Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you register for Trailma, we collect information such as your name, email address, username, password (stored in encrypted/hashed form), date of birth, and gender (optional). If you sign up using a third-party account (e.g., Google or Apple Sign-In), we receive basic profile information from that provider as authorized by you.

1.2 Profile Information

You may choose to add a profile photo, bio, home region, height, weight, and fitness preferences. Providing this information is optional and helps personalize your experience.

1.3 Location and GPS Data

Location data is central to Trailma’s core functionality (route recording, navigation, live tracking, and trail discovery). We collect:

• Precise GPS location while you are recording an activity or using navigation features.
• Background location, used to support “live tracking,” activity auto-pause, and safety features (such as sharing your live location with a trusted contact) while the app is running in the background or your screen is off. Background location is only collected while you have an activity actively recording, or while a feature you’ve enabled (e.g., live tracking) is active. You can disable background location access at any time in your device’s system settings, though this will limit or disable the related features.
• Route data including waypoints, elevation, speed, pace, and distance.

We do not collect your device’s location when you have no activity or live-tracking session running, and we do not collect location data at all if you have denied or revoked location permissions in your device settings.

1.4 Activity and Health-Related Data

When you record or upload an activity, we may collect:

• Activity type, duration, distance, speed, elevation gain, and route maps.
• Health and fitness metrics such as heart rate, calories burned, cadence, or steps, if you connect a wearable device or grant permission (e.g., via Apple Health, Google Fit, Garmin, or similar).
• Photos, videos, notes, or comments you attach to an activity.

We treat heart rate, sleep, and other biometric or health-related data as sensitive information. We only collect it with your explicit consent, we do not sell it, and we do not use it for advertising purposes.

1.5 Device and Log Information

We automatically collect certain technical information, including device model, operating system, unique device identifiers, IP address, app version, crash logs, and general usage statistics (e.g., features used, session length). This helps us maintain and improve app performance and security.

1.6 Social and Community Data

Trailma includes social features that let you follow other users, join clubs or groups, comment on and react to activities (“kudos”/likes), and participate in leaderboards or challenges. We collect the content and interactions you create through these features, including your list of followers/ following, comments and reactions you post, group memberships, and challenge participation. You control the visibility of this content — including whether your activities and profile are visible to followers only, to the public, or kept private — through your in-app privacy settings.

1.7 Connected Third-Party Services

You may choose to connect Trailma to third-party services such as Google Fit, Apple Health, Garmin, Fitbit, or similar platforms. When connected, we receive data from those services as authorized by you (e.g., steps, heart rate, sleep). You can disconnect these integrations at any time in your account settings.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Services (activity recording, route mapping, navigation).
• Personalize your experience, including recommended routes and trail suggestions.
• Enable social features such as following friends, clubs, and leaderboards, based on your privacy settings.
• Communicate with you about updates, security alerts, and support requests.
• Improve app performance, fix bugs, and conduct analytics on aggregated, de-identified usage patterns.
• Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity.
• Comply with legal obligations.

We do not use your health or biometric data for advertising or targeted marketing purposes.

3. How We Share Information

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

• With other users, based on your chosen privacy and visibility settings (e.g., public activities, followers-only, or private).
• With service providers who help us operate the Services (e.g., cloud hosting, analytics, crash reporting, customer support tools), under contractual obligations to protect your data.
• With connected apps/devices you have authorized (e.g., syncing an activity to Apple Health).
• For legal reasons, if required to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Trailma, our users, or others.
• In a business transfer, such as a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to standard confidentiality arrangements.
• With your consent, for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection.

Trail Heatmap: Trailma aggregates de-identified GPS data from users’ public activities to power a “Trail Heatmap” feature, showing popular routes and trail usage. Before your activity data contributes to the heatmap, it is stripped of information that directly identifies you, and individual activities cannot be reconstructed from the heatmap. You can opt out of contributing your activity data to the heatmap at any time in your privacy settings; opting out does not affect activities already aggregated into a prior version of the heatmap.

Beyond the heatmap, other aggregated or anonymized data that cannot reasonably be used to identify you may also be shared publicly or with partners (e.g., for research or trail-safety purposes).

4. Your Privacy Controls and Choices

• Activity Visibility: Choose whether each activity is public, followers-only, or private.
• Map/Route Privacy: Hide the start and end points of your routes, or hide specific addresses (e.g., home or work) so they never appear on your activity map.
• Location Permissions: Grant or revoke location access (including background location) at any time via your device settings.
• Connected Apps: Disconnect any third-party health or fitness integrations at any time.
• Marketing Communications: Opt out of promotional emails via the unsubscribe link or in-app settings. You will still receive essential service-related communications.
• Account Deletion: Request permanent deletion of your account and associated data at any time (see Section 7).

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Services. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we are required to retain certain information for legal, security, or fraud-prevention purposes.

6. Data Security

We use industry-standard technical and organizational measures — including encryption in transit (TLS), encrypted storage of sensitive credentials, and access controls — to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete your personal data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Export your data in a portable format.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Withdraw consent at any time (e.g., for background location or health data collection).

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@trailma.com. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (e.g., 30 days under GDPR, 45 days under CCPA/CPRA).

For EU/UK/EEA Users

Trailma processes personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)/UK GDPR. Our legal bases for processing include performance of a contract, your consent, legitimate interests, and compliance with legal obligations. You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

For California Users (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have the right to know, delete, and correct personal information we hold, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (Trailma does not sell personal information). You may also designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf.

8. Children’s Privacy

Trailma is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or the minimum age required by your country’s law). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected data from a child under this age, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided us with personal information may contact us at support@trailma.com.

9. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own, including countries that may have different data protection laws. Where required, we implement appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) to protect your data during such transfers.

10. Third-Party Links and Services

Trailma may contain links to third-party websites, maps, or services (e.g., trail data providers, payment processors) that are not operated by us. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third parties, and we encourage you to review their privacy policies separately.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via the app or by email before the changes take effect. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy indicates when it was last revised.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at:

• Trailma
• Email: support@trailma.com
• Address: Kathmandu, Nepal
• Website: https://trailma.com

13. Google Play Data Safety Reference

For the Google Play Console “Data Safety” section, this policy supports disclosures for the following data types collected by Trailma:

• Location: Precise location, collected in the foreground for activity recording/navigation and in the background for live tracking and auto-pause. Shared with other users only if you choose to make an activity or your live location visible to them.
• Personal Info: Name, email address, user IDs, address (only if you add a home/work location for map-hiding purposes).
• Health and Fitness: Heart rate and other fitness metrics (collected only with explicit permission via connected devices/health platforms; not shared for advertising).
• Photos and Videos: If attached to activities or your profile.
• Social Info: Followers/following, group/club memberships, comments and reactions.
• App Activity: In-app actions, search/route history, challenge and leaderboard participation.
• Device or Other IDs: For analytics and crash reporting.