Privacy Policy
Version 2026-10-20 · Effective October 20, 2026
Template prepared for Higher Ground Media on October 19, 2026. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer; have one check it before the app is offered to the public.
This policy explains what the Shot Planner app and website (the "App"), made by Trying to Help Inc., doing business as Higher Ground Media ("we", "us"), collects, why, and what you can do about it.
What we collect
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Email address | Your sign-in name; to contact you about your account if needed. |
| Password (stored only as a salted, one-way PBKDF2 hash), 2-step verification key, backup and recovery codes (stored as one-way hashes) | Sign-in and account security. |
| Your saved data: shot plans (addresses, map coordinates, dates, notes), permit tracker entries, spot choices and app settings (home base, drone fleet, Part 107 yes/no, navigation app) | So your data is saved in your account and available on any device you sign in on. |
| Account activity: when you signed up, sign-in times and count, device type (from your browser's user-agent), failed sign-in attempts, and your IP address | Security: rate limits, lockouts, spotting break-in attempts, and letting you see and sign out your devices. Basic counts (users, sign-ins, number of saved plans) are visible to the App's administrator. |
| Sign-in records: the date and time of each sign-up and sign-in, whether it came from the website, the Android app or the iPhone app, a general device label (for example "iPhone · Safari"), the days you opened the App, and, when our hosting provider supplies it, your approximate city and state. These records don't include your IP address or your password. | So the App's owner and administrators can see how many people use the App and when (sign-ups, sign-ins, active users per day), help you with account problems, and spot misuse. Only administrators can see them. |
| Place signals (for spot discovery): for each saved plan, the ~100 m map square it is in (no address, name, date or notes), plus the spot ratings, visits and "Not for me" choices you already make in the App | So the App can learn which places are good: a place that several different people plan, visit or rate well rises for everyone, and one many people hide sinks. Only totals are ever used or shown (for example "5 people planned here"); nobody, including the App's administrators, is shown who planned where, and no one's plan is shown to anyone else. Removed when you delete your account. |
Location. When you tap "use my location", your phone shares its location with the App on your device to plan around where you are. We don't track your location in the background. A location becomes part of your account only if you save it in a plan or as your home base.
What we don't do. No ads, no advertising or tracking cookies, no analytics or tracking SDKs, and we don't sell or rent your personal information. The only cookie is the sign-in cookie that keeps you signed in.
Services the App talks to
To show maps, weather, airspace and spots, your device sends map coordinates or the place you typed (never your email or account) to public data services: USGS The National Map (maps, imagery, protected-area data), OpenStreetMap services (place search, map data, routing), Photon (place search), Open-Meteo (weather and elevation), FAA (airspace, facility maps and temporary flight restrictions), Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia and Wikidata (photos and landmarks), and AWS Terrain Tiles (elevation). To discover new spots, our server also asks OpenStreetMap, Wikipedia, Wikidata, USGS place names and Wikimedia Commons about whole ~25 km areas (only the area, never who asked). Some place search and FAA requests go through our server first. These services receive your device's IP address as part of any internet request and handle it under their own policies. When you tap directions, the map app you pick (Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps) opens with that destination.
Our app and database run on a cloud hosting provider that processes data only on our behalf.
Security
All traffic uses HTTPS. Passwords and codes are stored only as one-way hashes. Sign-in sessions use secure, HttpOnly cookies. Optional 2-step verification (authenticator app) protects your account; it's required for the admin account. Repeated wrong passwords or codes lock the account for a while.
How long we keep it
Account and saved data: until you delete your account. Sign-in sessions: up to 30 days after last use. Rate-limit records with IP addresses: about 24 hours. Security log entries and sign-in records: up to 12 months. After you delete your account, its data is removed from the live database right away and from backups within 30 days.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your account any time: Settings › Account & security › Delete my account, or follow these steps.
- Change your saved data in the App; ask for a copy of it or ask any privacy question by contacting us (below).
- Depending on where you live (for example California or the EU/UK), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or port your data and to object to processing. Contact us to use them; we'll answer within 30 days.
Children
The App is not for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact us and we'll delete it.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the version date and ask you to accept the update in the App.
Contact
Trying to Help Inc. d/b/a Higher Ground Media, New York, USA · use the contact email shown on our Google Play listing