Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 2025
Last Updated: January 2025

1. Overview

PermitScout ("we," "us," or "our") provides automated wilderness permit monitoring services for Yosemite National Park and other outdoor recreation areas. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our service at https://permitscout.io.

2. Information We Collect

Personal Information

When you register for our service, we collect:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, and phone number (optional)
• Trip Preferences: Preferred trails, permit dates, and notification settings
• Account Information: Username, password (encrypted), and timezone preferences

Automatically Collected Information

We automatically collect:

• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, and service interaction patterns
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information, and access times
• Notification Data: Delivery status and engagement with our notifications

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Provide Our Service: Monitor permit availability and send notifications
• Account Management: Create and maintain your user account
• Communication: Send permit alerts, service updates, and support responses
• Service Improvement: Analyze usage patterns to enhance our features
• Legal Compliance: Meet legal obligations and protect our rights

4. SMS/Text Message Privacy

• No Third-Party Sharing: Your mobile phone number will never be shared with third parties for marketing purposes
• No Lead Generation: We do not sell, rent, or share mobile contact information with lead generators or marketing companies
• Service-Only Usage: SMS messages are sent exclusively for permit notifications you have requested
• Opt-Out Anytime: Reply "STOP" to any text message to immediately unsubscribe
• Help Available: Reply "HELP" to any text message for assistance
• Message Frequency: You'll receive messages only when permits become available for your selected dates (typically 0-10 messages per month)
• Carrier Charges: Standard message and data rates may apply based on your mobile plan

5. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We Never Share Your Information For Marketing

We explicitly guarantee that your mobile phone number and personal information will never be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

Limited Sharing for Service Operations

We may share your information only with:

• Service Providers: Technical vendors who help operate our service (email delivery, hosting, analytics)
• Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (with continued privacy protection)

All service providers are contractually required to protect your information and are prohibited from using it for their own marketing purposes.

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information:

• Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit and at rest
• Access Controls: Strict employee access controls and authentication requirements
• Regular Updates: Security patches and system updates are applied promptly
• Monitoring: Continuous monitoring for unauthorized access attempts
• Secure Infrastructure: Hosted on secure, compliant cloud platforms

7. Your Rights and Choices

Account Management

• Access: View and download your personal information anytime through your account
• Update: Modify your contact information, preferences, and notification settings
• Delete: Delete your account and all associated data permanently

Communication Preferences

• Email Notifications: Unsubscribe from marketing emails (permit alerts will continue)
• SMS Notifications: Text "STOP" to opt out of all SMS messages
• Notification Timing: Choose between 24/7 alerts or business hours only

Data Requests

To exercise your rights, contact us at:

• Email: support@permitscout.io
• Response Time: We'll respond within 30 days of receiving your request

8. Data Retention

We retain your information as follows:

• Active Accounts: For as long as your account remains active
• Deleted Accounts: Personal data is permanently deleted within 30 days
• Legal Requirements: Some data may be retained longer if required by law
• Analytics Data: Anonymized usage data may be retained for service improvement

9. Children's Privacy

PermitScout is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.

10. International Users

PermitScout is operated from the United States. By using our service, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

11. Third-Party Services

Our service integrates with:

• Recreation.gov: We monitor public permit availability data (no personal data shared)
• Email Services: For notification delivery (Gmail SMTP with encryption)
• SMS Services: For text message delivery (Twilio - personal data protected)
• Analytics: For service improvement (Google Analytics with privacy controls)

We carefully select service providers who maintain strong privacy and security standards and who are contractually prohibited from using your data for their own purposes.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make changes:

• We'll update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy
• For significant changes, we'll notify you via email or account dashboard
• Your continued use of the service constitutes acceptance of the updated policy

13. Contact Information

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

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