About

Privacy policy

What we collect when you use The Plane Spotter Network and the SpotterGO app, why, who else is involved, and the choices you have.

Last updated 22 October 2026.

The short version

  • We collect what we need to run the site and the SpotterGO app: your account, your catches and photos, the spots, reviews and check-ins you add, and messages you send us.
  • We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use advertising or analytics trackers on you.
  • Your email is never shown to anyone. Your public profile shows your username and what you chose to share.
  • You can see, correct, download or delete your information. Ask us using the contact form.
  • Accounts are for people aged 13 or older.

Who we are

The Plane Spotter Network (planespotter.network) and the SpotterGO app are run by Prompter Solutions Limited, a New Zealand company (company number 9447782). When this policy says "we" or "us", it means Prompter Solutions Limited. We follow the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

Questions or requests about your information: use the contact form on our About page.

What we collect, and why

Your account

  • Email address and password (the password is stored scrambled, so we can't read it). Used to sign you in and to send sign-in and password emails.
  • Username (public), an optional bio (public), and whether you've confirmed you're 13 or older.
  • Whether you've accepted the spot guidelines, your trust level and any staff role.

Your logbook (SpotterGO app)

  • Each catch: the aircraft (registration, callsign, type, airline), when you caught it, how far away and how high it was, the points, and the catch photos the app takes.
  • Your rough position when you caught it (rounded to about 1 km), so the catch can be checked and placed.
  • If you're signed in, your logbook and catch photos are backed up to your account so you can see them on this website and on a new phone. Catch photos are private unless you post the catch to a spot you checked in at.
  • Your logbook, settings and calibration are also kept on your phone.

Location

  • The app uses your phone's location and compass to show which planes are overhead. To fetch nearby flights it sends a rounded position (about 1 km) to a flight-data service (see below), not your exact position.
  • Check-ins at a spot store your exact position and its accuracy, so we can confirm you were really there. Other people only ever see the day and the part of the day (morning, afternoon…), never the exact time or position.
  • "Near me" on the website and the map's "my location" button use your location only in your browser. It isn't saved or sent to us.

Things you post

  • Spots you suggest, edits, reports, reviews and ratings, meetups and who's going, favourites, and people you follow.
  • Photos you upload. We re-save every photo before upload, which removes hidden location data. For aircraft photos we keep the camera, lens and settings, and use the photo's location only to suggest a place, then discard it.

Messages and feedback

  • The contact form: your name, email, topic and message.
  • Send feedback in the app: your message plus technical details to help us fix problems (app version, phone type and screen size, settings, recent flight-data errors). Your rough location (about 1 km) and a screenshot are included only if you leave those boxes ticked. Feedback isn't linked to your account.
  • Notify-me lists (beta and "coming soon"): your email, and optionally your phone type and nearest town.

Moderation

If a community guideline is broken, we keep a record of warnings, suspensions, bans, disputes and the reasons, so decisions are fair and consistent.

What other people can see

  • Public: your username, when you joined, your bio, spots you added, your reviews and photos, and your visits (day and part of day only).
  • Your choice: your level, points and catch numbers (switch off "Show my level, points and catch numbers" on your account page).
  • Never public: your email, exact times and positions, your private catch photos, and your logbook details.

Services we use

We use a few other companies to run the service. They only get what they need for their job.

  • Supabase: our database, sign-in and file storage. Your account, logbook, photos and posts are stored on Supabase's servers in Sydney, Australia.
  • Vercel: hosts the website and passes flight-data requests on. Its servers may be outside New Zealand.
  • Flight-data services (adsb.lol, and as backups adsb.fi and airplanes.live): receive the rounded area being looked at, usually through our server. If our server can't reach them, the app may ask them directly, which shares your internet address with them.
  • adsbdb: looks up aircraft and route details from the aircraft's code.
  • OpenStreetMap: map tiles. Your browser loads them directly, so OpenStreetMap sees your internet address and the map area.
  • Google Fonts, cdnjs and jsDelivr: deliver fonts and code to your browser.
  • Resend: sends our notify-me emails (once switched on). Sign-in emails are sent by Supabase.
  • Google AdSense: see Advertising.

Some of these services are overseas. We choose services that protect information to a standard comparable to New Zealand's.

Advertising

  • Free visitors to some pages of this website see a small banner ad. Ads are never shown on the map, your account or logbook pages, or in the camera view of the app, and SpotterPRO members won't see them.
  • Ads are provided by Google AdSense and are non-personalised: they're chosen from the page you're reading and your general area, not from a profile of you. Google may still use cookies for things like limiting how often you see an ad and preventing fraud. See how Google uses information in ads.
  • We block gambling, alcohol, dating and other adult or sensitive ad categories.
  • Visitors in Europe and the UK see our own promotions instead of Google ads.
  • Until Google ads are switched on, these spaces only show our own promotions.

Cookies and browser storage

We don't use analytics or tracking cookies. The site and app store a few things in your browser so they work: your sign-in, your settings and theme, your logbook and catch photos on your phone, and short-lived page state. Google may set cookies for ads as described above. You can clear these any time in your browser settings (it will sign you out, and on your phone it removes any catches not yet backed up).

How long we keep things

  • Your account, logbook and the things linked to it: until you delete your account (see your choices).
  • Things you post: while they're on the site, or until you or a moderator removes them. Spots you added stay on the community map.
  • Banned accounts: hidden content is deleted 90 days after a ban, unless the ban is lifted or a dispute is open. We keep a short note (username, dates, rule) so a banned person can't simply rejoin.
  • Feedback and contact messages: while they're useful for fixing problems or replying to you.
  • Notify-me lists: until you unsubscribe (every email has an unsubscribe link) or ask us to remove you.

Your choices and rights

  • See and correct: you can ask what we hold about you and ask us to correct it. Most of it you can see and change yourself on your account page.
  • Download: the app can export your logbook, and you can download your catch photos from your logbook.
  • Delete: delete your account from the account screen in the SpotterGO app, or ask us to do it. This removes your account and profile, the cloud copy of your logbook and catch photos, and your check-ins, reviews, photos, meetups, favourites, follows and moderation records. Spots you added stay on the community map, without your name. The copy of your logbook on your phone stays until you delete it.
  • Unsubscribe from any email list using the link in the email.
  • We'll reply to privacy requests within 20 working days. If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Children

Accounts are for people aged 13 or older. If we learn that an account belongs to someone younger, we'll close it and delete its information. Family accounts, where a parent sets up and controls profiles for younger spotters, are planned and will come with their own rules, including no ads.

Keeping it safe

Information is sent over encrypted connections, private photos are only shown through short-lived links, and database rules stop people reading other people's private data. No system is perfect: if a breach is likely to cause someone serious harm, we'll tell the people affected and the Privacy Commissioner, as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this page when things change, and change the date at the top. If a change is important, we'll tell signed-in users on the site or in the app.