Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Service
• Create and manage your account
• Allow you to log trips, invite collaborators, and share content
• Send transactional emails (account confirmations, password resets, collaborator invites)
• Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
• Improve and personalize your experience
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, abuse, or fraud
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Privacy of Your Trip Data

All trip data is private by default. You control what is shared:

• Private trips are visible only to you
• Shared trips are visible to collaborators you explicitly invite
• Public trips are accessible via a shareable link you choose to distribute
• Public tips are displayed on country guide pages with attribution to your username

You can change a trip's privacy at any time. Activity costs have their own visibility setting (private, collaborators, or public) independent of the trip's privacy.

How We Share Your Information

We share information only in these limited circumstances:

• With collaborators you invite — when you share a trip, your invited collaborators can see the trip details you've authorized
• Public profile information — if you make your profile public, your display name, username, bio, home country, and public trips may be visible to anyone
• Service providers — we use third-party services to operate the Service (Supabase for database, authentication, and file storage; Vercel for hosting; Cloudflare for CDN and DNS; Resend for transactional emails; Google for OAuth sign-in; Anthropic for AI-assisted itinerary generation; FXRatesAPI for currency conversion; Open-Meteo for weather data)
• Affiliate partners — when you click an affiliate link (Klook, Airalo, Bytesim), the destination site collects information per their own privacy policies
• Legal compliance — we may disclose information if required by law, court order, or government request
• Business transfers — if we are acquired or merge with another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction

AI-Assisted Features

When you use AI features to generate or suggest itinerary content, the trip details you provide are sent to our AI provider, Anthropic, to produce the response. This data is processed only to generate your itinerary and is not used to build advertising profiles. AI output may be inaccurate or incomplete and is not professional travel, visa, medical, or legal advice.

Affiliate Links

Some links on The Aware Traveler are affiliate links. When you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. These links are disclosed on relevant pages. The use of these links does not change what we collect from you — we only know that you clicked the link.

Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies for:

• Essential cookies — required to authenticate your session and remember your preferences
• Analytics cookies — we use Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics to understand how visitors use the Service; Google Analytics sets cookies on your device
• Advertising cookies — if Google AdSense is active, Google may set cookies for ad personalization

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent you from using parts of the Service. If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another region with cookie consent requirements, a cookie banner will appear on your first visit.

Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on Supabase infrastructure (PostgreSQL databases and object storage) with encryption at rest and in transit. Authentication uses industry-standard practices including bcrypt password hashing and JWT session tokens. While we use reasonable safeguards, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Data Retention

• Active accounts — we retain your information as long as your account is active
• Inactive accounts — accounts inactive for 24 months may be flagged for review
• Deleted accounts — when you delete your account, your personal information is removed within 30 days. Some data may be retained for legal, fraud prevention, or backup purposes for up to 90 days
• Public content — public tips and public trips you've shared may remain visible until you delete them, even after account deletion, if other users have linked to or referenced them

Your Rights

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

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Delete your account and personal information
• Export your data in a portable format
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected] or use the Contact form on the Service. EU/UK/EEA users have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our legal basis for processing is contract performance, legitimate interests, and consent where applicable. As we operate from the Philippines, you also have rights under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) — including the rights to be informed, to access, to object, to rectification, to erasure or blocking, and to data portability — and you may file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission (privacy.gov.ph). California residents have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know, delete, and opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell your personal information.

Children's Privacy

The Aware Traveler is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

International Data Transfers

The Aware Traveler is operated from the Philippines, and your data is processed primarily on servers in the Tokyo (Japan) region, and may be processed in other locations depending on the service provider. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to these jurisdictions, which may have different data protection laws than your home country.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email (if you have an account) or by posting a notice on the Service. The "Last updated" date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Contact form: theawaretraveler.com/contact