Privacy and your data

Last updated 2026-04-28

Short version: we collect what we need to run Boat Guru and nothing we don't. We don't sell your data. You can delete your account and your data along with it. Here's the longer version.

What we collect

Account info. The email address you sign up with, plus a hashed password if you use email/password (we never store the plaintext).
Boat profile. What you tell us about your boats and engines. This is the data that makes answers good — see the engines guide for why.
Chat history. The questions you ask and the answers we give. Stored against your account so you can come back to a thread.
Feedback. When you hit thumbs-up or thumbs-down on an answer, we record the rating and your comment if you wrote one.
Manuals (BoatGuru Plus and Pro). The service manuals you upload. Private to your account.
Operational data. Standard server logs (IP, user agent, timestamps) for security and debugging. Retained briefly, then rotated out.

We don't ask for your boat's HIN, registration number, or any government identifiers. If you accidentally include one in a chat or feedback comment, we treat it as user content and don't index it as identifying data.

How we keep your conversations

Your conversations are kept with your account so you can return to them and Boat Guru can keep track of what you have already discussed. We do not share conversations with other users or sell them. We may look at broad, anonymous patterns to check whether Boat Guru is useful — for example, how often people ask about Mercury Verado outboards — but never in a way tied to you.

How feedback comments are handled

When you submit a thumbs-down with a comment, that comment is read by our team to figure out where Boat Guru went wrong. Comments are stored with your user ID so we can ask follow-up questions if needed. If you'd rather submit feedback that isn't tied to your account, let us know via the contact form — we can scrub the user link.

Your deletion rights

You can delete your account at any time from your account settings. Deletion removes your account, boat profile, chat history, manuals, feedback, and recall-alert subscriptions. Some operational logs persist briefly for security reasons and roll off on their normal retention schedule.

If you want to delete a specific feedback comment or chat thread without deleting the whole account, use the contact form and tell us what to remove. We aim to handle these within a couple of business days.

Data retention

Active accounts. We retain your data as long as your account is open.
Closed accounts. We start deleting the account right away; leftover temporary copies are fully cleared within 30 days.
Survey responses. When you delete your account, survey scores are kept without your name so we can see broad trends. If you want us to remove a score entirely, ask through the contact form.

GDPR and CCPA

If you're in the EU, UK, or California (or anywhere with a comparable regime), you have rights of access, correction, deletion, and portability. Email us via the contact form and we'll respond within the statutory window. We don't sell personal information, full stop.

Questions

For anything privacy-related — including a request to see, correct, or delete your information — use the contact form and pick "Privacy" as the topic. A real human reads it.

What we collect

Account info. The email address you sign up with, plus a hashed password if you use email/password (we never store the plaintext).

Boat profile. What you tell us about your boats and engines. This is the data that makes answers good — see the engines guide for why.

Chat history. The questions you ask and the answers we give. Stored against your account so you can come back to a thread.

Feedback. When you hit thumbs-up or thumbs-down on an answer, we record the rating and your comment if you wrote one.

Manuals (BoatGuru Plus and Pro). The service manuals you upload. Private to your account.

Operational data. Standard server logs (IP, user agent, timestamps) for security and debugging. Retained briefly, then rotated out.

How we keep your conversations

How feedback comments are handled

Your deletion rights

Data retention

Active accounts. We retain your data as long as your account is open.

Closed accounts. We start deleting the account right away; leftover temporary copies are fully cleared within 30 days.

Survey responses. When you delete your account, survey scores are kept without your name so we can see broad trends. If you want us to remove a score entirely, ask through the contact form.