Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Bridgedeck, operated by Office Care Systems (Pty) Ltd (trading as "Bridgedeck").
Last updated: 3 June 2026 Effective: on publication
This policy covers everything under the Bridgedeck brand:
- Bridgedeck Study — our app for preparing for Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) oral examinations through AI-led voice practice and written question practice.
- Bridgedeck Logbook — our free app for recording sea time (vessels, voyages, watches, and certificates) and tracking career totals.
- bridgedeck.app — this website.
It explains what personal data we collect, why, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. We are the data controller for the personal data described here.
Where something applies to only one app, it is marked (Study) or (Logbook). Everything else applies across the board.
1. Who we are
- Service — Bridgedeck Study (app), Bridgedeck Logbook (app), and bridgedeck.app (website).
- Operating entity — Office Care Systems (Pty) Ltd, trading as Bridgedeck.
- Contact for privacy matters — marc@officecaresystems.com
If you are in the UK or EU, this policy is written to meet the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR.
2. The data we collect
2.1 Account and profile data (both apps)
- Email address and display name (from your Apple, Google, or email sign-in).
- (Study) Onboarding answers: your target qualification, exam date (if given), training route, Notice of Eligibility status, first-attempt-or-resit, self-rated confidence, prep tools previously used, and region. Certificates held and Part A result data, if you record them.
- (Logbook) Onboarding answers: your rank, certificate/licence held (and its expiry), and the year you started at sea.
2.2 Your practice data — (Study)
- Session records: type, length, timing, and overall score of each practice session.
- Transcripts (text only): a written record of each voice session, kept so you can review and replay it.
- Per-answer scores, topic mastery, and readiness scores that track your progress over time.
- Readiness reports (PDF), if generated on a paid tier.
2.3 Your logbook data — (Logbook)
The sea-time record you create in the app:
- Vessels (name, type, tonnage/GT, power/kW, flag).
- Sign-on periods (vessel, rank, join/leave dates and ports).
- Voyages (from/to ports, dates, cargo, distance, notes).
- Daily watches (hours and notes).
- Captains you record against voyages.
- Certificates — metadata only (name, number, dates). See §3.
- Career targets you set (e.g. "180 days at Unlimited").
2.4 Subscription and billing data
- Your subscription tier/status and renewal date — (Study) subscription tier and usage allowance, (Logbook) Free or Bridgedeck Pro.
- A subscription identifier from our payments partner (RevenueCat). We never see or store your card details — payments are handled entirely by Apple or Google.
2.5 Consent and support data
- Consent records (what you agreed to, and when).
- Feedback you submit about questions or features.
2.6 Technical and analytics data
We collect this in two narrow streams, across the apps and this website:
- Product and site analytics — PostHog (EU Cloud). Screen/page views, taps, and feature-usage events (e.g. session completed in Study, voyage logged in Logbook). In the apps, each event carries your account's user ID and an internal tag identifying the app (
studyorlogbook) so our dashboard separates them. On this website, analytics load only if you accept the cookie banner (see §10). PostHog data is never used to track you across apps or websites, and we never share it with advertisers. - Crash and performance data — Sentry (EU). Diagnostic information when an app hits an error: stack traces, OS/device type, and the path of activity that led to the crash. We do not attach your identity to these reports — crashes are anonymous from our side, and email addresses appearing inside an error message are redacted before the report leaves your device.
2.7 Device permissions
- (Study) Microphone — required for voice practice.
- (Logbook) Notifications — optional, used only for on-device certificate-expiry reminders.
- Email opt-in — optional, for tips and product news.
3. What we deliberately do not store
(Study) Your voice audio is never written to disk. It is streamed and processed in real time for transcription and grading, then discarded. We keep only the text transcript. This removes any "you're training on my voice" concern and is a deliberate design choice.
(Logbook) No microphone, no voice, no audio. The Logbook app has no voice features at all.
(Logbook) No certificate scans or document uploads. We store certificate details (name, number, dates) to remind you before they expire — never images, scans, or copies of the documents themselves.
No card details. Subscriptions are billed by the App Store or Google Play — we never see or store your card number.
