Privacy Policy
This policy explains what Saltwater (“the app”, “we”) collects, why, who can see it, and what you can do about it.
Who we are
Saltwater is operated by Running Cat Development, a trading name of Alexey Gvozditskiy, a sole proprietorship registered in Poland. We are the controller of your personal data under the GDPR. Full legal details are in our Legal notice. Questions about privacy? Write to support@runningcat.dev.
1. Your account
When you open Saltwater for the first time we create an anonymous (guest) account through Firebase Authentication. No email or password is needed. You can optionally link or sign in with Google or Apple to keep your entries safe across phones. If you do, we receive the identifier of that sign-in and, depending on the provider, your email address. We never receive your Google or Apple password.
If you sign in to an existing account after using the app as a guest, we can move your guest entries to that account. They are made private as they move.
2. What we store
The app saves your data in Cloud Firestore (Google). Here is what is in there.
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Profile | Display name (required), optional username (“handle”), avatar color, short bio, app language, whether you are a guest, subscription status, and running totals of your cries and minutes. |
| About you (private) | Optional gender, optional age range and the goals you pick during onboarding. Visible only to you. Not shown to friends. |
| Cries | When it started, how long, intensity, kind of tears, causes you pick (or type), an optional title and note, the estimated volume, the “Did it help?” answer, who it is shared with, and a count of hugs and comments. |
| Journal (private) | The “write it out” text you can attach to a cry. Never visible to friends. |
| Friends | Your friends, close-friend flags, friend requests, invite codes you create, and people you block. |
| Hugs and comments | Hugs and comments you send on cries shared with you, and those you receive. |
| Live status | While you broadcast a “crying now” timer (a Saltwater+ feature), a small record (start time, paused or not, who can see it) so chosen friends can see you are crying. It disappears when the timer ends. |
| Reports | If you report content or a person: what you reported, the reason and your optional note. |
| Settings and push tokens | Default audience, notification preferences, and the device tokens we need to send you notifications. |
Your notes and other free text are stored as you write them. Please don’t put anything in the app you wouldn’t want stored in the cloud.
3. Who can see what
- Only me (the default and always free): only you can read the cry.
- Friends (free): the cry is readable by all your accepted friends.
- Close friends or specific people (Saltwater+): the cry is readable only by that group of your accepted friends.
- You can pick a different audience for each cry and change the default in Settings.
- Your private journal and your gender, age range and goals are never visible to anyone else.
- Your display name, handle, color and bio are visible to other signed-in users of the app, for example when they search for you or receive a request from you.
- Hugs and comments on a cry are visible to people who can see that cry. The cry’s owner can remove any comment on their cry.
- A person you block can no longer see your cries, hug, comment on them or send you requests.
- We (the developers) can technically access the database for operating and securing the service, including reviewing reports. We don’t read entries for fun, and we limit access to what is needed.
4. How we use your data
- To run the app: show your log and stats, estimate volumes, power sharing, hugs and comments.
- To send notifications you have switched on (see below).
- To process your subscription.
- To keep the community safe: handle reports, blocks and abuse.
- To find and fix crashes and understand which parts of the app are used, so we can improve it.
We do not sell your personal data, we do not share it for advertising, and the app contains no advertising. We do not use your entries to train AI models.
5. Services that help us run Saltwater
These providers process data for us. Each has its own privacy policy.
- Google Firebase (Google LLC): Authentication (anonymous, Google and Apple sign-in), Cloud Firestore (the database above), Cloud Messaging (push notifications), Remote Config (lets us change a few app settings, such as support links, without an update) and Crashlytics and Analytics (below).
- Crashlytics collects crash reports and technical diagnostics (device model, OS version, app version, stack traces) to fix bugs. Analytics collects basic usage events (for example, which screens and features are used) tied to a pseudonymous user id and device identifiers. We don’t send the content of your cries or notes to Analytics or Crashlytics. You can turn either of them off at any time in Settings (“Share anonymous usage stats” and “Send crash reports”); the change applies from the next app start. Ask us at support@runningcat.dev if you want analytics data already collected removed.
