Fish Deeper - Fishing App 4+

Great instrument.

Still learning how best to use this, but I’m enjoying at least knowing the depth and structure that I’m fishing. Having never had a sonar (or a boat!), I’m not aware of all the limitations, and it seems to work well for me as a shore fisherman. I know now where some deeper spots are that I can cast to - I find that I can only cast the sensor about as far as I can cast. It loses connection sometimes, but I think that if it stops for a more lent, it reconnects.

The first couple of times I went out I dedicated a rod to it, but lately I just carry it in my shirt pocket. It’s light enough. I use 10-pound test, and it seems secure. It’s sort of a trick to cast it far if you’re not used to that much weight. I probably get about 75-80 feet.

Fun product, thanks.

Dreadful

Want to risk a private waterway’s privacy? Create an account and boat/gps scan it. Anyone will then be able to view its location with your depersonalized data. So sure, it’s not your exact scan, but the location is given away…I even see a dirt access road traced out; which is insanely weird, because it was named… along with the body of water (both of which are nameless on any other map you could possibly find). Someone created bogus information... And apparently, you need to “own” the land to have blue pin removed from global maps… I need to text owner to inform them their property is at risk. Essentially a scheme to give away locations to all the grubs who pay, or scan their way into Premium. Another thing is; nowhere do they mention guest mode keeps your scans off global maps, I found that in here as a response to someone else’s review. Never making an account would be your best bet if you happen to have a honey hole. All I can really do is chuckle though, most people would be fooled by the fish in the spot I scanned. They know who’s boss.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your review!

If the pond/lake scanned is private, and the owner does not want us to share the bathymetry, as you have mentioned yourself - owner can always contact us, provide the proof of ownership and the bathymetry will be removed no questions asked. If you believe that the owner of water mentioned does not want bathymetry of his lake displayed - feel free to inform him, that he can contact us at support@deeper.eu to resolve this :)
The visibility of the lake on the map itself is based off the open source map material, it has nothing to do with whether some lakes were or were not scanned, such data is accessible to anyone online.
You are also correct with a guest mode. This mode does not require having an account, with a cost of no possibility of synchronizing your sessions. In that case none of your scans will end up in Premium bathymetry.

Awesome app, questionable privacy policy

As far as I can tell, the app and the sonar device are of excellent quality and utility. Not too long ago, functionality like this would have cost way more.

However, it appears that all of the user’s bathymetry data are automatically uploaded to the company who catalogs it, anonymizes it, and combines it with other users’ data to offer their premium service (however else they might use it is unclear). The privacy policy is vague about who actually owns the copyright to the bathymetry data that the user collects with the device that you have paid for. The web site FAQ does state that you can request to have removed any bathymetry data from a private lake but ONLY if you provide evidence that you own the lake! So basically, you are paying for the privilege of collecting data for them to market as they wish.

I don’t mind this as a business model, but I wish they would be explicit so that all users know what they are actually buying into. The privacy policy or terms of use really ought to say in plain language: “You agree to turn over all of your bathymetry data to the company who can sell and market it however they choose.”

Even better would be if they’d offer the user the ability to opt out of automatically turning over the user’s own data to the company.

Developer Response ,

Hello there, many thanks for being an active part of the Deeper community and sharing your concerns.

Global bathymetric maps (Premium service) are community-based maps that are made from fully depersonalized depth and GPS data of Deeper Sonars, and there are no references left to personal information, sonar scan data, marks, or catches registered by users. Personal depth maps that are created by users are not shared in any way, and nobody else can see them apart from the users who actually created those maps.

All Deeper Sonar users have a free access to Premium service for 3 months, and they have an option to extend this free access indefinitely by scanning lakes with their Deeper sonars.

Furthermore, users have an option to opt-out of sharing the depth/GPS of their sonars by choosing to use the anonymous mode within the app.

Apart from this paid feature, we are always developing and releasing free app features and improvements that add more value and usability to Deeper Sonars. Zoom feature, custom depth color palettes and distance measurement feature are just some of the features that we’ve released over this year. Many new free features will be released in the future.

If you happen to have any additional questions or concerns, please drop us an email at support@deeper.eu and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you. Regards, Andrew from Deeper.