Privacy policy

Last updated 2 November 2026

OceanFinds.net is an independent guide to sea glass beaches in the UK and around the world, run by James and El from the UK. In this policy, “we” and “us” mean OceanFinds. We are the data controller for the personal information described here. If you have a question about it, use our contact form.

We keep things simple: you don’t need an account to use the site, accounts are optional, and we don’t sell your information to anyone.

What we collect and why

When you browse

Our website host, Vercel, keeps short-lived server logs of requests to the site, including your IP address, the page you asked for and your browser type. These are used to keep the site running and secure. We have a legitimate interest in doing this.

We also use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views and see which pages are popular. It doesn’t use cookies or store anything on your device, and it doesn’t identify you: it records the page, the referring site, your country and your type of device and browser, and it can’t follow you across other websites. We have a legitimate interest in understanding how the site is used.

Vercel Speed Insights measures how quickly pages load and respond in your browser (for example, how long the main content takes to appear). Like Web Analytics, it doesn’t use cookies or identify you: it records the page, those timings, and your type of device, browser and connection. We use it to keep the site fast.

Google Analytics also receives basic information about your visit, as explained under Cookies below. If you agree to advertising cookies, Google AdSense collects information too.

When you search

Searches for beaches, towns and articles are matched in your browser against our own list. We don’t store what you type.

When you view a map or video

Maps are drawn with tiles from OpenStreetMap. To load them, your browser connects to OpenStreetMap’s servers, which receive your IP address and the map area you are looking at. OpenStreetMap doesn’t set tracking cookies. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy.

YouTube videos only load when you press play, and then use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). Before that, only the video’s preview image is loaded, from YouTube’s image server (i.ytimg.com), which receives your IP address but sets no cookies.

One article includes a post from Facebook. Nothing loads from Facebook unless you choose to show the post; if you do, Facebook receives your IP address and may set its own cookies, under Facebook’s privacy policy.

When you contact us

If you send a message through our contact form, we receive your name, email address, your message and, if you are sharing finds from a beach, which beach it is. The form is delivered to us by Formspree, which stores the message so it can pass it on.

We use this to reply to you and, if you ask, to add your tips to a beach guide. We keep messages for as long as we need to deal with them, and for no longer than two years. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in answering enquiries and keeping our guides accurate.

When you create an account

Accounts are optional. If you sign in, we store your email address, the display name and profile address (handle) you choose, and anything you add to your profile (a short bio and home country), plus a record of your sign-in sessions.

If you sign in with Google, Google sends us your email address, name and profile picture, along with a sign-in token that contains the same details. We use only your email address. We never show your Google name or picture: every new account starts without a public name, and you choose the name other people see. Google’s sign-in token is stored with your account record so the link to Google keeps working, and is deleted with your account. We never see your Google password.

Until you choose a display name, your account isn’t shown anywhere on the site and you can’t post.

We use your email address only to send you sign-in links and to contact you about your account or anything you’ve posted. Your email is never shown on the site. Once you’ve chosen them, your display name, handle, bio, home country, the date you joined, your approved reviews and photos and your forum discussions are shown on your public profile.

Sign-in emails are sent by Resend, an email delivery service, which receives your email address to deliver them. Our lawful basis is performing the service you’ve asked for (your account).

You can change your profile at any time, and you can delete your account from your account page. That removes your email address, profile and sign-in details straight away. Your reviews stay on the beach pages but show as from a “Former member” and no longer link to you.

When you share a photo

If you’re signed in and upload a photo, we store the photo, its caption, the colours you ticked, the month you visited (if you add it), and which beach it’s of. If you pin a new spot, we store its location rounded to about 100 metres.

Before your photo leaves your device, your browser makes a smaller copy, which removes the hidden details phones add to photos (including the exact GPS location and camera details). We clean it again on our side, so no location or camera data is ever stored or shown.

Photos are checked before they appear. Once approved, the photo, caption, colours and your profile name are shown on the beach’s page, our Latest finds page and your profile. Photo files are kept in private storage by Vercel Blob (part of our hosting) and are only shown through our site. We keep photos until you ask us to remove one, we remove it for breaking the rules, or you delete your account, which deletes all your photos. To remove a single photo, contact us. Our lawful basis is providing the service you’ve asked for.