- Apple and Google: Sign in with Apple, Google sign-in, the App Store and Google Play handle sign-in and billing. We never see your card or payment details.
- RevenueCat: manages subscriptions and tells our server whether you have Saltwater+. It receives your user id (the same pseudonymous id as your account), purchase and entitlement information.
- Vercel: hosts our small server functions (see below) and this website.
Our server functions
A few jobs can’t run safely on your phone, so they run on our servers at Vercel with access to Firestore:
- Push notifications: when someone hugs or comments on your cry, sends you a request, or a friend starts a “crying now” timer shared with you, the app asks our server to notify you. The server checks that the event is real and that you allowed that kind of notification, writes the text in your language and sends it through Firebase Cloud Messaging. It stores only the time of the last notification of each type to avoid spam.
- Subscriptions: receives RevenueCat’s webhook and marks your account as Saltwater+ (or not).
- Guest merge: moves a guest account’s entries into the account you sign in with.
- Invites: when you use a friend’s invite code, grants a short Saltwater+ trial period and connects you as friends.
6. Notifications
Notifications are optional and you can turn each type on or off in Settings (weekly recap, check-ins, monthly recap, quiet days, hugs, comments, friend requests, “someone is crying”) or in your phone’s system settings. We store your device’s push token to deliver them.
7. Subscriptions
Saltwater+ is bought through the App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handle your payment, and we only learn whether your subscription is active and until when. See our Terms for how renewals and cancellation work.
8. How long we keep data
We keep your data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, we delete your data as described below. Backups and logs at our providers may take a short while longer to roll off. Crash and analytics data is kept according to Firebase’s standard retention. Reports about content may be kept as long as needed to keep the community safe.
9. Deleting your data
In the app, go to Settings → Your data → Delete account and data. This permanently removes your cries (with their hugs and comments), journal, friends and friend requests, blocked list, live status, invite codes, your handle, your private profile and your profile, and then deletes your sign-in account. You may be asked to sign in once more to confirm it is you. It cannot be undone.
In-app deletion also removes the comments and hugs you left on other people’s cries, wherever you can still see those cries. Reports you filed, comments on cries that are no longer shared with you, your entry in other people’s friend lists, and short-lived technical records on our server (such as notification rate limits) are not removed instantly. Write to support@runningcat.dev and we will remove them on request.
A guest account is tied to your phone. If you sign out of a guest account, or lose the phone, the entries are not recoverable. Link a Google or Apple account (a Saltwater+ feature) to keep them safe.
10. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/UK or the CCPA/CPRA in California), you may have the right to access your data, correct it, delete it, receive a copy, object to or restrict some processing, and withdraw consent. Most of this you can do directly in the app. For anything else, email support@runningcat.dev. We will answer within the time the law requires and may need to confirm it is you. You also have the right to complain to a data-protection authority. In Poland this is the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO, uodo.gov.pl); you may instead contact the authority in your own EU country.
Our legal bases (where GDPR applies) are: performing our contract with you (running the app), your consent (sensitive details you choose to enter, push notifications), and our legitimate interests (security, fixing crashes and improving the app). Information about your emotional wellbeing may be considered sensitive. We only process what you choose to enter, and you can leave optional fields empty.
11. International transfers
Firebase, Vercel, RevenueCat, Apple and Google operate globally, including in the United States. Your data may be processed outside your country. Where required, these providers rely on safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
12. Children
Saltwater is intended for people aged 13 and over (or the higher minimum age of digital consent in your country). Teens under 18 should use it with the permission of a parent or guardian where the law requires it. We don’t knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us data, contact us and we will delete it.
13. Security
Data is encrypted in transit. Access to Firestore is limited by security rules: only you can read your private data, and cries can be read only by the audience you chose. Our server functions verify your sign-in before acting. No system is perfectly secure, so please choose your audience carefully.
14. Changes
If we change this policy in a meaningful way we’ll tell you in the app or by updating the date above before the change takes effect.
15. Contact
Running Cat Development, Poland · Legal notice
support@runningcat.dev