4. Who processes your data (sub-processors)
We use a small number of trusted providers to run the service. They process data on our instructions.
| Processor | Purpose | Used by | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, authentication, cloud backup/storage | Study + Logbook (separate projects) | EU (Ireland) |
| ElevenLabs | Real-time voice conversation, speech-to-text, text-to-speech | Study | US |
| Anthropic | The AI examiner (Claude) — questions, follow-ups, grading | Study | US |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management | Study + Logbook (Pro) | US |
| Apple / Google | Payment processing for subscriptions | Study + Logbook (Pro) | US |
| PostHog | Product and website analytics | Study + Logbook + website | EU Cloud |
| Sentry | Crash and error reporting | Study + Logbook apps | EU |
(Study) Voice and transcript text is processed by ElevenLabs and Anthropic in real time and not retained by them for our account.
A note on PostHog. Both apps share one PostHog project, with each event tagged by app (study vs logbook). The two apps use separate accounts and separate identifiers, and we do not link a Logbook user to a Study user.
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it to train third-party AI models.
5. How your data is stored
- (Study) Your account and practice data are held in our EU-region database.
- (Logbook) Your logbook lives on your device first, so you can keep logging at sea with no signal. When you are online, it is backed up to our EU-region cloud so you don't lose it and can restore it on a new device. You can turn automatic backup off in Settings → Logbook → Auto-sync.
6. Why we use your data, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis (UK/EU GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Provide the apps, store your records, track progress, and back them up | Performance of a contract |
| Process your subscription and trial | Performance of a contract |
| (Study) Voice processing and transcript storage during sessions | Your consent (given at session start) |
| (Logbook) Certificate-expiry reminders | Performance of a contract / your device settings |
| Improve the product, analytics, and fix faults | Legitimate interests |
| Website analytics (PostHog) | Your consent (cookie banner) |
| Send service emails (and tips, if you opt in) | Contract / consent |
| Meet legal and accounting obligations | Legal obligation |
You can withdraw consent at any time (see §9 and §10).
7. International transfers
Our databases and analytics are hosted in the EU. Some processors are located in the United States (§4). Where personal data is transferred outside the UK/EU, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum) to protect it.
8. How long we keep it
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| (Study) Voice audio | Never stored. |
| (Study) Transcripts (text) | 90 days from the session, or 30 days after your exam date — whichever is later. Then automatically deleted. |
| (Study) Progress data (topic mastery, readiness scores) and readiness PDFs | Until you delete your account. |
| (Logbook) Your logbook and profile | Until you delete your account — the app is your system of record for your sea time, so we keep your record available to you. |
| Consent records | Kept as an append-only audit log (required to evidence consent). |
| Privacy-request records | When you ask us to export or delete your data, we keep a small record (your email, what you asked for, and when) as an audit log so we can evidence we handled it within the legal time limit. No copy of your exported data is kept. |
| Account data | Until you delete your account (then erased within 30 days). |
| Analytics / crash data | Retained by our analytics and crash processors per their standard retention. |
9. Your rights
If you are in the UK/EU, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, and object to the processing of your personal data, and to withdraw consent.
- Export your data: email marc@officecaresystems.com and we will provide a copy of your data within one month — (Study) your sessions, transcripts, and scores, or (Logbook) your full logbook (vessels, voyages, watches, certificates, and totals).
- Delete your account: you can delete your account directly in the app at any time:
- (Study) Profile → Delete my account for immediate, cascading deletion.
- (Logbook) Settings → Privacy & data → Delete account for immediate deletion of your account and all your data.
- You can also email us; we complete erasure within 30 days.
- Correct your data: edit your profile and records in the app, or email us.
You also have the right to complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office, ico.org.uk).
10. Cookies and the website
This website (bridgedeck.app) keeps cookies and tracking to a minimum:
- Strictly necessary. We store your cookie choice in your browser's local storage so we don't ask again. Our internal admin area uses a sign-in session cookie. These are required for the site to work and need no consent.
- Analytics (consent-based). We use a single privacy-friendly analytics tool, PostHog (EU-hosted), to understand how the site is used. It loads only after you click "Accept" on our cookie banner. There are no advertising cookies, no tracking pixels, and no third-party sharing. If you click "Decline," no analytics load and nothing on the site stops working.
- Changing your mind. To withdraw analytics consent, clear this site's data in your browser (which resets your choice and shows the banner again).
11. Children
Bridgedeck is intended for professional adult seafarers. You must be at least 18 to hold an account, and our apps are not directed at anyone under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
12. Security
Data is held in our EU-region databases with row-level security, so you can only access your own records. Access keys with elevated privileges are held only on servers we control and are never shipped in the apps. To report a vulnerability, see our Security page.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. Material changes will be notified in-app or by email. The "Last updated" date above always reflects the current version.
14. Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints: marc@officecaresystems.com.