Tank Mate Privacy Policy

Updated October 22, 2026.

Tank Mate is developed by Seth Parsons. Questions about this policy can be sent to sethparsons6@icloud.com.

Your aquarium records

Tank Mate stores the aquariums, water tests, inhabitants, observations, notes, reminders, salt profiles, and photos you enter on your device. You can use these features without creating a Tank Mate account.

Tank Mate has no advertising, third-party analytics, tracking SDKs, or developer-operated service that receives your aquarium records. It does not request your location or contacts.

Optional iCloud

If you enable iCloud backup and sync, Tank Mate stores and synchronizes your records and compressed photos using Apple's CloudKit service in your private iCloud database. This uses your iCloud account and storage allowance. Apple handles the service under its own privacy terms. Tank Mate does not receive your Apple Account password.

Tank Mate stores an iCloud account identifier locally to detect account changes and help prevent syncing existing records into a different account without confirmation. Turning synchronization off keeps records already saved on the device and in iCloud.

When upgrading from the original Tank Mate, the app can automatically read existing original data from your device or the original iCloud container to recover your records. Original source copies are preserved for recovery.

Photos and permissions

The system photo picker gives Tank Mate access to the photos you choose. Camera permission is requested when you choose to take a picture. Tank Mate saves a compressed copy for your aquarium or inhabitant record and removes location metadata from that copy. It does not modify your original photo.

Reminders

If you enable reminder notifications, Tank Mate requests notification permission and schedules care alerts on your device. You can change notification permissions in device Settings.

Backups, recovery, and deletion

You control when to export a backup and where to save or share it. A backup includes current aquarium records, inhabitants and their histories, and photos. Treat exported backups as private files. Tank Mate does not automatically send them to the developer.

Deleting records in Tank Mate updates the local collection and, when sync is enabled, synchronizes those deletions. Recovery versions can remain temporarily. Earlier cloud versions are subject to a policy of up to 10 earlier versions per record, up to 30 days, and a separate history-storage budget. Current records and photos are not deleted to meet that history budget. Small sync-history markers remain to preserve deletion and synchronization history.

The app also keeps recovery copies and original migration files to help protect against data loss. Exported backups, original migration copies, and previous-save recovery files are separate from cloud-history expiry. Turning sync off or deleting the app does not automatically delete your existing iCloud records or backups saved elsewhere. Manage those copies through the storage service where you saved them or Apple's iCloud storage controls.

Support and external links

Contacting the developer opens an email draft you control. No aquarium records or photos are automatically attached. Information you choose to include in a support message is used to respond to your request.

If you open an external reference, support, or App Store link, the destination's privacy practices apply.

Changes

This policy may be updated when Tank Mate's features or data practices change. The latest published policy will show its updated date.