Legal
Privacy policy
Effective 2026-06-23
This policy explains what personal data Vessel Hunter (“we”, “us”) holds, why we hold it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. It covers three groups of people: visitors to our website, people with a Vessel Hunter account, and people whose data we hold from other sources, such as vessel owners, managers and business contacts in our maritime database. It applies to our website and the Vessel Hunter platform.
We are established in the Netherlands and host the platform within the European Economic Area, so the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. We review this policy periodically and post any material change here with a new effective date.
The short version
- We do not sell personal data.
- We hold business contact data about people in the maritime industry, gathered from public and third-party sources, to map who owns and runs the world fleet.
- If you are in our database, you can see, correct, object to, or delete your data at any time, with no account needed.
- If you have an account, you can export or delete it yourself from your settings.
- Analytics cookies are set only after you consent, and you can withdraw consent whenever you like.
Who we are
Vessel Hunter, Heerle, the Netherlands, is the controller of the personal data described here. We are a maritime business-intelligence service for commercial teams. You can reach our data protection contact at privacy@vesselhunter.io for any question about this policy or to exercise your rights. Our full company details are on our imprint page.
The personal data we hold
The data we hold depends on how you interact with us. The table below sets out the main categories, with examples and where each one comes from.
| Category | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Account data | Name, work email, company, password (stored hashed), role. | You |
| Usage data | Pages and records you view, searches, saved views and lists, sign-in sessions, device and approximate location from your IP address. | Automatic |
| Support data | Messages you send to support and the replies, and any contact details you share with us. | You |
| Billing data | Company billing details and invoices. Card details are handled by our payment processor; we do not store full card numbers. | You, processor |
| Maritime contacts | Name, job title or role, employer, business contact details, and links to vessels and ownership, for people in a professional capacity. | Third-party |
People in our maritime database
To map who owns, manages and operates the world fleet, we hold records about people in a professional capacity: typically a name, job title or role, the company they work for, business contact details, and links to vessels or ownership. Most of these people are not Vessel Hunter users and did not give us their data directly. We obtain it from public and third-party sources, including public ship registries and AIS, company and registry websites, and specialist maritime and contact-data providers. A current list of these providers is available to entitled customers on request, under NDA. Contact details are stored masked and revealed to an entitled user only on request.
Under the GDPR we rely on our legitimate interest (and that of our users) in providing maritime intelligence for legitimate business purposes as the legal basis for this processing, having weighed it against the rights and reasonable expectations of the people concerned (Art. 6(1)(f) and Art. 14 GDPR). Most of what we hold is business contact information used for business purposes.
If you are in our database you can ask to see, correct, object to, or delete your data at any time, using Your data rights. You do not need an account. If you object, we suppress your details so they are not shown again, and we keep only a minimal, hashed record of the objection so that later updates do not re-add you.
How we use your data, and our legal basis
We use personal data to run and improve Vessel Hunter, to keep it secure, and to meet our legal obligations. We do not sell personal data. The table below sets out each purpose and the legal basis we rely on under the GDPR.
| What we do | Legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Provide the platform, manage your account, and bill your subscription. | Performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b)). |
| Operate the maritime database, improve the service, prevent abuse, and keep the platform secure. | Our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)). |
| Keep accounting and tax records. | Compliance with a legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)). |
| Set analytics cookies and send our newsletter. | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw. |
Automated decisions
Our tools score and qualify companies and contacts to help users prioritise outreach. These are decision-support signals for our users. We do not make decisions about you by solely automated means that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you (Art. 22 GDPR).
Who we share data with
We share personal data only with service providers that help us run Vessel Hunter, under contract and only as far as needed:
- Cloud hosting and infrastructure for the platform, in a data centre within the EEA (Germany).
- Payment processing and subscription management.
- Transactional email delivery for account and notification emails.
- Product and website analytics, only where you have consented (see our cookie policy).
- An AI assistant that powers in-product support; the messages you send to support are processed to generate replies.
- An IP-based geolocation lookup that opens map tools near your approximate location. This is a one-off lookup, the result is not stored, and it is skipped when your browser shares a precise location instead.
A current list of these service providers, with their names and locations, is available to customers on request, under NDA. We may also disclose personal data where the law requires it, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. If Vessel Hunter is ever involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal data may transfer as part of that transaction, and we will tell you before it becomes subject to a different policy.
When you query vessel or company records inside the platform, those lookups draw on third-party maritime and contact-data sources. For personal data you upload as a customer, our data processing agreement sets out how we act as your processor.
International transfers
Our application and database are hosted within the European Economic Area, in a data centre in Germany, so your account and uploaded data is stored in the EEA. Some of the providers above operate outside the EEA, including in the United States. For those transfers we rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, together with supplementary measures such as encryption in transit. For US providers certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework we may also rely on that framework. You can ask us for a copy of the relevant safeguards using the contact details below.
The IP-based geolocation lookup described above is handled by a provider outside the EEA. Only your IP address is sent, only at the moment a map tool needs a starting point, and the result is not retained. You can avoid this lookup entirely by declining the location prompt and setting the area manually.
Separately, for website analytics and security monitoring we derive an approximate location (country, and where available city and region) from your IP address on our own servers in Germany, using a local copy of the MaxMind GeoLite2 database. This lookup stays entirely within the EEA — your IP address is not sent to any third party for it. This product includes GeoLite2 data created by MaxMind, available from https://www.maxmind.com.
How long we keep data
We keep personal data only for as long as we need it, then delete it automatically. The main retention periods are:
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account data | While your account is active. Erased promptly when you delete it. |
| Support conversations, business enquiries, audit logs | Up to 24 months. |
| Sign-in sessions and operational logs | Up to 6 months. |
| Invoices and accounting records | The statutory period (7 years in the Netherlands). |
| Record of an objection (hashed) | Kept indefinitely, so we can keep honouring it. |
Your rights
Under the GDPR you can request a copy of your data and receive it in a portable format, ask us to correct or delete it, ask us to restrict or object to certain processing, and, where we rely on your consent, withdraw that consent at any time without affecting processing already carried out. We do not charge for this, and we will not treat you differently for exercising a right.
How to exercise your rights
If you have an account, you can export or delete your data yourself under Settings → Data & account. Anyone, with or without an account, can use our data request form, or email privacy@vesselhunter.io. We respond within 30 days. If we need to verify your identity first, we will tell you what we need before we act on the request.
Security
Personal data is encrypted in transit, and the database and backups are kept on access-controlled infrastructure within the EEA. Internal access follows the principle of least privilege, passwords are stored hashed rather than in plain text, and changes to customer-facing data are recorded in an audit log. No system can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but we work to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss and misuse, and we will notify you and the relevant authority of a personal-data breach where the law requires it.
Cookies
We use necessary cookies to keep you signed in, and, with your consent, analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) to understand how visitors use the platform. You can manage your preferences at any time. See our cookie policy for details.
Children
Vessel Hunter is a business tool intended for professional use by adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their data, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our service or the law changes. When we make a material change we will post the updated policy here with a new effective date and, where appropriate, tell you in-product or by email. The effective date at the top of this page shows when the current version took effect.
Complaints
If you believe we are processing your personal data unlawfully, you can lodge a complaint with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch Data Protection Authority), or with the supervisory authority in your EU member state. We would appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.
Contact
Vessel Hunter, Heerle, the Netherlands. Questions about this policy: privacy@vesselhunter.io.
Questions? Get in touch.