Privacy policy

The short version

There are no accounts, no sign-in and no saved lists. You can look up launch points without giving us anything. Your location is used only in your browser to show distances; it is never sent to us. We do not sell data, send marketing email or take payments. Whether analytics cookies are set depends on how this site is set up; see “Analytics and statistics”. Where the map data comes from is listed under “Data sources”.

Who is responsible

The controller for data processing on this site, within the meaning of the UK GDPR, is the operator of Paddle Launch. You can reach them by email at [email protected] or through the contact page.

What we collect

The pages you read need no personal data from you. In detail:

• Search words you type appear in the page address, like any web request. The site does not keep a search history.
• If you email us, we receive the address and the message you send, and we keep the conversation for as long as it is needed to answer you. Please do not include personal information in a problem report.
• The site software can write a technical request log (time, method, path, status, duration, request id; no query string, cookie or IP address). The server or network that hosts the site may keep its own standard logs.

Your location

“Use my location” asks your browser for your position. If you allow it, the position stays in this browser tab (sessionStorage) and is used only to calculate straight-line distances on the page. It is not sent to our server and not shared. Sorting by distance downloads the coordinates of listed launch points and sorts them in your browser. “Clear” or closing the tab removes the position.

Data sources

Paddle Launch shows launch and access points in Great Britain that are recorded in open data. This section says where the information comes from, under which licence, and what it does not offer.

• OpenStreetMap: the position, tags (such as surface and access), car parks, toilets and water features behind every launch point come from OpenStreetMap. © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL): https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
• Ordnance Survey Boundary-Line: the country and county (local authority) of a launch point come from the official Boundary-Line boundaries. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Ordnance Survey Open Names: the nearest town or settlement shown for a launch point comes from OS Open Names. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Map tiles: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles · Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Your browser loads the tiles from tiles.openfreemap.org whenever a map is shown. The credit also appears on the map itself.

What you should know about the information:

• The entries are mapped by people on OpenStreetMap. They can be out of date, incomplete or wrong, and not every launch point is recorded.
• A point is listed as “mapped as a launch point”. That is a statement about the map, not about your right to launch, to cross land or to navigate a water. Check local access rules, signs and conditions before you go.
• Access and surface appear only as the tag on the map; “not recorded on the map” means nobody has recorded it, not that it is open, free or allowed.
• The distance to the nearest car park and toilets is a straight line to the nearest mapped footprint, not a walking route. We cannot tell whether a car park or toilets are public, free or open.
• The nearest town is the nearest named settlement in the gazetteer, not an address.
• We show no tides, river levels, water quality, weather, grades or opening times.
• Images on the site are illustrative photos and do not show the launch point named.
• We reload the data from new extracts from time to time. Whatever has changed on OpenStreetMap in the meantime appears here only after the next reload.

Reporting a mistake: if a launch point is missing or a detail is wrong, use the “Report a problem” link on the page or the contact page. We read every message. The map data itself comes from OpenStreetMap, where you can correct it for good.

Why we use it

We do not use your data for marketing email.

• To answer your messages.
• To protect the site: the software limits and logs requests in the way described above.
• To count aggregate usage (see “Analytics and statistics”).

Legal bases

• Answering your email: Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering people who write to us).
• Protecting the site and the technical request log: Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR. Our legitimate interest is a working, protected service.
• Google Analytics and the cookies it sets: switched on by default under Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR (our interest in knowing how the site is used); you can object at any time with the control under “Analytics and statistics”, and we then stop it in your browser.
• Location: you trigger the location request yourself and your browser asks you first. The position stays in your browser and is not sent to us.

Who processes data

• Google: if analytics is set up and you have not objected, Google Analytics receives page views. Google handles that data under its own policies and may transfer it outside the UK, for example to the USA; according to Google, protections such as the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses apply there.
• Site statistics service: the site can send the operator’s own statistics service one daily aggregate (the site identifier, the domain and constant zero counts, because there are no accounts). It contains no visitor data.
• Maps: when a page shows a map, your browser loads map tiles from tiles.openfreemap.org (OpenFreeMap). OpenFreeMap receives the usual request data (such as your IP address). Your shared location is not sent with these requests. Your browser also asks us for the launch points on the map; we do not store those requests.
• Hosting: the server or network that hosts the site may keep its own standard logs.
• The “Directions” link opens Google Maps, a third-party service with its own privacy policy, only when you click it.

Advertising

The site shows no advertising and loads no advertising network. If that changes, this policy will be updated before any advertising is shown.

Cookies and browser storage

These are all the cookies and storage keys the site sets.

Analytics and statistics

Analytics cookies are not active on this site, so no request is made to Google Analytics. If this changes, this page will say so first.

Separately from Google Analytics, the site sends the daily aggregate described under “Who processes data”. It contains no personal data.

How long we keep data

• Emails to the support address are kept for as long as needed to answer them and for a short time afterwards.
• Request logs are kept briefly and rotated.
• Google Analytics keeps data according to its own retention setting, which the operator chooses in the Analytics property.

Your choices and rights

Under the UK GDPR you have these rights, where the conditions for each are met:

• access to the data stored about you,
• rectification of inaccurate data,
• erasure and restriction of processing,
• receiving your data in a common format,
• objection to processing based on legitimate interests,
• a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

For requests about your data, use the contact page or write to [email protected]. No automated decision-making takes place.

You can change your analytics choice at any time with the control in “Analytics and statistics”, and you can clear cookies and tab storage in your browser.

Children

This site is aimed at adults and families planning a day on the water, and not at children. It collects no personal information from anyone.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the site changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. See also the terms of use.