VELOFT Privacy Policy

VELOFT ("VELOFT," "we," "us," or "our") provides tools for hot air balloon flight tracking, wind and weather information, flight history, pilot and crew coordination, and related flight-planning features.

This Privacy Policy explains what information VELOFT collects, how it is used, when it may be shared, and the choices available to users.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create or use a VELOFT account, we may collect information such as:

• Name
• Email address
• User account identifier
• Team or organization membership
• Pilot, crew, or administrator role
• Balloon and event associations
• Subscription or plan status

Location Information

VELOFT is built around location-based flight functionality.

Depending on the features you use, VELOFT may collect precise location information from your device, including:

• Latitude and longitude
• Altitude
• Heading
• Speed
• GPS timestamps
• Location accuracy information

For pilots, location may be collected during an active flight so VELOFT can record and display the flight path.

If you allow background location access, VELOFT may continue collecting flight location while an active flight is running when your screen is locked or the app is in the background.

Crew or chase-team users may also choose to share their live location while using crew-tracking features.

VELOFT does not use precise location for advertising.

Flight Information

VELOFT may store information related to flights, including:

• Launch and landing locations
• Flight route
• Altitude
• Speed
• Heading
• Flight duration
• Maximum altitude
• Distance traveled
• Flight notes
• Balloon information
• Event information
• Team information
• Weather information associated with a flight

Weather and Wind Information

Your location may be used to retrieve nearby weather observations, forecasts, airport weather reports, winds aloft, and other weather information.

Weather information may come from third-party weather and aviation data providers.

Device and Technical Information

We may collect limited technical information necessary to operate, secure, and improve the service, such as:

• Device type
• Operating system
• App version
• Error information
• Authentication status
• Network or synchronization status

Support Communications

If you contact VELOFT for support, we may retain the information you provide to us in that communication.

2. How We Use Information

VELOFT uses information to:

• Provide live balloon flight tracking
• Record flight history
• Display flight routes and replay information
• Calculate altitude, speed, heading, distance, and other flight information
• Provide wind and weather information
• Allow pilots and crew members to coordinate
• Allow authorized users to view shared flights
• Support balloon events and multi-balloon operations
• Maintain user accounts and organizations
• Authenticate users
• Maintain subscription and entitlement status
• Prevent abuse and protect the security of the service
• Troubleshoot technical problems
• Provide customer support
• Comply with applicable legal obligations

3. Background Location

VELOFT may use background location during an active balloon flight when the user has granted the appropriate device permission.

This allows the flight path and live position to continue updating when the device screen is locked or the app is running in the background.

Background location is used for flight-tracking functionality and is not used for advertising.

Users can manage VELOFT's location permissions through their device settings.

Disabling location access may prevent live flight-tracking features from functioning correctly.

4. Sharing With Pilots, Crew, and Events

VELOFT includes features that allow users to intentionally share flight or location information.

Depending on the feature being used, information may be visible to:

• Members of the same team or organization
• Authorized chase crew
• Pilots participating in an event
• People using a valid flight-sharing link, QR code, or share code
• Other pilots when a user enables a public or event-based visibility feature

The information shown depends on the sharing option selected and the VELOFT feature being used.

5. Service Providers

VELOFT may use third-party service providers to operate portions of the service, including providers for:

• Cloud hosting and databases
• Authentication
• Mapping
• Weather information
• Application infrastructure
• Payment processing on the VELOFT website

These providers may process information only as necessary to provide their services to VELOFT.

Payment information submitted through third-party payment processors is handled by the payment processor. VELOFT does not store complete payment-card numbers.

6. Sale of Personal Information and Advertising

VELOFT does not sell users' personal information.

VELOFT does not use precise location information for third-party advertising.

VELOFT does not use personal information to track users across unrelated companies' apps or websites for advertising purposes.

7. Data Retention

VELOFT retains information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Provide the service
• Maintain flight history requested by users
• Maintain account and organization functionality
• Meet security requirements
• Resolve disputes
• Comply with legal obligations

Users may delete their VELOFT account using the Delete Account feature inside the app.

When an account is deleted, personal information associated specifically with that user will be deleted or anonymized where appropriate.

Some shared or de-identified records may be retained where necessary to preserve legitimate team, event, security, or system records.

8. Account Deletion

Users can initiate permanent account deletion from inside VELOFT.

Account deletion removes the user's VELOFT account and associated personal information subject to legitimate legal, security, and shared-data retention requirements.

Account deletion is permanent.

9. Data Security

VELOFT uses reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect user information.

However, no internet-connected service, wireless connection, GPS system, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

10. Location and Connectivity Limitations

GPS accuracy, cellular coverage, internet connectivity, weather-data availability, and device behavior may vary.

VELOFT should not be relied upon as an emergency-location system.

11. Children's Privacy

VELOFT is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

12. Your Choices

Users may:

• Change device location permissions
• Stop sharing crew location
• End an active flight
• Control available flight-sharing features
• Update account information
• Delete their VELOFT account

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as VELOFT changes.

When material changes are made, the updated policy will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.

14. Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

VELOFT

Email: veloft.co@gmail.com

Website: https://veloft.co