Privacy Policy

We collect information in three main ways: you provide it, it is generated through your use of the platform, and we receive it from third parties.

Account and identity information

• Name, email address, username, and password (stored in hashed form)
• Email verification status and account role (seafarer, recruiter, or admin)
• Sign-in metadata such as session tokens managed by our authentication provider

Seafarer profile information

• Rank, nationality, date of birth, contact number, and years of experience
• Availability, career preferences, and academic qualifications you choose to add
• Sea service history, certificates, courses, visas, passports, and seaman book details
• Profile photo (avatar) if you upload one
• Resume or CV files when you apply to jobs through our internal application flow

User-generated content

• Company and vessel reviews, including ratings, salary insights, and written comments
• Community posts, questions, answers, comments, and helpful votes
• Reports you submit about jobs, reviews, or other content
• Suggestions for missing vessels or companies

Recruiter and company information

• Company profile details, logos, cover images, fleet and vessel data
• Job listings, application requirements, and recruiter responses to reviews
• Company claim requests and verification documents you submit

Usage and technical information

• Pages viewed, search queries, filters applied, and interactions with features
• Device type, browser, approximate location derived from IP address, and referral URLs
• Log data, error reports, and security signals used to protect the platform

We use personal information to operate, improve, and protect SeafarerCircle. Specifically, we use it to:

• Create and manage your account, authenticate you, and enforce email verification
• Display reviews, discussions, company pages, vessels, and job listings
• Match seafarers with relevant jobs and allow recruiters to review applications
• Moderate content, investigate abuse reports, and enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines
• Send transactional emails (verification, password reset, application updates)
• Respond to support requests and legal or safety obligations
• Analyse aggregated usage to improve performance, search, and product design
• Detect fraud, spam, fake reviews, and unauthorized access attempts

We do not sell your personal information. We may use aggregated or de-identified data that cannot reasonably identify you for analytics and industry insights.

SeafarerCircle is a community platform. Much of what you contribute is intended to be visible to other users and, in some cases, the public internet.

Generally public

• Company and vessel reviews you publish (subject to your anonymity choice where offered)
• Community posts, comments, answers, and tags
• Company pages, vessel pages, and active job listings posted by recruiters
• Your username and display name on content you publish, unless you choose anonymous review mode

Not public by default

• Your email address, password, and full date of birth
• Private profile sections such as passport numbers, visa details, and document scans
• Resume files submitted through job applications — visible to the recruiting company for that job
• Account settings, saved jobs, saved posts, and notification preferences

Your profile photo and selected seafarer details may be visible to recruiters when you apply for a job or when your profile settings allow discovery. Review your profile before applying and keep sensitive document data limited to what is necessary.

Reviews and community content are core to SeafarerCircle. When you submit a review or post, you understand that:

• Content may remain visible after your account is closed, especially if other users replied or it was cited in moderation records
• Recruiters and company representatives may respond publicly to reviews about their organization
• We may remove or redact content that violates our policies, even if it was previously published
• Other users may report your content; reports are reviewed by our moderation team
• Salary and contract insights you provide may be aggregated to show trends without identifying you individually

If you believe a review or post contains inaccurate information about you or your company, use our reporting tools or contact moderation@seafarercircle.com. We do not guarantee removal of opinions that comply with our guidelines.

When you apply for a job through SeafarerCircle, the recruiting company associated with that listing can access information you submit with your application, which may include your name, contact details, rank, experience summary, and uploaded resume.

Recruiters with verified company access can manage public company profiles, post jobs, view applications for their listings, and post official responses to reviews. They cannot access your private maritime documents unless you include them in an application or otherwise choose to share them.

Recruiters must handle applicant data in accordance with applicable employment and privacy laws. SeafarerCircle is not responsible for how a third-party employer uses information after it is downloaded or exported from our platform.

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, and understand how the platform is used.

Essential cookies are required for authentication, security, and core functionality. The platform may not work correctly if you disable them.

Analytics help us measure traffic, diagnose errors, and improve features. Where available, we prefer privacy-conscious analytics that minimise personal identifiers.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent you from signing in or staying authenticated.

We rely on trusted service providers to run SeafarerCircle, including:

• Supabase — authentication, database, and file storage
• Resend (or similar) — transactional email delivery
• Vercel (or similar) — hosting and content delivery
• Upstash (where configured) — rate limiting and abuse prevention
• PostHog (where configured) — privacy-conscious product analytics to improve the platform

These providers process data on our behalf under contractual safeguards. Job listings may link to external application URLs operated by third parties; their privacy practices apply once you leave SeafarerCircle.

We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, and integrity of users and the platform.

We retain information for as long as needed to provide the service and meet legal obligations.

• Account data — kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period after deletion to handle disputes and backups
• Reviews and posts — may be retained in anonymised or redacted form after account deletion where removal would harm community integrity
• Job applications — retained according to recruiter access needs and applicable record-keeping requirements
• Moderation and security logs — retained for a limited period to investigate abuse and comply with law
• Backups — may persist for a short cycle after deletion before being overwritten

You may request deletion of your account by contacting privacy@seafarercircle.com. Some information may be retained where we have a legitimate legal or safety reason to do so.

Depending on your location, you may have rights to:

• Access a copy of personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate profile or account information through settings or by contacting us
• Delete your account and associated data, subject to legal exceptions
• Object to or restrict certain processing activities
• Export data you provided in a portable format where technically feasible
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, email privacy@seafarercircle.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding. If you are in the European Economic Area, UK, or other regions with privacy laws, you may also lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Seafarers in the Philippines, India, and other major crew-supply countries may have additional local rights; we will honour valid requests to the extent applicable law requires.

SeafarerCircle serves a global maritime workforce. Your information may be processed in countries other than where you live, including where our infrastructure providers operate. When we transfer data internationally, we use appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms where required.

SeafarerCircle is intended for adults working in or hiring for the maritime industry. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact privacy@seafarercircle.com and we will take steps to delete it.

We may update this Privacy Policy as our features, legal obligations, or practices change. We will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes may also be communicated by email or an in-product notice. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Questions about privacy or data protection can be sent to privacy@seafarercircle.com.

For general support, contact support@seafarercircle.com.