Privacy Policy

Starter draft, not legal advice. This has not been reviewed by an attorney. A lawyer licensed in [GOVERNING LAW STATE] should review it before it is relied on. Every [BRACKETED PLACEHOLDER] still needs to be filled in.

Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE]. Last updated: [LAST UPDATED DATE].

1. Who we are and what this policy covers

Trailhead Financial ("Trailhead," "we," "us") is operated by [COMPANY LEGAL NAME], a [ENTITY TYPE AND STATE OF FORMATION], located at [MAILING ADDRESS]. Trailhead is a record-keeping tool that helps Scouting units (such as troops, packs, crews, and ships) track scout accounts, fundraisers, dues, reimbursements, budgets, and committee reports. This policy explains what information we handle through our website at https://trailheadfi.com, our web app, and our mobile apps (together, the "Service"), why we handle it, and the choices you have.

Trailhead is an independent product. It is not owned, operated, sponsored, or endorsed by Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America), any local council, or any chartered organization.

In short: We keep troop finance records on behalf of your unit. We collect as little as we can, we never sell personal information, and we never advertise to anyone — especially not to scouts.

2. Our role: the unit controls its records

When a unit uses Trailhead, the unit (acting through its authorized adult leaders, such as the committee chair or treasurer) decides what records to keep and who can see them. For that unit data, we act as a service provider that stores and processes it on the unit's behalf and under its instructions. We are directly responsible for information we collect for our own purposes, such as account sign-in details, billing records for our own subscription fees, and website analytics.

If you are a parent or scout with a question about records your unit keeps, please contact your unit's leaders first. You can also contact us at [email protected], and we will help or route your request to the unit.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Information adult users give us

• Account information for adult users (treasurers, leaders, committee members, and parents who are invited): name, email address, password (stored only in hashed form), role, and the unit you belong to.
• Unit information: unit type and number, chartered organization name, council name, and settings.
• Financial records the unit enters: scout account balances and transactions, dues, fundraiser sales and credits, budgets, actual income and expenses, approvals, and committee reports.
• Reimbursement requests submitted through a unit's reimbursement link: the submitter's name and email address, amount, purpose, date, receipt images or files, and approval notes. If the unit chooses to record how a reimbursement was paid (for example, check number), that is stored too.
• Support messages and feedback you send us.

3.2 Information about scouts (minors)

Scouts do not create accounts and do not use Trailhead directly. Adult leaders may enter a limited amount of information about scouts so the unit can track each scout's account. Trailhead is designed to work with only:

• the scout's first name and last name or last initial (or a nickname or ID the unit chooses);
• optional grouping fields such as patrol, den, or rank, if the unit turns them on; and
• the financial entries linked to that scout (for example, fundraiser credits, dues, and camp payments), and which parent or guardian account is linked to the scout.

We do not ask for, and units must not enter, a scout's date of birth, home address, phone number, email address, photo, school, Social Security number, medical or health information, or any other sensitive details. Free-text notes and receipt uploads should not contain this information either.

3.3 Information collected automatically

• Technical and log data: IP address, browser and device type, operating system, app version, pages or screens viewed, and timestamps. We use this to run, secure, and fix the Service.
• Audit log: to protect units' financial integrity, the Service records who created, changed, approved, or deleted a financial record, and when. The audit log is visible to authorized leaders of that unit.
• Cookies and similar technologies: we use cookies that are strictly necessary for sign-in, security, and remembering your settings. If we use analytics, we use [ANALYTICS PROVIDER OR "privacy-focused, cookieless analytics"] only on our public marketing pages, and never inside the logged-in app or on any page a scout or parent might use through a shared link. We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking.

3.4 Payment information (when online payments are enabled)

Trailhead does not currently accept card payments. See Section 9 for how payment information will be handled if online payments are added.

4. How we use information

• To provide the Service: keeping the unit's books, calculating balances, routing reimbursement requests through the unit's approval steps, and generating reports and exports.
• To send service messages: account invitations, approval requests, receipts, security alerts, and important policy updates.
• To keep the Service secure: detecting fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access, and maintaining the audit log.
• To support you: answering questions and fixing problems you report.
• To improve the Service: understanding which features are used, using aggregated or de-identified data whenever possible.
• To meet legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

We do not use personal information about scouts for anything other than providing the Service to their unit. We do not build profiles of scouts, do not use their information for marketing or advertising, and do not use unit data, including scout data, to train artificial intelligence models offered to anyone else.

