Privacy & data policy
Plain-language principles for how we treat your photos, your data and the sharks' data.
Pre-launch policy — August 2026. A full policy will accompany the online platform.
What we collect
When you submit a sighting we receive your photograph, the sighting details you provide (date, location, side photographed, notes) and your contact details. We collect nothing else, and there is no tracking beyond privacy-respecting, aggregate site analytics.
Why we collect it
Photographs and sighting details are used to identify individual sharks and build their life histories — the scientific purpose of the project. Contact details are used to credit you, to follow up on a submission, and for nothing else.
Consent and your rights
Submission is voluntary and based on your consent. You keep the copyright to your photos and can withdraw a submission at any time by emailing [email protected]. Under the GDPR and applicable French Polynesian law you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data.
Where data lives
The research platform under development is designed for hosting in France/the EU, with encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access and audit trails. Public-facing systems are kept separate from the research database.
What we never do
We never sell your data. We never publish the precise locations of sensitive nursery sites. Project data is never used to train third-party AI models. Personal details are never shared beyond the research partnership.
Sensitive locations
Shark nurseries are vulnerable habitats. Public maps and pages show aggregated or generalised locations only; precise coordinates stay within the research team.