Privacy Policy – YCA Media LLC
Effective Date: 1 January 2026
1. Company Information
YCA Media LLC, operating under the brand name YachtieCareers, is a company registered in the United States with its business address at 1309 Coffeen Avenue STE 1200, Sheridan, WY, USA. The company can be contacted at [email protected]. This Privacy Policy applies to all services, platforms, and websites operated by YCA Media LLC, including www.yachtiecareers.com and yachtcrewtraining.yachtiecareers.com.
2. Scope of This Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how personal data is collected, used, stored, and disclosed when you visit our websites, enroll in training, apply for yacht jobs, purchase services, or communicate with us. It applies solely to online activities and does not cover information collected offline or through third-party websites not operated by YCA Media LLC. By using our websites or services, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
3. Information We Collect
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when registering for an account, purchasing training, applying for yacht employment, enrolling in online courses, or communicating with us. This information may include your name, email address, phone number, address, date of birth, nationality, login credentials, payment-related information processed by secure third-party providers, communications with us, training records, certification history, employment information, and curriculum vitae.
For maritime training, certification, and employment purposes, we also collect passport and identity information. This may include your passport number, full legal name as it appears on your passport, date of birth, and nationality. In addition, we automatically collect certain technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, session duration, and referral data when you use our websites.
4. Purpose of Data Processing
We process personal data in order to provide yacht crew training, certification, recruitment, and career placement services. This includes enrolling users in online courses hosted on the Thinkific platform at yachtcrewtraining.yachtiecareers.com, delivering STCW, ISPS, and other maritime training programs, issuing and verifying certificates, processing payments and deposits, providing customer support, communicating service-related information, improving our platforms, complying with legal and regulatory requirements, preventing fraud, and maintaining internal business records.
We also process personal and professional data for recruitment purposes, including reviewing applications, matching candidates with yacht employers, forwarding applications and CVs to yacht owners, captains, management companies, recruiters, and other employment partners, and contacting users regarding job opportunities.
5. Passport and Identity Data Consent
By enrolling in any training, certification, recruitment, or job placement service provided by YCA Media LLC, you expressly consent to the collection, storage, processing, and limited disclosure of your passport and identity information. Passport data is collected strictly for legitimate operational purposes related to maritime training, certification, regulatory compliance, identity verification, and employment applications. This data may be shared only with accredited training centres, certification bodies, relevant national or maritime authorities, and yacht employers or recruitment partners where such information is required for certification or employment consideration.
Passport and identity data is never sold, never used for advertising, and is retained only for as long as required by applicable law, regulatory obligations, certification standards, or legitimate business needs. If you do not consent to the use of passport and identity data as described in this policy, you may not be able to enroll in training, receive certification, or be considered for yacht employment opportunities.
6. Legal Basis for Processing
Personal data is processed on the basis of contractual necessity, legal obligations related to maritime training and certification, legitimate business interests, and, where required, your explicit consent. Processing is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
7. Data Sharing and Disclosure
YCA Media LLC does not sell personal data. Personal information may be shared with trusted third parties only when necessary to deliver services. This includes accredited training centres, maritime authorities, certification bodies, yacht employers, captains, management companies, recruitment partners, online learning platforms such as Thinkific, payment processors, hosting providers, and technical service providers. All third parties receive only the minimum data required for their role and are required to protect personal data in accordance with applicable laws.
8. Online Training Platforms
Online training courses are delivered through third-party learning management systems, including Thinkific, accessible at yachtcrewtraining.yachtiecareers.com. When enrolling in online courses, certain personal data such as your name, email address, training records, and certification progress is shared with the platform in order to deliver and manage the course. These platforms process data under their own privacy policies and security standards.
9. Marketing Communications
If you choose to opt in, we may send emails relating to training, job opportunities, service updates, and promotional offers. You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time using the unsubscribe link provided in emails or by contacting us directly.
By enrolling in any training, certification, recruitment, or job placement service provided by YCA Media LLC, operating as YachtieCareers, you acknowledge and expressly consent to the collection, storage, processing, and limited disclosure of your passport and identity information. Passport and identity data may include your passport number, full legal name as shown on your passport, date of birth, and nationality.
This information is collected strictly for legitimate operational purposes related to maritime training, certification, regulatory compliance, identity verification, and employment services. These purposes include enrolling you in STCW, ISPS, and other maritime training and certification programs, issuing official training certificates, complying with applicable maritime, national, and international regulatory requirements, verifying the accuracy of certification records, submitting required information to accredited training centres and relevant national or maritime authorities, and processing recruitment activities such as job applications and matching candidates with potential yacht employers.
You understand and agree that your passport and identity data may be shared only where necessary with accredited training centres, certification bodies, maritime or national regulatory authorities, and yacht employers, captains, management companies, or recruitment partners where such information is required for certification, regulatory compliance, or employment consideration.
Passport and identity data is never sold, never shared for marketing or advertising purposes, and is handled using appropriate technical and organizational security measures. Such data is retained only for as long as required to meet legal, regulatory, certification, or legitimate business obligations.
