Privacy Policy

We collect two kinds of information:

• Information you give us. If you submit our contact form, sign up for renewal reminders or our newsletter, or request an insurance quote, we collect what you provide — typically your name, email address, the state you boat in, and any message you send.
• Information collected automatically. Like most websites, we record basic, largely anonymous usage data — pages viewed, referring site, device and browser type, and an approximate location derived from your IP address — through analytics cookies.

• To operate, maintain, and improve the directory and the courses we list.
• To respond to messages you send us through the contact form.
• To send renewal reminders or our newsletter — but only if you explicitly opt in, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
• To measure traffic and understand which pages are useful, using analytics.
• To detect, prevent, and fix errors, abuse, and security issues.

We do not use your information for automated decisions that produce legal effects about you.

• Google Analytics 4 — measures site traffic and sets analytics cookies. Governed by Google’s privacy policy.
• Sentry — monitors errors so we can fix them; it may process technical diagnostic data, including IP address, when an error occurs.
• Stripe — if you purchase a paid listing as a school, Stripe processes the payment. We never receive or store your full card details.
• Affiliate partners — when you click an outbound link to a course provider, that company may set its own cookies and collect data under its own policy.
• Hosting and database providers — store the site and the limited data above on our behalf.

We use a small number of cookies: those needed for the site to function, and analytics cookies (via Google Analytics 4) that help us understand usage. You can refuse or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time; doing so does not stop you from reading pages or comparing courses. Where required, we honor browser-level privacy signals.

No. We do not sell or share your personal information for money or other valuable consideration, as those terms are defined under the CCPA. Our revenue comes from affiliate commissions, advertising, and paid school listings — not from selling your data.

If you are in the EEA or UK, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or port your personal data, to object to processing, and to withdraw consent at any time; you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what we collect, to request deletion or correction, to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (note that we do not sell or share it), and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us through our contact form. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected or as required by law, then delete it. We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect it, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

No. BoatingClasses.com is intended for adults and is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy as the site evolves or the law changes. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. Material changes will be reflected here, so please check back periodically.

For any privacy question or request, use our contact form. It’s the fastest way to reach the team that handles privacy requests.