Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 26, 2026

Welcome to TrailHop. Your privacy is a priority for us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our mobile application, website, and services.

Summary

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how it is shared, and the choices you have regarding your data. We collect certain personal information to provide navigation, mapping, social, safety, and monetization features. This includes account details, optional personal profile information (such as sex, weight, height, and age), location data, user-generated content, device information, and analytics data.

We use this information to operate and improve the app, deliver personalized experiences (such as saved map preferences and relevant content), display relevant advertising, process purchases, and maintain platform security. We do not sell personal data to data brokers. You retain control over your data, including the ability to delete content, manage privacy settings, and request account deletion.

By using TrailHop, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Scope and Data Controller

This Privacy Policy applies to the TrailHop website, mobile applications, and all related products, services, and features (collectively, the “Services”).

For purposes of applicable data protection laws, TrailHop (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is the data controller (or “company”, "the company" under certain U.S. laws) responsible for the collection and processing of your personal information.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Use.

1. Information We Collect

(a) Information You Provide to Us Account Information: When you register, we collect your email address and password. Account can be updated with your custom name, username and bio upon your request.

Personal and Physical Information: You may optionally provide information such as your sex, weight, height, and age. This information is used to provide personalized calculations and estimates, such as estimated hiking times and travel durations.

Security: Your password is processed and stored using industry-standard encryption protocols. We never store passwords in plain text.

User-Generated Content: We collect the content you voluntarily post, including comments, trail advisories, waypoints, trail maps, and assets (such as images or files).

Support Communications: If you contact us for support, feedback, or bug reports, we may collect the information you provide, including messages, screenshots, and technical details related to your device.

(b) Location and Sensor Data Precise Location: To provide navigation features and show your position on the map, we collect your device’s precise GPS location.

Compass & Sensors: We access your device’s compass headings and motion sensors to orient the map and provide accurate directional navigation.

Background Location: If you explicitly enable activity recording, we may collect location data while the app is in the background solely to record routes and navigation progress. Background location is never used for advertising, profiling, or cross-app tracking.

(c) Device Permissions Camera and Photo Library: We only access your camera and photo gallery if you explicitly choose to upload an image to a trail, waypoint, or profile. We do not automatically scan or upload your photos.

Storage: We may require access to device storage to save offline maps or cache trail data.

(d) Automatically Collected Information Log Data: For security and activity logging, we collect your IP address, device type, operating system version, user agent, and app activity timestamps.

Crash and Performance Data: We may automatically collect crash logs, error reports, and performance diagnostics. This information is used solely to identify bugs, improve app stability, and enhance overall performance. This data is not used for advertising or shared with third parties.

(e) Advertising & Analytics Data When you use the app, we may automatically collect information related to advertising and usage analytics, including:

(i) App interactions (screens viewed, time spent in the app, feature usage) (ii) Aggregate engagement metrics (daily active users, post counts, session duration) (iii) Device identifiers used for advertising purposes (such as advertising IDs provided by your operating system) (iv) Approximate location (e.g., country or region) inferred from IP address (v) Ad interaction data (such as ad impressions or clicks)

This data is used for analytics, advertising performance measurement, and monetization, and is typically processed in aggregated or de-identified form.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information to:

(i) Provide real-time navigation, mapping, and location-based features. (ii) Facilitate social interactions, including sharing trails, waypoints, and comments. (iii) Maintain the security, integrity, and reliability of our platform. (iv) Diagnose issues, troubleshoot technical problems, and improve app performance. (v) Test, evaluate, and improve new or experimental features, including collecting limited diagnostic, crash, and performance data for beta features when enabled by the user. (vi) Provide personalized calculations, estimates, and predictions based on optional user-provided profile information, including estimated hiking durations, travel times, and other activity-related metrics.

3. Data Sharing and Visibility

(a) Account Information: Account information you choose to display (such as your username, name, bio, avatar, and banner) is visible to other users of the app.

(b) Public Content: Public content you share (including comments, advisories, trails, and waypoints) may be viewed, copied, or referenced by other users of the app.

(c) Private Content: We do not access or review private user content, such as messages or unpublished drafts, except where necessary to provide support, enforce our policies, or comply with legal obligations.

(d) Location Visibility: Your precise real-time location is not shared with other users unless you explicitly enable a sharing feature. Trails, waypoints, and advisories you publish may contain precise geographic location data that is visible to other users.

(e) Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

(f) Third-Party Services: We may use third-party map providers (like Apple Maps or Google Maps) or cloud storage providers. These partners only receive the data necessary to perform their specific functions.

(g) Advertising and Analytics Partners: We may share limited device, usage, and analytics information with advertising networks, analytics providers, and measurement partners to operate ads, understand app usage, and improve monetization. These partners are contractually restricted to using the data for these purposes.

(h) No Sale of Personal Information: We do not sell your personal information to data brokers or third parties for monetary consideration. Some data may be shared with service providers or advertising partners to operate the app and measure advertising performance. This sharing is contractual and limited to necessary data, and is not considered a “sale” under applicable privacy laws.

(i) Personal Profile Information: Personal and physical information you voluntarily provide, including your sex, weight, height, and age, is private to your account and is not displayed publicly to other users. This information is used to provide personalized features and calculations and is not shared with advertisers for advertising or profiling purposes.

4. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data. This includes:

(a) Encryption: All data in transit is encrypted via SSL/TLS.

(b) Storage: Sensitive data like passwords are encrypted at rest.

(c) Access Control: Access to user data is strictly limited to authorized personnel for maintenance and security purposes.

(d) Data Breach Notification: In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights or freedoms, we will notify affected users and relevant authorities in accordance with applicable law.

5. Your Rights and Choices

(a) Location Services: You can opt-out of location tracking at any time through your device settings, though this will disable navigation features.

(b) Content Deletion: You can manually delete the content you have posted or request an account deletion as defined below.

(c) Account Deletion & Recovery: You may request account deletion at any time. When an account is deleted, it enters a 14-day soft deletion period, during which the account and associated data are temporarily disabled but not permanently erased.

This period allows users to recover their account in the event of accidental deletion or unauthorized access.

After the 14-day recovery window expires, your account and personal data are permanently deleted, except where retention is required by law or where data is anonymized as described below.

(d) Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

(e) Advertising Preferences: You may limit personalized advertising by adjusting your device’s advertising settings (such as “Limit Ad Tracking” or “Reset Advertising ID”). Opting out may reduce ad relevance but will not remove ads entirely.

(f) Do Not Track / Global Privacy Control: Some browsers and devices offer “Do Not Track” or “Global Privacy Control” signals. Because the app does not track users across third-party apps or websites, these signals currently do not change how we collect data.

6. Children’s Privacy

Our services are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete such information. The app does not knowingly target or market services to children under 13.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy within the app or via email.

8. Business Transfers

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition, asset sale, or similar transaction, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify users of any material change in ownership or data use.

9. Supplemental Privacy Disclosures

(a) Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR/UK GDPR) If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, we process your information under the following legal bases:

Contractual Necessity: To provide the navigation and account services you requested.

Consent: For accessing your camera, photo library, and precise GPS location. You can withdraw this consent at any time in your device settings.

Legitimate Interests: To protect our platform from fraud (IP logging) and to improve our hiking features based on aggregate usage patterns.

Legal Obligation: Where processing is required to comply with applicable laws, regulations, or lawful requests from authorities.

Automated Decision-Making: We do not engage in automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

(b) Regional Privacy Rights Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

The Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You may request that we delete your account and all associated trail data/images.

The Right to Portability: You can request a digital copy of the trails, waypoints and other content you have created.

The Right to Object: You can object to our processing of your IP address for logging if you feel it impacts your fundamental rights.

California-Specific Rights (CCPA): We do not "sell" your personal information to third parties for money. However, we do share data with service providers (like map hosting) to operate the app.

(c) Data Retention Account Data: We keep your name and username as long as your account is active.

User Content: Comments, trails, and images are kept until you delete them or your account is closed.

Security Logs: IP addresses and activity logs are typically purged after 90 days unless required for an ongoing security investigation.

Deleted Accounts: If you delete your account, we may retain certain information in an anonymized format (e.g., your comments may remain, but your name will be removed) to ensure the data remains useful for other hikers.

Soft Deletion Period: Deleted accounts are retained in a disabled state for 14 days before permanent deletion. During this time, the content may remain visible but no users can view the account, and the account can only be restored by the original account holder through our recovery process.

(d) International Data Transfers Your information may be transferred to and maintained on servers located outside of your state or country. By using the app, you consent to the transfer of information to Canada and the United States. Where required by law, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses to protect international data transfers.

10. Safety Disclaimer

The information in this app is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional judgment, proper planning, or emergency preparedness.

(a) User-Generated Content

Trails, advisories, waypoints, comments, and other community-contributed content are provided by users for informational purposes only. We do not verify the accuracy, completeness, or current conditions of user-submitted content.

Always independently verify trail information, weather conditions, closures, and hazards before hiking.

(b) Navigation and Trail Information

TrailHop provides navigation tools, maps, and trail information for general informational purposes only. Trail data, maps, and conditions may be inaccurate, outdated, incomplete, or hazardous due to environmental changes or data limitations.

We do not guarantee the safety, accuracy, or completeness of any trail, map, or navigation data.

You are solely responsible for your safety while hiking, including route planning, situational awareness, checking weather conditions, trail closures, and complying with local regulations.

Use of the app does not replace proper planning, navigation skills, judgment, or emergency preparedness. Conditions in outdoor environments can change rapidly, and reliance on any digital tool involves inherent risk.

11. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

While we are a mobile app, we use "tokens" (similar to cookies) to keep you logged in and to remember your map preferences. We do not use these tokens to track your activity on other websites or apps.

We may also use third-party SDKs and analytics tools to understand user behavior, app performance, advertising effectiveness, and purchase activity. These tools may collect device identifiers and usage data consistent with this Privacy Policy.

We do not track users across third-party apps or websites, and collected data is used solely for app functionality, analytics, and advertising within the app.

12. Third-Party Links

Our app may contain links to external websites, services, or advertisements, including links to trailhead information, park websites, gear shops, or partner content. These third-party sites may have their own privacy policies, terms of service, and data collection practices.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of any third-party sites or services. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external site you visit. Clicking on a third-party link or interacting with external services is done at your own risk, and any information you provide to those third parties is not covered by this Privacy Policy.

Some external services may collect personal information, use cookies, or track your activity. We do not control these practices and are not liable for any data collection, usage, or disclosure that occurs on third-party platforms.

We are not responsible for any data you provide to third parties or for the privacy practices of those sites.

13. Advertising and Marketing

We monetize the app in part through advertising and promotional partnerships. You may manage ad personalization through your device settings, as described in Section 5(e).

(a) Third-Party Advertising:

We may display third-party advertisements within the app, including ads served by advertising platforms such as Google AdMob or similar providers.

These advertising partners may use device identifiers, cookies, SDKs, or similar technologies to:

(i) Deliver relevant advertisements (ii) Measure ad performance (iii) Prevent fraud and abuse

You can manage ad personalization preferences through your device’s operating system settings.

(b) Sponsored Content and Direct Advertising:

We may sell advertising space directly to brands, agencies, or partners. This may include sponsored posts, promoted trails, or other clearly labeled promotional content within the app.

We do not share personal messages or private user content with advertisers.

(c) Analytics Sharing:

We may share aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified analytics data with advertisers, agencies, or partners. Examples include:

(i) Number of active users (ii) Number of posts or trails created (iii) Average time spent in the app (iv) General usage trends

This information does not identify you personally.

14. Payments and In-App Purchases

The app may offer paid features or subscriptions through in-app purchases. All payment data is handled by the platform provider (Apple App Store or Google Play Store). We do not store full credit card or payment information on our servers.

(a) App Store Payments: All in-app purchases are processed by the respective platform provider:

(i) Apple App Store (ii) Google Play Store

We may receive limited transaction information, such as:

(i) Confirmation of purchase (ii) Subscription status (iii) Purchase timestamps (iv) Product identifiers

This information is used solely to:

(i) Unlock paid features (ii) Manage subscriptions (iii) Provide customer support

(b) Third-Party Analytics for Purchases: We may use third-party analytics tools to measure purchase activity, subscription usage, and feature engagement. These tools help us understand which features are useful and improve the app. These analytics do not include full payment or credit card information.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: TrailHop / contact@trailhop.app

We aim to respond to privacy inquiries within 30 days.

Complaints: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may contact us directly. If you are located in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.