Effective date: the date of the app's first public release Last updated: October 26, 2026
Drift is a fly fishing journal made by Jesse Dean, an independent developer in Denver, Colorado ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the Drift iOS app collects, why, where it goes, and what you can do about it. It is written to be read, not skimmed. If anything here is unclear, email support@driftflyfish.com.
Drift is local-first. Your trips, catches, pins, notes, photos and voice transcripts live on your phone. If you create an account, they are also backed up to your account so you can restore them on a new phone. We do not sell your data, we do not show it to other users, we do not run ads, and we do not track you across other apps or websites. You can delete your account and everything backed up to it from inside the app.
Account. If you sign in, we store your email address so you can sign in again and so your backup is tied to you. Sign-in is by magic link or password. You can use Drift without an account; then nothing leaves your phone except the requests described under "Services we use".
Location. With your permission, Drift uses your location to record where you fished, to pin catches and spots on the map, to detect which river you are on when you start a trip, and to show nearby waters. During an active trip Drift may record your GPS route in the background; this stops when you end the trip. Location is stored with your trips and catches and is never shared with other users.
Voice. When you log by voice, the audio is recorded on your phone and sent through our server to a transcription service (OpenAI) to turn it into text. The transcript is stored with your trip. The audio file is not kept on our servers after transcription. Drift also uses your phone's speech recognition (Apple) for the live transcript while you record; Apple may process that audio on its servers under Apple's privacy terms. On the free plan this transcript is the one that is kept.
Photos. Photos you attach to a trip or to a fish are stored on your phone and, if you have an account, in private storage tied to your account. If you use the paper-journal import, the photo is sent through our server to an AI service (Anthropic) to read the page; the photo is not retained there beyond processing.
Journal and conditions text. To write river briefs, daily intel and journal drafts, Drift sends the relevant conditions data (flows, weather, hatches) and, for journal compilation, your voice transcripts and catch details for that trip, through our server to Anthropic's API. Short summaries of your recent trips (date, fish count, top fly) and journal notes you wrote about a water are also sent with Fishing Intel and river brief requests, so the advice can reflect your own history there. The responses are stored on your phone. We do not use your content to train any model, and the providers we use do not train on API data under their current terms.
Your choice. Drift asks before it sends anything to these AI services, and nothing is sent until you agree. You can turn AI features off at any time in Settings > AI Features; logging, conditions, your journal and your fly box keep working without them.
Improving the fly catalog. When you add a fly that is not in the catalog, its name is backed up with your fly box like everything else. To decide which patterns to add next, we count how many accounts have added a fly by the same name. Only the name and the count are looked at, never who added it, and nothing else in your box or journal is used for this.
Subscription. If you buy the paid plan, Apple handles payment and we never see your card. The purchase is tied to your Apple ID and does not require a Drift account. The purchase status, and your Drift account id if you sign in, are shared with RevenueCat so the plan follows your account.
Usage analytics. We record a small set of product events (for example "trip started", "journal finalized") with numeric and yes/no properties only, using PostHog. No free text, no notes, no fly names, no location and no email are included in analytics events. This tells us which features are used so we can decide what to build.
Diagnostics. If a sync or transcription fails, the app keeps a local log you can view and clear in Settings. Nothing is sent automatically.
These are the third parties that can receive data from Drift, and what they receive.
Supabase (database, authentication, file storage; hosted in the United States): your email, your backed-up trips, catches, rivers, fly box, voice transcripts and photos. Access is restricted to your account by row-level security.
OpenAI (speech transcription): your voice recordings, sent through our server so no API key is on your phone.
Anthropic (AI text): conditions data, journal transcripts and paper journal photos, sent through our server.
PostHog (analytics): anonymous product events as described above.
RevenueCat (subscriptions): if you subscribe to the paid plan, the App Store purchase record and, if you sign in, your Drift account id, so the subscription can be recognised on a new phone. RevenueCat does not receive your email, your location or anything you log.
Mapbox (maps): map tile requests, which include the map area you are viewing and a device identifier Mapbox uses for billing. To draw the map image in a journal entry, the catch and pin coordinates for that trip are sent to Mapbox's static map service. When you search "Where you fish" for a town or area, the text you type goes to Mapbox to find that place; with "Gauges near me", your current location is used on the phone to look up the nearest USGS gauges and is not stored. The Mapbox map software also sends Mapbox anonymous usage and performance data, including the device's location while the map is open, which Mapbox uses to improve its maps and does not link to your Drift account.
Public data sources: USGS Water Services, Colorado Division of Water Resources, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, USDA SNOTEL, Open-Meteo and OpenStreetMap-derived services. Requests to these carry a gauge id or coordinates for the water you are looking at and no account information.
Apple: standard App Store and iOS services.
We do not use advertising networks or data brokers.
On your phone, in an encrypted database managed by iOS. If you sign in, also in Supabase, in the United States. If you delete the app without an account, your data is gone; we cannot recover it. If you delete the app with an account, you can restore from cloud on a new phone.
You can use Drift without an account. You can decline location, microphone, camera and photo permissions in iOS Settings; the related features will not work, the rest of the app will. You can export a readable copy of all your data from Settings > Account. You can delete your account, your backup and your photos from Settings > Account > Delete account. This is immediate and cannot be undone. The data on your phone is deleted at the same time, unless you choose to keep a copy on the phone. You can email support@driftflyfish.com to ask what we hold about you or to have it deleted; we will respond within 30 days.
Drift is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will delete it.
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will say so in the app and update the date above. Continued use after a change means you accept it.
Jesse Dean Denver, Colorado support@driftflyfish.com