Privacy Policy

Email Signup

If you sign up for water quality alerts, we collect:

• Email address — used to send you advisory alerts
• Island preference — so we only send you alerts relevant to the island you selected (Oahu, Maui, Big Island, or Kauai)

Email subscriptions are managed through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any alert email. We do not sell, rent, or share your email address with third parties.

Analytics Data

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use the site. GA4 collects anonymized data including:

• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• General geographic region (country/city level, not precise location)
• Device type, browser, and operating system
• Referral source (how you found the site)

GA4 does not collect personally identifiable information. Google’s privacy policy governs how Google processes analytics data: policies.google.com/privacy.

Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect names, phone numbers, physical addresses, payment information, or precise location data. We do not require you to create an account to use the site.

How We Use Cookies

This site uses cookies from the following services:

Google Analytics

• _ga — used to distinguish users (expires after 2 years)
• _ga_* — used to maintain session state (expires after 2 years)

Grow by Mediavine

We use Grow by Mediavine to enhance site engagement features. Grow may set cookies to remember your preferences and improve your experience. For details on Grow’s data practices, see the Mediavine Privacy Policy.

You can block cookies through your browser settings or by using a browser extension like uBlock Origin. Blocking cookies will not affect the core functionality of the site.

Data We Display

This site displays water quality information from two sources:

• Real-time advisories — pulled from the Hawaii Department of Health Clean Water Branch public API every 15 minutes. This includes brown water advisories, sewage spill notifications, and beach advisories.
• Historical risk ratings — based on publicly available bacteria testing data from the Surfrider Foundation Blue Water Task Force and Hawaii DOH Tier 1 monitoring programs.

All advisory data originates from public government sources. We do not conduct our own water testing. Risk ratings are estimates and should not be treated as real-time measurements.

Services We Use

• Netlify — website hosting. Netlify Privacy Policy
• Google Analytics 4 — anonymized site usage analytics. Google Privacy Policy
• Kit (ConvertKit) — email alert delivery. Kit Privacy Policy
• Grow by Mediavine — site engagement tools. Mediavine Privacy Policy
• Google Fonts — web fonts loaded from Google’s CDN. Google Fonts Privacy

How to Control Your Data

• Unsubscribe from emails — click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any alert email
• Block analytics — use a browser extension like uBlock Origin or enable “Do Not Track” in your browser settings
• Delete cookies — clear cookies through your browser settings at any time
• Request data deletion — email us at safetoswimhawaii@gmail.com to request removal of your email from our subscriber list

This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with their email address, please contact us at safetoswimhawaii@gmail.com and we will remove it promptly.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, contact us at safetoswimhawaii@gmail.com.