Lodge 486 App Privacy Policy

Last updated 3 October 2026

This privacy policy explains what information the Lodge 486 app collects, how it is used and shared, how it is protected, how long it is kept, and how you can have it deleted. It covers the app on iPhone (from the App Store) and on Android (from Google Play).

The app is made and run by Blue Sail Technologies (bluesailtechnologies.com) for Craigantlet Lodge of Friendship No. 486 in Belfast. It is for the members of that lodge only. Nothing in it is public, and there is no public sign up: only an email address the Lodge Secretary has already added can sign in.

Who is responsible

Blue Sail Technologies runs the app and the server it uses, on behalf of the Lodge. The Lodge Secretary manages the list of members. You can contact either of us at any time; see Contact us at the end of this page.

The information we collect

Your name and email address. The Lodge already holds these to send you the monthly festive board email, and your email address is how you sign in. When you sign in, the app asks for your first name and surname, and what you enter replaces what we had on file.

Sign in codes. Each time you sign in on a phone, a six digit code is emailed to you.

Your phone. When you sign in, the app sends the name of your phone (for example “John’s iPhone”), the type of phone and the version of the app, so that the phones signed in to your account can be told apart. A sign in key is then kept on your phone so you are not asked for a code every time.

Your profile, only if you choose to fill it in. Your photograph, telephone number, a different email address if you prefer one, your occupation, your skills, your website and your social media pages (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X). Every one of these is optional, and leaving a box empty keeps that detail to yourself. Your photograph is saved again on our server from its pixels alone, which removes hidden details such as where and when it was taken.

What you offer to bring. If you offer to provide a festive board, or add something to a shared month such as December, we keep what you entered.

Reports. If you ask the Secretary to look at another member’s entry, we record that you made the request.

What we do not collect. The app does not collect your location, your contacts, your browsing history, an advertising identifier, analytics or crash reports. “Add to calendar” writes a date into your own calendar, and the app never reads your calendar. Reminders are set on your phone, and nothing about them is sent to us. “Hide from my list” is kept on your phone only.

How we use it

• To sign you in and keep your account secure.
• To show the festive board rota and the member list to the other members of the Lodge.
• To send you sign in codes and the monthly festive board email.
• To let the Lodge Secretary keep the member list and the rota accurate.

We do not use your information for advertising, for profiling, or for anything outside the Lodge. We do not sell it.

Who can see it

• Other members of the Lodge who are signed in to the app. Your name is always shown in the member list. While “Show me in the Member List” is switched on (it is on unless you switch it off in My Profile), they also see your email address (the one you entered in your profile, or otherwise the one the Lodge holds for you) and any other profile details you have filled in. Switching it off leaves only your name.
• Everyone on the monthly email list sees what you have offered to bring, next to your name.
• The Lodge Secretary and Blue Sail Technologies, to run the app.

Who we share it with

We do not share your information with anyone outside the Lodge for their own use. Two companies handle it on our behalf, only so that the service works:

• Our web hosting provider runs the private server where the information is kept.
• Brevo delivers our emails: your sign in codes and the monthly festive board email. It receives your name and email address for that purpose only.

We would disclose information only if the law required us to.

If you use the Alexa skill

The Lodge has an Alexa skill, Craigantlet 486, that reads out the meeting dates and who is providing the festive board. To use it, you link it once in the Alexa app with your lodge email address and a code we email to you, just as you sign in to the app.

• Amazon turns what you say into text under Amazon’s own privacy notice. We receive only the question you asked (for example “next meeting”) and a key that tells us which Brother linked the skill. We never receive recordings of your voice.
• Our answer, which can include Brethren’s names from the rota, is sent to Amazon for Alexa to speak on your device.
• The skill can only read the rota. It cannot change anything.
• The link lasts until you disable the skill in the Alexa app or your app access is removed, which ends it at once.

How we keep it safe

• Everything sent between the app and our server is encrypted (HTTPS). The app will not connect any other way.
• Photographs are kept outside the public part of the website and are sent only to a signed in member. They have no public address.
• Sign in codes and sign in keys are stored on our server only in a scrambled (hashed) form. A code works for 10 minutes and allows only a few attempts.
• To stop misuse, the server counts sign in attempts from each internet (IP) address for one hour, keeping only a scrambled form of the address for that hour.
• The lodge information and photographs the app downloads are left out of phone backups. On iPhone, your sign in key is kept in that iPhone’s secure keychain only.
• On Android, everything the app keeps on your phone is encrypted, the app opens with your fingerprint, face or phone PIN, and the member pages cannot be screenshotted.
• A security firewall protects the server and records the internet addresses of requests it blocks. The server also keeps standard access logs (internet address, time and page requested) to detect attacks.

How long we keep it

• Your name and email address: for as long as you are on the Lodge’s list. The Secretary removes you on request, or when you leave the Lodge.
• Your profile and photograph: until you remove them, remove your access, or the Secretary removes your entry. They are then deleted from our server straight away.
• Sign in codes: deleted one day after they expire.
• Sign in keys: each one lapses after 180 days without use, and ends at once when you sign out or remove your access. The record of the phone (its name, type and app version) is deleted 90 days after its key ends.
• Alexa link keys: deleted 90 days after the link ends.
• Records of sign ins, changes and reports: these note what happened and when, never the content of your profile, and are deleted after 12 months.
• Server access logs: rotated automatically and normally deleted within about six months.
• The rota and shared month lists: kept as the Lodge’s record of its festive boards, unless you ask us to remove your entry.

How to delete your data

In the app: open Settings and tap Remove my access. This immediately ends your access on every phone, and deletes your profile and photograph from our server.

Without the app: email bluesailtechnologies@gmail.com from the address the Lodge holds for you, asking for your Lodge 486 app data to be deleted, or ask the Lodge Secretary. We will delete it within 30 days and confirm by email.

What stays, and why: if you had offered to provide a festive board, your name stays against that month, and anything you added to a shared month stays on that list, so the Lodge is not left short at short notice. Ask us and we will remove these as well. Removing your app access does not take you off the monthly email list; ask the Secretary if you would like that too.

Your other choices: you can change or delete any profile detail at any time in My Profile, switch off “Show me in the Member List”, or sign out on any phone. You can also ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it.

Children

The app is for adult members of the Lodge only and is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also tell members in the app or in the monthly email.

Contact us

Blue Sail Technologies
Email: bluesailtechnologies@gmail.com
Website: bluesailtechnologies.com

Or speak to the Secretary of Craigantlet Lodge of Friendship No. 486. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.