordinates, then sends those coordinates to Open-Meteo to fetch the local weather forecast. Neither request carries your account identity, but both services receive your IP address and the postcode or coordinates. The postcode, coordinates, place name and cached forecast are stored on your device only; they are not written to your Koi Companion account. Removing the postcode in the app clears the stored location and cached forecast.
The app does not read device GPS, contacts or calendar. A location or postcode you type into a pond, reminder or event field is stored as user content in your records.
Notifications and permissions
- Camera or photo library: after you choose to capture, select or export media.
- Microphone or record audio: may be requested while recording a video with sound; there is no always-on listening.
- Notifications: local reminders use the operating-system scheduler. If you enable phone alerts, the app stores an Expo push token, platform and device name against your signed-in account after permission is granted. The token is removed when you sign out or turn alerts off.
- Internet: sign-in, cloud records or media, AI, community features, Live Pond Watch weather, support, subscriptions, legal pages and updates.
Service providers
- Supabase: authentication, database, Storage, Realtime and Edge Functions.
- OpenAI: AI text, image or file processing requested through the Edge Functions.
- postcodes.io and Open-Meteo: postcode-to-coordinates lookup and weather forecasts when you enable Live Pond Watch.
- Expo: update delivery and, if enabled, push-token and notification delivery.
- Apple App Store, Google Play or supported web checkout: app distribution and purchases, plus store-level diagnostics where applicable.
Retention and deletion
We retain account and content data while the account or service requires it, then delete or de-identify it subject to security, legal, dispute and backup-retention needs. Exact retention can differ by record type and processor:
- Account, records, media and messages are kept while the account exists, then removed or de-identified after an approved deletion request, allowing for backup expiry.
- Usage and security events are kept for service operation, abuse prevention and security investigation, then aggregated or deleted.
- AI operation logs and allowance ledgers are kept so a balance or failed message can be explained and to prevent allowance abuse.
- Community posts you delete are removed from the room; moderation records of reported content may be retained.
- Live Pond Watch postcode and forecast data is held on your device and cleared when you remove the postcode or uninstall the app.
Security
Dealer features are not available in this release. Dealer-related records or media retained from earlier authorised use or testing are not exposed through the current customer interface and remain subject to access controls and these retention rules. Any later dealer release would require separate approval and updated public disclosures.
Data is transmitted using HTTPS or TLS. Access controls and Supabase row-level security separate account data, but no online service can guarantee absolute security.
Children and choices
Koi Companion is intended for adult koi keepers and is not directed at children under 13. You can update profile settings, choose media sharing, manage notifications, export supported records, report community content and submit an account-deletion request.