Privacy Policy
Last updated 2026-11-03.
Who we are and what this covers
Birds Of Passage LLC ("Birds Of Passage", "we", "us") runs the Birds Of Passage app, our website at birdsofpassage.app, and our online shop (together, the "Service"). This policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have.
- We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with other companies for their own advertising.
- The Service is for adults. You must be at least 18 to use it.
- The Service is offered in the United States. It is not directed at people in other countries.
This policy is part of our Terms and Conditions (birdsofpassage.app/terms). If you have questions, contact us at [email protected].
Information we collect
We collect information you give us, information from how you use the Service, and information from companies that help us run it.
| Type | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|
| Account | Trail name, email address, password, display name, bio, profile picture, your acceptance of our Terms, and your email preferences | You |
| Posts and profile | Photos, videos, text, place names, the kind of place, and the location you set for a post | You |
| Activity | Likes, saves, comments, reposts, shares, follows, blocks, trips, location requests, ratings, and reports | You |
| Usage | How you use and interact with the Service, such as posts and ads you view, watch, open or skip, your searches, and shop items you look at | Automatically |
| Interest profile | Inferences about your interests and preferences, built from your activity and usage, and your general area if you turn that on | We create it |
| Messages | Chat messages and the photos, videos and posts you send | You |
| Location | Precise location when you allow it and use a location feature, and approximate location | Your device, with your permission |
| Hikes and routes | The GPS route, distance and climb of a hike you post, the difficulty you and others rate it, and trips you plan, including Forest Service roads you add to them. A route file you upload (.gpx or .fit) is read to show the route and is not kept | You |
| Apple Health (only if you allow it) | Your recent hikes, walks and runs and their GPS routes, read on your phone so you can pick one to post. Only the route of a workout you choose to post is sent to us. We do not read heart rate or any other health measurements | Apple Health on your device, with your permission |
| Shop orders | Name, shipping address, items, and order, refund and return history. Payment card details are handled by our payment processor, not stored by us | You and our payment processor |
| Referral codes | The referral code you enter, which partner it belongs to, and what the Service earns from your account during your first weeks (used to pay that partner) | You and us |
| Gear links | That you tapped a recommended product, and which partner (if any) referred you | Automatically |
| Business accounts | For sellers and advertisers: business and contact details and payout information | You |
| Device and connection | Push notification token, IP address and basic connection information | Automatically |
| Support | What you send us when you contact us | You |
| Launch list (website) | The email address you enter on our website to hear when the app comes out | You |
How we use information
We use information to:
- Provide the Service: run and secure your account, show your posts and profile, deliver messages and notifications, and process shop orders, shipping, refunds and returns.
- Personalize the Service: recommend posts and places based on your interests, your activity, people with similar interests, and your location if you allow it.
- Show ads: choose which ads you see, including personal ads if they are on, and measure how ads perform in total.
- Recommend gear: suggest products that fit a place, count taps on those links, and earn commissions when you buy through them.
- Run our referral program: give you bonus points for a referral code and pay the partner who referred you a share of what your account earns the Service in your first weeks.
- Keep the Service safe: review reports, enforce our Terms, and prevent spam, fraud, abuse and security problems.
- Communicate with you: send account, security and order messages, push notifications, and email updates if you opt in.
- Improve the Service: understand how the Service is used.
- Meet legal obligations: keep required records and respond to lawful requests.
Personal ads and your interest profile
If personal ads are on (the default), we use your interest profile to choose the ads you see. You can turn personal ads off at any time.
- How it is built: from your activity and usage in the Service. It does not include your precise location; it includes your general area only if you turn that on.
- What it never includes: we do not infer or use information about health, religion, finances, politics, sexual life, race or ethnicity, or children.
- Advertisers: choose who their ad is for, but never receive your personal information or learn who you are. They see only totals. We do not sell or share your profile.
- No tracking across other apps: we use only what you do in the Service. We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
- Your controls: in Settings, under Ads & privacy, you can turn personal ads off, turn your general area for ads on or off, see your interest profile, and delete it. With personal ads off, you still see ads, but they are not based on your profile. Your profile is also used to personalize your feed.
Location
We use your device's location only if you allow it. The Service works without it.
- Precise location is used for features you choose, such as showing spots near you, maps and directions, and setting a location when you post. A location you add to a post is saved with it.
- Approximate location is used to recommend nearby spots. We do not keep it for that purpose.
- Your general area for ads is kept only if you turn that on, and is deleted when you turn it off.
- Post locations are public unless you hide them. If you hide a location, you decide who can see it.
- You can change location permission at any time in your device settings.
Apple Health
If you choose to import a hike from Apple Health, the app asks for permission to read your workouts and workout routes. You can say no, or turn it off later in the Health app, and still post hikes from a route file.
- We read Apple Health data only on your phone, to list your recent hikes, walks and runs. Only the route of a workout you choose to post leaves your phone, and it becomes part of that post.
- We never use Apple Health data for advertising or your interest profile, never sell it, and never share it with anyone except as part of a post you choose to make public.
- We do not write anything to Apple Health, and we do not read heart rate, sleep or any other health measurements.
Referral codes and partners
People who help others find the Service (partners) can give out a referral code. If you enter one, you get bonus rank points and that partner earns a share of what the Service earns from your account in your first weeks, such as profit on shop orders, sponsor ad views and gear commissions. Using a code is optional and never changes what you pay.
- Partners see only totals: how many people used their code and what they earned. They never see your name, trail name, email, orders or activity.
- We keep referral records as long as needed to pay partners and to meet tax and accounting rules.
What is public
Much of what you post is public.
