Privacy policy
Last updated November 2, 2026
TrailCircuit (trailcircuit.com, including the park finder) is run by Rited Studio ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect, why, who helps us process it and the choices you have. We keep it short because we collect little: there are no analytics trackers or advertising networks on the site, and we don't sell personal information.
Reading the site
You can read every article and use the park finder without an account.
- Hosting. The site is served by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes your IP address, browser details and the pages you request in order to deliver the site and protect it from attacks. We don't use those records to identify or profile visitors.
- Fonts. Pages load their typefaces from Google Fonts, so Google receives your IP address and browser details when the fonts download. Google says it doesn't use this to build advertising profiles.
- Park finder settings. The finder remembers your last search (the starting place, distance and filters) in your browser's local storage so it's there next time. This stays on your device. We never receive it.
The park finder doesn't ask for your device's location. A starting place you type or pick on the map is used in your browser to sort parks and isn't sent to us.
Accounts, comments and park posts
To comment on an article, or post a review, question or fix in the park finder, you sign in. Sign-in and posts are handled by Google's Firebase (Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore), and the Firebase code loads from Google's servers on pages that offer posting.
- Signing in with Google shares your name, email address and profile picture with us.
- Signing in with email stores your email address, the name you choose and your password. Firebase keeps the password in hashed form, and we can't see it. Firebase sends the confirmation and password-reset emails.
- What you post is stored with your account ID, your name and profile picture, and the time. Your name, picture and post are shown publicly next to the post. Your email address is never shown.
- Moderation. Editors can hide posts that break the community guidelines. Suggested fixes are reviewed by an editor before they change a park page.
Firebase keeps you signed in by storing a sign-in token in your browser. See the cookie policy.
The contact form
When you use the contact form, we receive your name, email address, the topic and your message by email, and we use them to reply. To keep the form free of spam, it uses Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks signals from your browser to tell people from bots, and we use your IP address to limit how many messages can be sent in a short time. The form includes a hidden field that people don't see. If it's filled in, we treat the message as spam.
Why we use your information
- To run the site and keep it secure (our legitimate interest in providing a working, safe service).
- To let you sign in and to publish what you choose to post (to provide the service you asked for).
- To answer messages you send us (your request).
- To moderate posts and prevent abuse and spam (legitimate interest).
- To meet legal obligations, such as responding to valid legal requests.
We don't use your information for advertising, we don't sell it, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. The only ads on the site are for TrailCircuit itself.
Who processes it
- Cloudflare: hosting, security, the contact form's spam check and delivering contact-form email.
- Google (Firebase and Google Fonts): sign-in, storing posts, account emails, and fonts.
- Our email provider: holds the messages you send through the contact form.
These providers process information on our behalf or under their own privacy terms. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety, or as part of a transfer of the site to a new owner, who would be bound by this policy.
How long we keep it
- Accounts and posts stay until you delete them or ask us to. Posts an editor hides stay stored out of public view until they or your account are deleted.
- Contact-form messages are kept as long as we need them to deal with your request, and then deleted.
- Hosting and security records are kept by Cloudflare under its own retention policies.
Your choices and rights
You can delete your own posts at any time. To get a copy of the personal information we hold about you, correct it, or delete your account and posts, send us a privacy request. We'll confirm the request comes from the account holder before acting on it, and reply within 30 days.
Depending on where you live, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom or a US state with a privacy law like California's, you may have further rights: to object to or restrict some processing, to data portability, and to complain to your local data protection authority. We honor these requests wherever you live. We don't discriminate against anyone for using them.
Children
TrailCircuit isn't directed at children under 13, and you must be 13 or older to create an account. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.
Security and international transfers
Information travels over encrypted connections, and access to the database is limited by rules that let people post only as themselves. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong password that you don't use elsewhere. Our providers may process information in the United States and other countries, under the safeguards they provide, such as standard contractual clauses.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use information you've already given us, we'll say so on the site before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Use the contact form and choose "Privacy request".