Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective November 9, 2026

Trailquill is a hiking journal and trip manager for iPhone, made by an individual developer. You record hikes, photos, waypoints and pack lists, and you can ask Scout, an AI assistant, to plan trips or summarize your stats. This policy explains what information the app handles, where it goes and how long it is kept. “We” means the developer of Trailquill.

In short

• Your journal is stored on your iPhone. We do not receive, back up or sync it.
• Your sign-in account is created and kept on your iPhone. We do not run a server account for you.
• Scout sends data only when you ask it something and have given consent: your messages and, unless you turn it off, a short journal summary. Our server uses DeepSeek to write the answer.
• Maps are provided by Apple. The app never asks for or reads your location.
• No advertising, no tracking across other companies’ apps or websites, and no sale of data.

Data stored on your device

Each account has its own database in the app’s storage on your iPhone. It holds your hikes (name, status, region, route type, dates, distance, elevation gain and loss, high point, moving time, difficulty, weather, partners and notes), waypoints and any coordinates you set, trailhead locations, photos you add, itinerary days, pack lists and gear items, and Scout’s conversation, including small thumbnails of photos you attached to it. On first sign-in the app adds sample hikes, trips and gear templates, which you can edit or delete.

The app also stores in its settings on your iPhone: the profile of each account used on the device, which account is signed in, your units preference, your emergency safety card, your AI consent and sharing choice, a short record of Scout’s most recent action (so you can undo it), and whether you have seen the AI tour.

If you back up your iPhone to iCloud or a computer, iOS may include the app’s data in those backups, which are controlled by you and Apple.

Account and sign-in data

You can sign in with Apple, with Google or with an email address. In the current version, every sign-in method creates an account that exists only on your iPhone. It consists of a random account id, a display name, an email address where one is available, the sign-in method and the date it was created. For email accounts, the app stores a salted hash of your password on the device, never the password itself. No sign-in details are sent to us, and we cannot see or recover your account. You can change your display name in Me › Account.

If a future version connects sign-in to Apple, Google or a server account, we will update this policy first.

Scout, the AI assistant

Scout answers only when you send it something: a typed question, a one-tap command, or a Try it button in the AI tour. Before the first request on each account, the app shows a consent screen that explains what is sent and names DeepSeek as the AI provider. Nothing is sent unless you tap Agree & Continue. Each request sends the following to our server:

• the most recent messages of your current Scout conversation (up to 16, including Scout’s replies);
• unless you turn sharing off, a short summary of your journal: your up to 10 most recent completed hikes (name, region, date, number of days, route type, distance, elevation gain, high point and difficulty), your totals, up to 6 planned trips (name, region, start date, number of days and pack-list progress), up to 8 wishlist trip names, the names of your gear templates, and your units preference;
• for photos you attach to Scout (up to four), the text and image labels that Apple’s Vision framework finds on your iPhone. The photo itself is never sent;
• your account id, which our server uses to apply a daily message limit.

Scout never receives your hike notes, partners, hike photos, waypoints, map coordinates, emergency safety card, name or email address.

DeepSeek as processor. Our server forwards the conversation, the journal summary and any photo text to DeepSeek, which generates Scout’s answer. DeepSeek does not receive your account id from us. DeepSeek processes this data on its servers under its own terms and privacy policy. Our server returns the answer to the app, where Scout may save a planned trip or pack list to your journal (you can undo it).

What our server keeps. Our server does not store your messages, journal summary, photo text or Scout’s answers. It keeps a count of each account’s Scout messages per day in memory to enforce the daily limit. Its operational logs record a shortened account id, how long the answer took and how many suggestions it contained. If DeepSeek returns an answer the server cannot read, a short excerpt of that answer may be logged for troubleshooting.

Your choices. In Me › AI & Privacy you can turn off “Share my journal with Scout”, so that only your conversation and any photo text are sent, and you can withdraw AI consent; Scout will then ask again before your next message. In Scout’s Field Notebook, New Page clears the conversation stored on your iPhone. Withdrawing consent does not recall data already sent.

Photos

You add photos with Apple’s photo picker, which shares only the photos you choose; the app does not ask for access to your photo library. Hike photos are compressed and stored in your account’s database on your iPhone and are never uploaded. Photos you attach to Scout are read on your iPhone; only the recognized text and labels are sent, as described above, and a small thumbnail is kept with the conversation on your device.

Maps

Trailquill uses Apple’s MapKit for the Map tab, the trailhead picker and route maps, including satellite views. To display maps, MapKit loads map data and imagery from Apple, so Apple receives requests for the map areas you view, along with standard network information such as your IP address. Apple handles this under its own privacy policy. Trailheads and waypoint coordinates are set by you by tapping the map, or come from a trip Scout plans; they are stored only on your iPhone. The app does not request location permission and never reads your location.

Emergency safety card

The safety card in Me holds an emergency contact name, a phone number and medical notes such as blood type, allergies or medications. It is stored only in the app’s settings on your iPhone, separately for each account. The app never sends it anywhere, including to Scout, and does not contact anyone on your behalf. Deleting your account removes it.

Permissions

Trailquill does not ask for location, camera, contacts, microphone, notification or tracking permission. Photos are chosen through the system photo picker, which needs no permission. The only network connections the app makes are Scout requests to our server and Apple’s map loading.

What we don’t do

• No advertising and no advertising identifiers.
• No analytics or tracking SDKs, and no tracking across other companies’ apps or websites.
• We don’t sell or rent your data or share it with data brokers.
• Your journal is not uploaded to us. Only the summary described above is sent with Scout requests.

Retention and deletion

• On your device: until you delete it, delete the account in the app, or delete the app. Signing out keeps the account’s data on the device for your next sign-in.
• Scout requests: our server does not keep them after the answer is returned.
• Daily message counts: held only in our server’s memory.
• Server logs: kept for operating and troubleshooting the service; you can ask us to delete entries linked to your account.
• Data received by DeepSeek or Apple: under their own policies.

Me › Account › Delete Account permanently removes from your iPhone the account, its database (hikes, photos, pack lists and Scout’s conversation) and its emergency safety card. Your units preference, AI consent and sharing choice, the record of Scout’s latest action and the AI tour flag stay in the app’s settings until you delete the app. See Account deletion.

Children

Trailquill is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has used Scout, contact us.

International processing

Scout requests pass through our server and are processed by DeepSeek, whose servers may be located in a different country from yours, including the People’s Republic of China. Apple may process map requests in other countries. By using Scout after giving consent, you understand that your messages and journal summary may be processed outside your country.

Your rights

Most of your data is on your iPhone, where you can view, edit and delete it at any time. For questions, or to ask us to access or delete anything our server may hold about your account, email dinhthiloan8838@icloud.com.

Changes

We may update this policy as the app changes. The effective date at the top shows when it was last updated.

Contact

Questions or requests: dinhthiloan8838@icloud.com.