- Public: your trail name, display name, profile picture, bio, posts (including their locations unless hidden), comments, public collections and trips, and who you follow and who follows you. Shared posts can also be viewed on the web by anyone with the link.
- Not public: your email, password, messages, shipping address, orders, interest profile, searches and general area.
- Messages are private between the people in the chat, but they are not end-to-end encrypted. We automatically check posts, comments, profiles and message text for language that breaks our rules, and we may review messages when they are flagged or reported, or when needed for safety, security or legal reasons.
- Anything public can be seen, copied and shared by others.
How we share information
We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share it only as described here.
- Service providers that help us run the Service, such as hosting, data storage and delivery, security, payment processing, order fulfillment and shipping, email delivery, push notifications, and address verification. They may use your information only to provide services to us, and must protect it at least as well as this policy requires.
- Independent sellers in our shop receive your name, shipping address and order details when you buy from them, so they can fill, ship and support your order. They may use it only for that purpose.
- Other users and the public see what you make public, the people in a chat see its messages, and people you approve can see a hidden location.
- Apps you choose to use, such as a maps app when you open a spot in it, receive what you send them under their own privacy policies.
- Map providers: the main map comes from Apple, and the trail map's background map comes from OpenFreeMap (map data from OpenStreetMap contributors). To show the map, your device asks them for the area you are looking at (including when you save a trip for offline use), which shows them your IP address and that area. We do not send them your account information.
- Gear and affiliate links: when you tap a recommended product, you leave the app for the seller's website through our link. We count the tap, and the link may carry a tracking code (such as a referring partner's code) so the seller or affiliate network can credit a commission. We do not send them your name or email. The seller's own privacy policy applies on their site.
- Referral partners receive only totals, never information about you (see "Referral codes and partners").
- Legal and safety: when we believe the law requires it, to respond to lawful requests, to protect anyone's safety or rights, or to enforce our Terms, including reporting child sexual abuse material to the authorities.
- Business transfers: if we are involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may be transferred under this policy.
- Advertisers never receive your personal information. They receive only total results for their ads.
How long we keep information
We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy, using these periods or criteria:
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|
| Account, profile and content | Until you delete it or your account. Public map posts stay, without your name, only if you choose that when deleting your account |
| Messages | Until the sender deletes their account. Photos and videos in messages are deleted automatically after a limited time |
| Interest profile and usage | Until you delete your profile or your account. Older activity is deleted periodically |
| General area for ads | Until you turn it off, delete your interest profile, or delete your account |
| Device and connection information | Only as long as needed to provide notifications, security and the Service |
| Shop orders and business records | As long as tax, accounting and other laws require, even after you delete your account |
| Referral and partner earnings records | As long as needed to pay partners and as tax and accounting laws require |
| Launch list email | Until we send the launch email and a short time after, or sooner if you ask us to remove it |
| Uploaded route files (.gpx, .fit) | Not kept: read once to show the route |
| Reports and safety records | As long as needed to handle them and keep the Service safe |
| Backups | Up to 12 months, after which they are deleted. Deleted information may remain in backups until then and is not restored except to recover from a failure |
Your choices and controls
- Personal ads and your interest profile: Settings, then Ads & privacy.
- Location and push notifications: your device settings. You can also hide a post's location when editing it.
- Email updates: opt in or out in Settings, or unsubscribe from any update email. Account, security and order messages are still sent when needed.
- Your content: edit or delete your posts and comments, edit your profile, and block or report people.
- Delete your account: Settings, then Account settings, then Delete account. This deletes your account and information as described in this policy. You can choose to leave your public map posts on the map without your name; you then can no longer edit or delete them.
- Other requests: contact us at [email protected] to access, correct or receive a copy of your information.
Your privacy rights in US states
Depending on your state (including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, Oregon and others with privacy laws), you have these rights, and we offer them to all users.
- Know and access: ask what personal information we have about you and get a copy in a portable format.
- Correct: ask us to fix information that is wrong.
- Delete: delete your account in the app, or ask us to delete information about you.
- Opt out of targeted advertising, sale and sharing: we do not sell your information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites. You can still turn off personal ads in Settings, then Ads & privacy.
- Sensitive information: we use precise location only for features you choose and only with your permission, and your login details only to secure your account. We do not use sensitive information to infer things about you.
- No unfair treatment: we will not treat you differently for using these rights.
How to ask: email [email protected] from the address on your account (or include your trail name). We may confirm it is you before acting. Someone you authorize may ask for you with your signed permission. We answer within 45 days, and may extend that once by 45 days if needed, telling you why.
Appeals: if we turn down your request, you can appeal by replying to our answer with "Appeal" in the subject. We will respond within 45 days. If you still disagree, you can contact your state attorney general.
California details: in the past 12 months we collected these categories: identifiers (such as trail name, email, IP address, push token), customer records (name, shipping address), commercial information (orders), internet activity (how you use the Service), approximate and precise geolocation, photos and videos, hike routes (including from Apple Health if you allow it), inferences (your interest profile), and sensitive information (account login and precise geolocation). We collect them for the purposes above, disclose them only to the companies and people listed above, and keep them as described above. We do not sell or share personal information, and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing information of anyone under 16.
Children
The Service is only for people 18 and older, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we will delete it. If you believe a child is using the Service, contact us at [email protected].
Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect your information, such as encryption in transit and limits on who can access it. No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you as the law requires.
Where your information is stored
Your information is stored and processed in the United States.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. We will post the new version with its effective date, and if the changes are material, we will tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.
Contact us
Birds Of Passage LLC
c/o Northwest Registered Agent Inc
Email: [email protected]