Privacy Policy

VoyageAway (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the VoyageAway platform, including our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the “Service”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Service.

VoyageAway is a conservation-driven adventure travel platform. Our mission to connect travelers with wildlife experiences and conservation efforts shapes how we handle your data. We are committed to transparency about our data practices and to protecting your privacy.

By using VoyageAway, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, username, and password. You may also provide a profile photo, bio, and other optional profile details. Authentication is managed through our database provider, Supabase, which supports email/password and third-party OAuth sign-in methods.

User-Generated Content: We collect content you create, upload, or share on VoyageAway, including adventure descriptions, reviews, tips, comments, forum posts, wildlife sighting reports, and photographs. Wildlife sighting data may include species information, location coordinates, date and time of sighting, and related notes.

Collections and Preferences: We store information about adventures you save, collections you create, content you like or bookmark, and your search and filter preferences.

Payment Information: When you subscribe to a paid tier (Adventurer, Guardian, or Champion), payment processing is handled by Stripe, Inc. We do not store your full credit card number, CVV, or banking details on our servers. We receive and store a Stripe customer ID, subscription status, billing address, and transaction history summary from Stripe.

Communications: If you contact us for support or send us messages, we collect the contents of those communications.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

Usage Data: We collect information about how you interact with the Service, including pages visited, features used, search queries, adventures viewed, and the date and time of your visits.

Device and Browser Information: We collect your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.

Location Data: With your permission, we may collect precise geolocation data from your device to provide location-based adventure and wildlife recommendations. You can disable location services through your device settings at any time. We also infer approximate location from your IP address.

Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to maintain your session, remember your preferences, and understand how our Service is used. See Section 6 for more details.

1.3 Information from Third Parties

OAuth Providers: If you sign in using a third-party service (such as Google or GitHub), we receive your name, email address, and profile picture as authorized by that provider.

Conservation Partners: Conservation organizations we partner with may share aggregated impact data related to your contributions or volunteer activities, where you have opted in to such sharing.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Service, including adventure discovery, wildlife tracking, community features, and conservation-related functionality
• Process subscriptions, payments, and manage your account and billing through Stripe
• Personalize your experience, including adventure recommendations, wildlife sighting suggestions, and location-based content
• Enable community features such as reviews, comments, forum participation, and user collections
• Aggregate wildlife sighting data to support conservation research and reporting, in accordance with our conservation mission
• Communicate with you about your account, subscription changes, conservation impact updates, new features, and promotional materials (with your consent where required)
• Monitor and analyze usage trends to improve the Service and develop new features
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, and security concerns
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share your information only in the following circumstances:

3.1 Public Profile and Content

Your username, profile photo, bio, adventures, reviews, wildlife sightings, collections, and other content you post are visible to other users and the public by default. You can adjust the visibility of certain content through your account settings.

3.2 Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who help us operate the Service:

• Supabase— Database hosting, user authentication, and real-time data services. Your account data and content are stored on Supabase’s infrastructure.
• Cloudflare (R2 Storage)— Photo and media file storage. Your uploaded images and media are stored on Cloudflare R2.
• Stripe— Payment processing for subscriptions. Stripe receives your payment details and billing information directly.
• Vercel— Application hosting and content delivery.

These providers are contractually obligated to use your information only to provide their services to us and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

3.3 Conservation Partners

With your consent, we may share aggregated and anonymized wildlife sighting data with conservation organizations to support research and conservation efforts. We will never share personally identifiable information with conservation partners without your explicit consent.

3.4 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, in response to a valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

3.5 Business Transfers

If VoyageAway is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change and any choices you may have regarding your information.

4. Conservation-Related Data Practices

As a conservation-driven platform, we handle certain data with particular care:

Wildlife Sighting Data: When you log a wildlife sighting, the species, location, date, and any photos are stored in our database. This data may be aggregated and anonymized to contribute to conservation research. We take care to protect the locations of endangered species and may obscure precise coordinates in public-facing displays where doing so helps protect vulnerable wildlife.

Conservation Impact Tracking: If you subscribe to a paid tier, a portion of your subscription supports conservation projects. We track which projects receive funding and may share aggregated impact reports with you and the broader community. These reports do not contain personally identifiable information unless you opt in to being publicly recognized for your contributions.

Subscription Fund Allocation: The percentage of your subscription directed to conservation efforts (5%, 15%, or 25% depending on your tier) is managed by VoyageAway. We publicly report on how conservation funds are allocated and the organizations that receive support. Individual payment details are never included in these reports.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on servers operated by our service providers (Supabase, Cloudflare, and Vercel), which maintain industry-standard security measures. We implement the following safeguards:

• Row Level Security (RLS) policies in our database to ensure users can only access data they are authorized to view
• Encryption of data in transit via TLS/SSL
• Encryption of data at rest on our service providers’ infrastructure
• Secure authentication flows with hashed passwords and session management
• Regular security reviews and monitoring for unauthorized access

While we take reasonable measures to protect your information, no method of electronic storage or transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential Cookies: Required for the Service to function, including authentication session cookies managed by Supabase.
• Preference Cookies: Remember your settings, such as theme preferences, search filters, and display options.
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how the Service is used so we can improve it. These collect aggregated, anonymized usage data.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the Service.

7. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

7.1 All Users

• Access and Update: You can access and update your profile information, preferences, and content at any time through your account settings.
• Delete Your Account: You may request deletion of your account and associated data by contacting us at privacy@voyageaway.com. Upon deletion, we will remove your personal data, subject to any legal retention obligations. Certain aggregated, anonymized data (such as wildlife sighting contributions to conservation research) may be retained.
• Manage Communications: You can opt out of promotional emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in those emails. Transactional communications (account updates, billing) cannot be opted out of while your account is active.
• Location Data: You can disable location services through your device or browser settings.
• Download Your Data: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you by contacting us.

7.2 European Economic Area (EEA) Residents — GDPR

If you are in the EEA, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to object to processing. Our legal bases for processing are: performance of a contract (providing the Service), legitimate interests (improving the Service, security), consent (marketing communications, location data), and legal obligations.

To exercise your GDPR rights, contact us at privacy@voyageaway.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

7.3 California Residents — CCPA/CPRA

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used, request deletion of your personal information, opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information), and not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise your CCPA/CPRA rights, contact us at privacy@voyageaway.com or use the mechanisms described in your account settings.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. After account deletion, we retain certain information as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Aggregated and anonymized data, including wildlife sighting contributions to conservation research, may be retained indefinitely.

Payment records are retained for the period required by applicable tax and financial regulations.

9. Children’s Privacy

VoyageAway is not directed to children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@voyageaway.com.

10. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence, including the United States, where our service providers operate. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for international transfers in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the “Last updated” date. For significant changes, we may also send you a notification via email or through the Service. Your continued use of the Service after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

VoyageAway
Email: privacy@voyageaway.com

For data protection inquiries from EEA residents, you may also contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@voyageaway.com.