Privacy Policy

HikerNerd LLC ("HikerNerd," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website and services at hikernerd.com (the "Service").

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address
• Name (first and last)
• Username
• Profile photo (optional)

Hiking Activity Data

When you use our tracking features, we collect:

• Peak ascent records (dates, peaks climbed)
• Route information and hiking notes
• Weather conditions during your hikes
• Hiking companions (names you provide)
• Photos you upload
• Reviews and ratings

Trip Planning Data

For trip planning features, we may collect:

• Planned trip dates and destinations
• Emergency contact information (optional)
• Custom route data and GPS coordinates

Strava Integration

When you connect your Strava account, we collect:

• Strava access and refresh tokens (encrypted)
• Activity data including GPS tracks, distance, elevation, and duration
• Activity types (hikes, runs, snowshoe trips, etc.)

We use webhooks to automatically receive your new Strava activities in real-time. You can disconnect Strava at any time in your profile settings, which revokes our access and stops syncing.

Garmin Connect Integration

When you connect your Garmin Connect account, we collect:

• Garmin Connect access and refresh tokens (encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption)
• Activity data including GPS tracks (GPX and FIT files), distance, elevation gain, and duration
• Activity types (hikes, trail runs, snowshoe trips, mountaineering, etc.)
• Garmin user ID (for associating activities with your HikerNerd account)

We use Garmin Connect webhooks to automatically receive your new activities in real-time. GPS track data from your activities is used solely to detect mountain summit ascents along your route. We do not sell, share, or use your Garmin activity data for any purpose other than providing the HikerNerd peak-tracking service to you. You can disconnect Garmin Connect at any time in your integration settings, which revokes our access, stops syncing, and deletes your stored Garmin tokens. You may also delete all imported activity data at any time.

Mobile App & Browser Location Data

When using HikerNerd's location features (mobile app or browser-based map geolocation), we may collect:

• Real-time GPS coordinates, elevation, and timestamps while tracking is active
• Device compass heading (via Device Orientation API) for map navigation
• Peak detection data computed from your GPS position
• Device sync information

GPS track data is stored on our servers and associated with your account for as long as you retain the activity. Compass heading data is used only in real-time for the map display and is never stored. We do not share individual GPS data with third parties or use it in aggregate form (e.g., trail popularity maps). Location tracking only occurs when you explicitly activate it — we never collect location data in the background.

Technical Information

We automatically collect:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device information
• Usage patterns and feature interactions

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and maintain the Service
• Track your hiking progress and achievements
• Generate AI-powered trail conditions and recommendations
• Display leaderboards and community features (with your consent)
• Process subscription payments
• Send service-related communications
• Send automated email sequences (welcome emails, tips, feature announcements)
• Track email delivery and engagement for service improvement
• Improve and personalize your experience
• Respond to support requests

3. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate HikerNerd:

• Clerk - Authentication and user management
• Stripe - Payment processing (via Clerk Billing)
• Strava - Activity sync integration (when you connect your account)
• Garmin Connect - Activity sync integration (when you connect your account)
• Digital Ocean - Hosting and file storage (photos)
• Anthropic (Claude AI) - AI-powered trail condition synthesis
• Resend - Email delivery service
• Google Analytics - Website analytics and usage patterns

Each of these services has its own privacy policy governing their use of your data.

Public Data Sources

We aggregate publicly available hiking information from the following sources to provide trail conditions:

• Weather APIs - Open-Meteo, National Weather Service, Mount Washington Observatory
• Mount Washington Avalanche Center - Avalanche conditions
• NOHRSC/SNODAS - Snow depth data
• USGS - Stream level data
• OpenWeatherMap - Air quality data
• New England Trail Conditions - Trip reports
• AMC - Hut status information
• Reddit (r/wmnf) - Public hiking posts
• RSS Feeds - Hiking blogs and news

No personal information is sent to these data sources. We only retrieve publicly available information.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your data:

• With your consent - When you opt into public profiles or leaderboards
• Service providers - Third parties that help us operate the Service
• Legal requirements - When required by law or to protect our rights
• Business transfers - In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. In such an event, we will notify you via email or a prominent notice on the Service before your personal data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy

5. Your Privacy Choices

You have control over your data:

• Leaderboard Opt-Out - You can choose not to appear on public leaderboards in your profile settings
• Public Profile - You control whether your profile is publicly visible
• Integration Disconnect - You can disconnect Strava or Garmin Connect at any time, which revokes access and deletes stored tokens
• Data Export - You can export your hiking data at any time (Trailblazer subscribers)
• Account Deletion - You can delete your account, which removes your personal data
• Email Preferences - You can manage notification settings in your profile

6. Cookies and Tracking

Essential Cookies

We use cookies that are strictly necessary to operate the Service:

• Keep you logged in (session cookies)
• Remember your preferences (e.g., unit system, active peak list)
• Ensure security (CSRF protection)

Analytics Cookies

We use Google Analytics (GA4) to understand how visitors use HikerNerd. GA4 sets cookies that collect pseudonymized, aggregated usage data including pages visited, time on site, and general device and location information. Google Analytics does not collect your name, email, or other personal identifiers through these cookies. You can opt out of Google Analytics by:

• Installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
• Using your browser's cookie settings to block third-party cookies

See Google's Privacy Policy for more information about how Google processes analytics data.

Referral Tracking

We may use referral tracking to measure marketing partnerships. This may include tracking codes in URLs that help us understand how users discover HikerNerd.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption in transit (HTTPS)
• Encryption at rest for third-party tokens (AES-256)
• Secure authentication via Clerk
• Regular security reviews
• Limited employee access to personal data

8. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active:

• Hiking records and GPS tracks are retained as long as your account is active
• Email logs are retained for 90 days
• Strava tokens are deleted immediately when you disconnect your Strava account
• Garmin Connect tokens are deleted immediately when you disconnect your Garmin account

If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal purposes.

9. Your State Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with additional rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to Know - You can request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it
• Right to Delete - You can request deletion of your personal information. You can do this directly by deleting your account in your profile settings, or by contacting us at the email below
• Right to Non-Discrimination - We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights

We do not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will verify your identity before processing your request.

Residents of other states with consumer privacy laws (such as Virginia, Colorado, and Connecticut) may have similar rights. Please contact us to exercise them.

10. International Users and Data Transfers

HikerNerd is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the US, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States. We apply the same data protection practices described in this policy to all user data regardless of origin.

11. Children's Privacy

HikerNerd is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on the Service or sending you an email. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

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

HikerNerd LLC
Email: [email protected]