The Helm

Privacy

Privacy Policy

What The Helm stores, where it is kept, who can see it, and how to remove it.

Effective date: 21 October 2026

1. Scope and contact

This policy covers The Helm on iPhone, Android and the web, and this website, ayeaye.com.au. The Helm is in a closed test.

The Helm is published by Joel Denomy, an individual developer in Australia. In this policy, “we” and “us” mean him.

For privacy questions, access, correction or deletion requests, email privacy@ayeaye.com.au. For general help, email support@ayeaye.com.au or visit Support.

2. Without an account

You can use The Helm without signing in. Your Duties, Log, passage and settings then stay on your device only, and nothing about them is sent to us. The iPhone and Android apps still check Expo’s update service for app updates (see section 6).

3. With an account

If you sign in, the following is stored on our backend so it can sync between your devices and with your convoy:

  • Account: your email address and a password, stored hashed by our sign-in provider.
  • Profile: your sailor name, ship’s name, chosen ship, timezone and rank and, if you choose one, a portrait photo you pick from your library.
  • Your Log: the Duties you set and the entries you record (for example amounts, units and times, including Screen Time minutes you enter by hand and any Captain’s notes you write), your passages and progress, any Bearings you set, and in-app rewards such as Merit and Doubloons.
  • Convoys and Family Convoys (optional): membership and roles; Convoy Objectives, Regattas and match races; Convoy Duties (whose turn it is to set the Convoy Duty, the Convoy Duties issued, and whether you joined or chose “Not this time”, with any minutes you log); the signals you send and receive (messages of up to 180 characters) and whether you have read them; and a Family Convoy’s orders, approvals, bounties and Treasure Chest, and whether a Guardian has switched Convoy Orders off for a Junior sailor.
  • Terms acceptance: the version of the Terms of Use and Community Rules you agreed to, and when. Agreeing includes confirming that you are 13 or older.
  • Blocks: the sailors you have blocked. Only you can see your blocks; the sailor you block is not told. A block is deleted when either account is deleted.
  • Push notifications (optional, iPhone and Android): if you turn them on, each phone’s push token (an address issued by Expo for sending notifications to that phone), its platform (iPhone or Android) and its device model name (for example “iPhone 15”), kept while notifications are on and you are signed in on that phone; your notification choices (which kinds are on, whether to show message text, and your quiet hours); and a short outbox record of each notification: who it was for, who it was from, its kind, when, and whether it was sent or skipped. The title and text are cleared once it is sent or skipped, and outbox records are deleted after 7 days. Expo’s delivery receipts are deleted after a day.

Reports and moderation

If you report a signal, a sailor, a ship’s name or a convoy’s name, we store the report: who made it, who it is about, the convoy, the reason, any note you add, a snapshot of the reported text, and the names and roles of those involved at the time. The report is emailed to our moderator so it can be reviewed within 24 hours. The person reported is never told who reported them.

We also keep a log of moderation decisions, and a record of any suspension and of any name reset to “Sailor”, “Ship” or “Convoy”. Suspensions are kept even if the account removes its Log from the service, so that a suspension cannot be undone that way.

For safety, reports are kept for 12 months, including after either account is deleted: the report then keeps its snapshot, note and names but is no longer linked to the deleted account. This lets us deal with repeat abuse. None of this is visible to other sailors.

We do not collect your location, contacts, data from Apple Health or Health Connect, advertising identifiers or device analytics. The app has no ads, no tracking and no third-party analytics. We never sell or share your data for advertising. Merit, Doubloons and other in-app values have no cash value.

4. Who can see it

Within the app, your Log is private to you except for what this section describes. Your notes, Bearings and Screen Time minutes are never shown to other sailors. If you join a convoy, its members see your name, ship, rank and progress (bells and miles) from the day you sailed together, and today’s weather on your Watch: your Headwind or Following Seas percentage, or your wind, which your Screen Time and Daily Orders set; turn this off under Ship’s Office → Signals & display → Share my weather with my convoy. Junior sailors’ weather is never shown. Unless you switch it off, they can also tap your name to see your Duties’ names and today’s progress: sharing is on by default, and you can turn it off under Ship’s Office → Signals & display → Share my Duties with my convoy. Duties are never shared with a Family Convoy.

Within the app, only the sender and recipient can read a signal. A match race’s heats are seen by its two sailors; other convoy members see only that you are already racing or not taking challenges.

Convoy Orders: your convoy sees whose turn it is as Officer of the Watch and who is next, who issued each Order, and who joined it with their progress. If you choose “Not this time”, only you can see that: other members see only how many ships joined. The Guardians of a Family Convoy can see and change whether each of its Junior sailors takes part, and whether a Junior sailor sails in a convoy that has Convoy Orders.