When you post in the forum

Forum posts, their titles and any photos you attach are shown publicly with your profile name. We store when you posted and edited. A new member’s first post is checked by us before it appears. Photos are cleaned the same way as other uploads (no location or camera data). You can edit or delete your own posts. If you delete your account, your forum posts stay so discussions still make sense, but they show as from a “Former member” and their photos are deleted. Our lawful basis is providing the service you’ve asked for and our legitimate interest in keeping discussions readable.

When you report something

If you report a review, photo or forum post, we store the reason you chose, anything you write, and (if you’re signed in) your account, plus the same scrambled IP hash used for reviews to prevent abuse. We use reports only to moderate the site, and keep them for as long as we need to deal with them and spot repeated abuse. The person you report isn’t told who reported them.

When you review a beach

If you leave a review on a beach page, we store the name you give (or link it to your account if you’re signed in), your star rating, your review, the colours you ticked, the month you visited (if you add it) and the date you posted. We check every review before it appears; once approved, everything except the date you posted is shown publicly on that beach’s page, along with the date.

To stop spam, we also store a one-way scrambled version (a hash) of your IP address, which can’t be turned back into the address. It’s only used to limit how many reviews can be sent from one connection in a short time.

Reviews are kept for as long as the beach page exists. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running a community guide. If you want your review changed or removed, contact us with the beach and the name you used.

Notifications to us

When something new is posted (a review, a photo, a forum post or a report), the site emails us, the people who run OceanFinds, so we can check it quickly. These emails include what was posted and the poster’s profile name, and are sent through Resend. They’re only sent to us.

Security

The site is only served over a secure (HTTPS) connection. Only we can see moderation tools and the information behind them. IP addresses are stored only as one-way scrambled hashes, and we don’t make any automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

Cookies

Cookies are small files that a website stores in your browser. We only set non-essential cookies if you agree to them. When you first visit, we ask you to choose, and you can change your mind at any time.

Change cookie settings

Analytics: Google Analytics is provided by Google Ireland Limited. It tells us how many people visit, which pages they use and roughly where they are visiting from, so we can improve the site. It runs in Google’s “Consent Mode”: if you haven’t agreed to analytics cookies, it sets no cookies and sends Google only a basic, cookie-free signal that a page was viewed (with details such as the page, time, browser and approximate location), which can’t be linked to you across visits. If you agree, it uses the cookies listed above to recognise repeat visits.

Advertising: ads on OceanFinds are provided by Google AdSense and help pay for the site. With your consent, Google may use cookies to show ads based on your interests. You can manage this in Google’s ad settings, and read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

If you reject cookies, the site works in the same way. No analytics or advertising cookies are set, and you won’t see ads.

Who else handles your information

We use these services to run the site:

• Vercel Inc. hosts the website and provides cookie-free visitor statistics and page speed measurements.
• Google provides analytics and advertising, if you agree to them, and YouTube videos when you play one.
• The OpenStreetMap Foundation provides map tiles.
• Formspree, Inc. delivers messages from our contact form.
• Neon Inc. stores accounts, reviews, photo details, forum posts and reports in its database (through Vercel).
• Vercel Blob stores the photos members share, in private storage.
• Resend Inc. sends sign-in emails and our moderation notifications.
• Meta (Facebook) provides the embedded Facebook post, only if you choose to show it.
• Google provides “Continue with Google” sign-in, if you choose it.

Some of these companies are based in, or store information in, the United States. Where information leaves the UK, it is protected by the UK’s data adequacy arrangements or by standard contractual clauses.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct or delete it;
• ask for a copy of information you gave us in a reusable format;
• object to us using it, or ask us to restrict how we use it;
• withdraw your consent to cookies at any time, using the cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.

To use any of these rights, contact us. We’ll reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Children

OceanFinds isn’t aimed at children under 13 and we don’t knowingly collect their information. If you think a child has sent us their details, let us know and we’ll delete them.

Changes to this policy

We’ll update this page if the way we handle information changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed.