Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

The Center for Adventure Leadership (CAL) is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to train adults to be safe and effective adventure leaders for youth.

This Privacy Policy applies to all services provided by the Center for Adventure Leadership, including:

  • Our website (https://adventureleader.org);

  • Our in-person and digital training courses, workshops, and certifications (such as Wilderness First Aid);

  • Our mobile and web applications, including TrailSafe and any future applications developed or distributed by CAL; and

  • Any communications, newsletters, or direct inquiries between you and CAL.

Whether you are participating in a wilderness course, visiting our website, or using our mobile apps on the trail, we believe that outdoor education and safety tools must respect your privacy by design.

2. Our Core Privacy Principles

  • Privacy by Architecture: We minimize the collection of personal data across all our platforms. Where services can operate locally on your device without transmitting data to a server, we build them to do so.

  • No Sale or Renting of Data: We do not sell, rent, monetize, or trade your personal information to third parties, advertising brokers, or data aggregators. Ever.

  • No Commercial Ad Tracking: We do not host commercial advertisements, install tracking pixels, or use behavioral advertising networks across our website or applications.

  • Transparency & Control: You have direct control over your information, including the ability to inspect, export, or delete your data.

3. Information Collected via Our Website & Educational Programs

When you interact with the Center for Adventure Leadership through our website or enroll in training courses, we may collect the following information:

A. Course Registrations & Inquiries

  • Information You Provide: When you register for a class (e.g., Wilderness First Aid), sign up for workshops, or submit an inquiry via our contact form, we collect your name, email address, phone number, organization or troop affiliation (if applicable), and any course-specific details you share.

  • Payment Information: Course payments are processed securely through established third-party payment processors (such as Stripe or Squarespace Payments). CAL does not receive, process, or store your full credit card numbers or banking credentials.

  • Certifications & Training Records: We maintain internal records of completed courses, certifications issued, and course dates so we can verify credentials, issue renewal reminders, or confirm student participation.

B. Website Analytics & Technical Logs

  • Web Server Logs: Like most standard websites, our hosting servers collect basic technical access logs (such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, and access timestamps) to maintain server security, diagnose operational issues, and monitor site reliability.

  • Cookies: Our website uses essential functional cookies required for website operation and secure form submission. We do not use cross-site tracking cookies.

4. Mobile Applications Policy

The Center for Adventure Leadership builds mobile applications to support outdoor safety, trip planning, and leader readiness.

A. General Standards for All CAL Mobile Apps

Every mobile application published by CAL adheres to the following baseline standards:

  1. Local-First Data Storage: User data (trip plans, checklists, notes, calculations, user profiles) defaults to local storage on your device. We do not maintain central cloud databases of your trip activities.

  2. Explicit Permissions: We request device permissions (such as location or storage) only when strictly required for core functionality that you initiate. Permissions are never used for background tracking or behavioral profiling.

  3. No Commercial Analytics or Ad Networks: Our production mobile apps contain no behavioral advertising trackers, advertising identifiers (IDFA/AAID), or commercial telemetry SDKs.

  4. Offline Capability: Whenever possible, our apps are engineered to function completely offline without active cellular or internet connectivity.

  5. No Automatic Emergency Dispatch: CAL mobile apps are educational aids and preparation tools; they are not automated monitoring or dispatch systems.

B. TrailSafe Application Disclosures

For users of our TrailSafe hiking preparation and emergency companion app (iOS, Android, and Web), the following specific privacy practices apply:

  • Location Data (GPS):

    • Foreground-Only Access: TrailSafe requests foreground location permission (When In Use) solely to determine your current GPS coordinates while viewing screens that explicitly calculate or display location information (such as the Emergency screen, Daylight/Sun tool, and Coordinate display).

    • Transient In-Memory Processing: Coordinates are processed ephemerally in volatile memory. Location fixes are never attached to your saved trip plans, saved to persistent local storage, or transmitted to CAL servers.

    • Zero Background Tracking: The app explicitly blocks background location services (ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION and FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION are disabled). GPS hardware is deactivated immediately when you navigate away or close the app.

  • Trip Plans, Checklists, & User Profile:

    • All trip details (destinations, route descriptions, turnaround times, check-in deadlines, party sizes, vehicle details, trusted contacts) and preparation checklist progress are stored locally on your device (AsyncStorage).

    • You do not need to register or create an account to use any feature of TrailSafe.

  • Emergency Communications Handoffs:

    • Call 911: Tapping "CALL 911" passes the number 911 to your device’s native telephone dialer (tel:911). The call is not initiated automatically; you must confirm and dial in the native phone app.

    • Text 911: Tapping "TEXT 911" opens your device’s native SMS composer with a pre-filled draft containing your coordinates (or the last known location of a missing person) and situation details. You review, edit, and send the message yourself.

    • PDF & Plan Sharing: Sharing a trip plan generates a local document and invokes your device's native OS share sheet (e.g., Mail, Messages, AirDrop). Data is shared only with the specific recipients you choose.

  • Local Notifications:

    • Optional return-time and overdue check-in reminders are scheduled strictly as local on-device notifications. TrailSafe does not use remote push notifications (APNs or FCM).

  • Production vs. Pre-Release Diagnostics:

    • Production Releases: Builds distributed via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have all third-party crash reporting and telemetry SDKs (including Bugsnag) completely disabled and stripped.

    • Pre-Release Testing: Internal developer builds and TestFlight beta releases may enable Bugsnag to catch native crashes during pre-release QA. Pre-release crash traces redact personal trip information, strip user identifiers, and sanitize error logs.

C. Future Applications & Features

If CAL introduces new applications or optional cloud-connected features (such as collaborative trip sharing or digital course handbooks):

  • Cloud synchronization will always be strictly optional and opt-in.

  • You will receive clear, advance notice of what data is synchronized and why.

  • Your data will continue to be governed by our organizational commitment never to sell user data or deploy behavioral tracking.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We disclose information only in the limited circumstances described below:

  • Authorized Service Providers: We work with reputable third-party service providers who perform operational services on our behalf (such as website hosting, email communication for course logistics, and payment processing). These providers are granted access only to the information necessary to fulfill their specific services and are bound by strict confidentiality and security obligations.

  • Legal Requirements & Safety: We may disclose information if required to do so by law, subpoena, or legal process, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of participants, leaders, or the public in an active emergency.

  • User-Directed Sharing: When you choose to export a trip plan, share a safety document, or send an emergency message from our apps, your data is transferred directly through your operating system to the recipients you designate.

6. Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the personal information in our possession against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

For our mobile applications, sensitive data remains protected by your device's operating system security and local encryption mechanisms. For our website and training records, communications are encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS).

7. Data Retention & Your Rights

A. Educational & Website Records

If you have enrolled in a CAL course or contacted us via our website, you may contact us at any time to:

  • Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you;

  • Request correction or updating of inaccurate records; or

  • Request deletion of your contact information or non-essential course records (subject to any legal or accreditation requirements to retain certification records).

B. Mobile Application Data

Because CAL apps store data locally on your device, you have immediate, autonomous control over your data:

  • In-App Reset: In TrailSafe, tapping Delete all local data on the About screen permanently erases all saved plans, profiles, checklists, and preferences from your device.

  • App Deletion: Uninstalling any CAL mobile app removes all application sandboxed storage and associated local files.

8. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

The Center for Adventure Leadership focuses on training adult leaders, educators, and mentors. Our website, training registration systems, and mobile applications are directed to individuals who are at least 13 years old (and typically adults 18 and older).

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personal information from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete that information from our systems.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our educational offerings, technological improvements, application updates, or legal requirements.

When updates are made, we will revise the Effective Date at the top of this policy and maintain the current version at https://adventureleader.org/privacy. Significant changes affecting how personal data is handled will be highlighted on our website and in application release notes.

10. Contacting Us

If you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or any application published by the Center for Adventure Leadership, please contact us:

Center for Adventure Leadership (CAL)
Website: https://adventureleader.org
Contact Form: https://adventureleader.org/contact
Privacy Inquiries: https://adventureleader.org/privacy