In a Family Convoy, every member sees the member list (sailor and ship names), Family Voyages with each member’s contributions, and the convoy’s recent activity. Guardians also see every order, each Junior sailor’s submissions and Treasure Chest purchases, and the joining codes. Junior sailors see their own orders, submissions, purchases and purse, and the treasure on offer.

Nobody outside your convoy or Family Convoy can see your data through the app.

5. Emails we send

If you create an account, we send a confirmation email, and a password-reset email when you ask for one. Supabase, our sign-in provider, creates these messages and Resend delivers them, so both process your email address for that purpose. They come from noreply@ayeaye.com.au, signed “The Helm”. For questions, write to the addresses above. We do not send marketing email.

6. Service providers

The Helm relies on these providers for the stated purposes:

  • Supabase — Sign-in and the database that holds synced Logs, profiles and convoy data, hosted in Sydney, Australia.
  • Resend — Delivers sign-up confirmation and password-reset emails from noreply@ayeaye.com.au, and emails safety reports to our moderator.
  • Expo (EAS Update) — Delivers app updates to the iPhone and Android apps.
  • Expo (push service), Apple Push Notification service and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging — Deliver the push notifications you turn on to your iPhone or Android phone.
  • Apple (App Store Connect / TestFlight) and Google Play — Distribute the iPhone and Android apps to invited testers.
  • GitHub Pages — Serves the web version of the app.
  • ImprovMX / Gmail — Forward and receive support and privacy email.
  • Vercel — Hosts this static website.

If you turn on push notifications, each notification passes through Expo’s push service and then Apple (APNs) or Google (FCM) to reach your phone. By default it carries only the sender’s first name and the kind of event; the message text is included only if you turn on Show message text. Apple and Google may also process crash reports under their own policies. When the iPhone or Android app checks for updates, Expo receives a random installation identifier created by the app, the platform, the app’s runtime version and update channel, the identifiers of the update it is running and any that failed recently, and, if the app failed to start an update, a short error message. Like any web request, this also carries your IP address.

If you email support or privacy, your message and anything you choose to include are handled through our email forwarding and mailbox services so we can answer it. Never email passwords or sign-in links.

7. Permissions

  • Photos: only when you choose a portrait. No camera or microphone access.
  • Notifications (iPhone and Android): the Watch reminder, if you set one, and an alert when a Duty timer you started ends, both scheduled on your device; and, only if you turn them on, push notifications for signals you receive, match races (a challenge, a result) and Convoy Duties. Each kind is off until you turn it on, under Ship’s Office → Reminders. On the lock screen a notification shows only who it is from and what kind it is, unless you turn on Show message text. Signing out, or turning every kind off, stops notifications to that phone and deletes its push token. A running Duty timer is kept on your device only and is never synced.

8. Children

The Helm is for people aged 13 and over, and is rated 13+ on the App Store and Google Play. Junior sailors in Family Convoys are teens aged 13 to 17. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. This applies to every member of a Family Convoy, including Junior sailors. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, email privacy@ayeaye.com.au and we will delete it. Junior sailors are never sent push notifications. Junior sailors take part in Convoy Orders unless a Guardian switches this off; while a Junior sailor takes part, Orders that involve tools, cooking or paperwork are not offered to their convoy.

9. Keeping and deleting your data

We keep your data while your account exists. You can delete your account, remove only your Log from the service, or erase the copy on your device at any time. Delete your account explains each option, including how to ask by email if you cannot use the app.

Convoy Orders, the answers to them and the record of turns are deleted 90 days after they end. If you leave a convoy, your answers to its Orders are deleted; your place in its rota is kept for 90 days so it is not lost if you rejoin. Removing your Log from the service or deleting your account deletes all of this; Orders you issued stay with your convoy without your name.

Deleting your account, or removing your Log from the service, also deletes your push tokens, notification choices, outbox records and blocks. Reports and the moderation records described in section 3 are kept as explained there.

10. Security

Data is sent over HTTPS. Within the app, database rules limit each account to its own data and what its convoys share. We can access the service’s database to run and support The Helm. Values such as Merit and rank are calculated by the service, not trusted from the device. No system is perfectly secure; please report a suspected issue to support@ayeaye.com.au.

11. This website

This is a static information site with no sign-in, forms, advertising or analytics. Like most hosted sites, the hosting provider may process ordinary request information such as an IP address, browser details, the requested page and a timestamp to deliver and protect it.

12. Your rights and changes

To ask for access to or correction of your personal information, email privacy@ayeaye.com.au. Your rights under applicable privacy and consumer law are not limited by this policy. If this policy changes, we will update this page and its effective date.