If you do not consent to the collection and use of passport and identity data as described in this Privacy Policy, you may be unable to enroll in training programs, receive certification, or be considered for yacht employment opportunities.
For any questions regarding the processing of passport or identity data, or to request access, correction, or deletion of personal data where legally permissible, you may contact us at [email protected]
10. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy. Training and certification records may be retained to meet regulatory and audit requirements. Recruitment and employment-related data may be retained to support ongoing or future job matching, unless you request deletion where legally permissible.
11. Your Data Protection Rights
Depending on your location, you have rights under applicable data protection laws, including the right to access your personal data, request corrections, request deletion where legally allowed, restrict or object to certain processing activities, and request data portability. Requests may be submitted by contacting [email protected], and we will respond within the timeframes required by law.
12. Children’s Privacy
Our services are not intended for individuals under the age of thirteen. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that such data has been collected, it will be deleted promptly.
13. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
YCA Media LLC uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to ensure the proper functioning of our websites, improve user experience, analyze website performance, and understand how visitors interact with our content. Cookies may collect technical information such as browser type, device information, pages visited, session duration, and referral sources. Cookies do not directly identify individuals unless combined with other personal data voluntarily provided by the user.
You may control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies may affect certain website features or functionality. By continuing to use our websites without adjusting your browser settings, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
14. GDPR Data Protection Rights
If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you are entitled to certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation. These rights include the right to access your personal data, the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data, the right to request deletion of your data where legally permissible, the right to restrict or object to certain processing activities, and the right to request the transfer of your data to another controller.
Requests to exercise these rights may be submitted by contacting [email protected]. We may request verification of your identity before processing your request and will respond within the time period required by applicable law.
15. CCPA Privacy Rights (California Residents)
California residents have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the right to request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal data collected, the right to request deletion of personal data where legally permitted, and the right to opt out of the sale of personal data. YCA Media LLC does not sell personal data.
Requests under the CCPA may be submitted by contacting [email protected]. We will respond within the legally required timeframe.
16. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include secure servers, encryption, restricted access controls, and the use of reputable third-party service providers that comply with recognized security standards. While no method of data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to safeguard all personal information entrusted to us.
17. Third-Party Websites
Our websites may contain links to third-party websites or platforms not operated or controlled by YCA Media LLC. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of such third-party websites. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites they visit.
18. Changes to This Privacy Policy
YCA Media LLC reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes take effect immediately upon posting on our websites. Where material changes are made, we will update the effective date at the top of this policy. Continued use of our services after any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
19. Contact Information
For questions regarding this Privacy Policy, data processing practices, or to exercise your privacy rights, please contact:
Section 20 — Mobile Application (YachtieCareers App)
20.1 About the App YCA Media LLC offers a mobile application (“the App”) available on iOS and Android devices. The App is provided to students who have purchased a training package through yachtiecareers.com and serves as a companion platform for accessing course materials, training information, documents, and crew job resources.
20.2 Data Collected Through the App When you use the App, we may collect and process the following information: your email address used for authentication, device identifiers and mobile operating system information, app usage data including screens visited and features accessed, push notification tokens if you opt in to notifications, documents and certificates you upload within the App such as passport scans, CV files, and certification documents, and training-related information including your assigned training week, food hygiene codes, and joining pack status.
20.3 Authentication The App uses one-time password (OTP) authentication delivered via email. We do not store passwords. Authentication is managed through Supabase, a third-party platform that processes your email address and session tokens in accordance with its own privacy and security standards.
20.4 Documents and Files Documents you upload within the App, including passport scans, CV files, and certificates, are stored securely using Supabase cloud storage. These files are accessible only to you and to authorised YachtieCareers staff for the purpose of verifying your training eligibility and processing your enrollment.
20.5 Purchases and Payments The App does not process any payments. All purchases, including training deposits and remaining balances, are completed through our website at yachtiecareers.com or via bank transfer. Access to the App is granted automatically following a confirmed purchase through our WooCommerce store. No payment card data is collected or stored within the App.
20.6 Third-Party Services Used by the App The App integrates with the following third-party services: Supabase (authentication and database), Thinkific (online course delivery), Expo (app build and distribution infrastructure), and Brevo (transactional email for OTP login). Each of these providers processes data in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable data protection laws.
20.7 Account Deletion You may delete your account at any time from within the App by navigating to Profile and selecting Delete Account. Deleting your account will permanently remove your authentication credentials, personal profile, stored documents, and all associated data from our systems. This action is irreversible. If you have active training enrollment at the time of deletion, please contact us at [email protected] prior to deleting your account to ensure your training records and certifications are preserved separately.
20.8 Push Notifications If you grant permission, the App may send push notifications relating to your training week, document submission reminders, and course updates. You may withdraw this permission at any time through your device settings.
20.9 Data Retention Data collected through the App is retained for as long as necessary to deliver training services and meet regulatory obligations. Training records and certification data may be retained beyond account deletion to satisfy maritime regulatory requirements. You may contact [email protected] to request details about specific retention periods applicable to your data.
20.10 Children The App is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors through the App.