Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 16, 2026

Introduction

TroopMap (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the TroopMap website and service. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data transparently. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information We Collect

Account information

When you register a troop or create a leader account, we collect your name, email address, and a hashed password. Troop registrations also include your troop name, number, organization affiliation, and a verification URL.

Content you submit

Memories, photos, location data (including GPS coordinates), descriptions, and any other content you voluntarily submit to the service. Each piece of content you submit may include metadata such as the date, submitter name, and associated troop.

Usage data

We automatically collect certain technical information when you visit our site, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referring URL, and the date and time of your visit. We may use cookies and similar technologies to facilitate site functionality (such as session management and remembering recently visited troops) and to gather aggregate usage statistics.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide, operate, and maintain the TroopMap service
  • Authenticate users and manage troop access via our privacy system
  • Display content on troop maps and the public community map in accordance with your chosen privacy settings
  • Process and moderate submitted memories through our admin approval workflow
  • Communicate with you about your account or troop (e.g., registration status)
  • Monitor and analyze usage trends to improve the service
  • Detect, prevent, and address abuse, fraud, or technical issues
  • Comply with legal obligations

Your Privacy Controls

TroopMap offers a three-tier privacy system for troops. Troop leaders can set their troop’s visibility to Public, Partial, or Private. Additionally, individual memories have per-field privacy controls, allowing granular control over whether titles, descriptions, photos, and submitter names are publicly visible. We honor these settings and will not override them without your consent.

Content Marked Private

We take your privacy preferences seriously. Content you designate as private or restricted will not be sold, published, or shared with third parties without your explicit consent. Private content is accessible only to authenticated members of the associated troop, troop leaders, and site administrators (for moderation purposes). We will not use private content for marketing, advertising, or any purpose unrelated to operating the service.

Public Content

Content you mark as public (or that is part of a troop set to Public visibility) may be displayed on the TroopMap community map and is visible to anyone who visits the site. By choosing to make content public, you grant TroopMap a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, distribute, and promote that content in connection with the service. You may change content from public to private at any time through your troop’s admin panel.

Sharing with Third Parties

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following limited circumstances:

  • Service providers: We may share data with trusted third-party vendors who help us operate the service (e.g., hosting, analytics, error tracking), subject to confidentiality obligations.
  • Advertising partners: We may share aggregated, anonymized usage data (such as page views, general geographic regions, and feature usage statistics) with advertising partners. This data does not identify you personally and does not include any content you have marked as private. We will never share your private content, photos, or personally identifiable information with advertisers without your explicit consent.
  • Legal compliance: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal process, including subpoenas, court orders, or government requests. We will make reasonable efforts to notify affected users of such requests where legally permitted.
  • Safety and enforcement: We may share information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of our users, enforce our terms of service, or protect the rights and property of TroopMap.
  • Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change and any choices you may have regarding your information.

Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies for the following purposes:

  • Essential cookies: Session authentication tokens (troop and leader sessions) that are required for the site to function. These are HTTP-only, secure, and expire after 7 days.
  • Functional cookies: A cookie that remembers your recently visited troops for quick navigation.
  • Analytics cookies: We may use analytics services to understand how visitors use our site. These tools may set their own cookies.

In the future, we may use advertising cookies or similar technologies provided by third-party ad networks. We will update this policy and provide appropriate notice and opt-out mechanisms before introducing any such cookies.

Data Retention

We retain your account information and content for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal information and disassociate your submitted content within a reasonable timeframe, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as audit logs for security and moderation). Anonymized or aggregated data that does not identify you may be retained indefinitely.

Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including encrypted passwords (bcrypt hashing), HTTP-only session cookies, CSRF protection, rate limiting, and strict Content Security Policy headers. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children’s Privacy & Youth Protection

TroopMap is designed for use by youth organizations and their leaders. Leader accounts must be created by adults. Memories and content may be submitted on behalf of youth members by authorized troop leaders. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information without parental consent, please contact us so we can take appropriate action.

We strongly discourage publishing the real names or other personally identifiable information of youth members in submitted content. When adding memories, use first names only, nicknames, or troop roles (e.g., “Patrol Leader”) instead of full names. Avoid including details such as birth dates, school names, home addresses, or other information that could be used to identify or locate a minor.

We also strongly discourage publishing photos that clearly identify youth members, especially in content that is publicly visible. If you do include photos of youth, we recommend setting the memory’s images to private using the per-field privacy controls, or setting your troop’s privacy level to Partial or Private so that photos are only accessible to authenticated troop members. Troop leaders are responsible for obtaining any required parental or guardian consent before uploading photos of minors.

Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate information
  • Request deletion of your account and personal data
  • Object to or restrict certain processing of your data
  • Request a portable copy of your data
  • Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law.

Law Enforcement & Government Requests

We will comply with lawful requests for user data from government agencies and law enforcement authorities, including subpoenas, court orders, and other valid legal process. We carefully review each request to ensure it is legally valid and appropriately scoped. Where permitted by law, we will notify affected users before disclosing their information. We may also disclose information without notice where we believe there is an imminent risk of serious physical harm or death.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on the site or by other appropriate means. Your continued use of TroopMap after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at privacy@troopmap.com.

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