5. How we share information

We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for targeted (cross-context behavioral) advertising. We share information only in these situations:

• Within your unit: information is visible to other users in your unit according to the roles and permissions the unit's administrators set. For example, a parent can be limited to seeing only their own scout's account.
• Service providers: companies that help us run the Service, such as cloud hosting ([HOSTING PROVIDER AND REGION]), email delivery, error monitoring, customer support tools, and (in the future) payment processing. They may use the information only to provide services to us, and must protect it. A current list is available at [SUBPROCESSOR LIST URL] or on request.
• At the unit's direction: for example, when a leader exports a report, emails a statement to a parent, or connects an integration.
• Legal reasons: when we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law or legal process, or necessary to protect the safety of a person, prevent fraud, or protect our rights.
• Business transfers: if [COMPANY LEGAL NAME] is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may transfer as part of that deal, but it will remain subject to the promises in this policy (or the successor must give you notice and a choice).

6. Children's privacy and youth protection

Protecting young people is central to Scouting, and we built Trailhead around that principle.

• Trailhead is not directed to children. Scouts do not create accounts, sign in, or enter information. All users must be adults (18 or older), except that a unit may choose to give limited view-only access to a scout aged [13] or older, with a parent or guardian's permission.
• Data minimization: we limit scout information to what is needed to keep a unit's financial records (see Section 3.2).
• Collection through the unit: information about scouts is entered by the unit's adult leaders. Units are responsible for telling parents and guardians what scout information they keep in Trailhead and for obtaining any permission required, including verifiable parental consent under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) where it applies. We provide a sample parent notice at [PARENT NOTICE URL] to help.
• Parent rights: a parent or guardian of a scout under 13 can ask to review the information about their child, ask that it be corrected or deleted, and ask that no further information be collected. Contact your unit's leaders or email us at [email protected]. We will verify that you are the parent or guardian before acting, and we will work with the unit to respond. Deleting a scout's information may affect the unit's ability to keep accurate financial records, and the unit may need to keep a de-identified ledger entry (for example, "Former Scout #12") so its books still balance.
• No direct contact with scouts: Trailhead does not send messages, notifications, or marketing to scouts. Account statements are sent to linked parents or guardians and unit leaders. This supports Scouting America's youth protection practice that communication with youth should include a parent or another adult.
• No ads and no sale: we never show advertising in the Service and never sell or disclose children's information to third parties for their own purposes.
• If we learn that we have received information from a child under 13 in a way this policy does not allow (for example, a child submitted a reimbursement form), we will delete it promptly.

7. How long we keep information (data retention)

We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy. Our retention schedule is:

• Active unit records: kept while the unit's account is active, because units often need multi-year history for audits, recharter, and treasurer transitions.
• Scouts who leave the unit: a unit administrator can archive or remove a scout. We recommend units remove or de-identify scout names within [NUMBER] months after a scout leaves, once their account balance is settled. [OPTIONAL: Trailhead will automatically prompt administrators to do so.]
• Closed unit accounts: after a unit closes its account, we keep the data for [NUMBER, e.g., 90] days so the unit can change its mind or export records, then delete it from our active systems.
• Backups: deleted data may remain in encrypted backups for up to [NUMBER, e.g., 35] days before it is overwritten.
• Audit log entries: kept for as long as the related unit records are kept.
• Our own business records (for example, invoices for Trailhead subscription fees): kept as long as required by tax and accounting law, typically [NUMBER] years.
• Inactive accounts: if a unit has not signed in for [NUMBER, e.g., 24] months, we will email its administrators and may delete the account if no one responds within [NUMBER, e.g., 60] days.

8. Exporting and deleting your data

• Export: unit administrators can export the unit's records at any time (for example, as CSV or PDF reports), including before closing an account or handing off to a new treasurer. The data belongs to the unit, not to Trailhead.
• Correction: users can update their own profile. Leaders with the right permission can correct unit records; corrections are recorded in the audit log rather than silently overwritten.
• Deletion: you can delete your own user account in [SETTINGS LOCATION] or by emailing [email protected]. A unit administrator can delete the whole unit account. Some financial history may remain in the unit's records (with your name replaced if you ask) so that the unit's books stay accurate.
• Treasurer and leader changes: when an adult leaves a role, the unit should remove their access. The unit's data stays with the unit.

9. Payments (planned feature)

Trailhead does not currently process card or bank payments. If we add online payments (for example, so parents can pay dues or camp fees, or so we can bill units for a subscription), these rules will apply:

• Payments will be handled by a third-party payment processor such as [PAYMENT PROCESSOR NAME, e.g., Stripe]. Card and bank account numbers are entered directly into the processor's secure forms and are not stored on Trailhead's servers. We will receive only limited details, such as the payer's name, email, amount, date, last four digits of a card, and payment status.
• The processor handles payment information under its own privacy policy and terms, which we will link to at the point of payment.
• The processor may verify the identity of the unit's account holder (for example, the treasurer or chartered organization representative) as required by law. That information goes to the processor for that purpose.
• Payments will only be made by adults. Scouts will not be able to make payments through Trailhead.
• We will update this policy and notify users before online payments are turned on.

10. How we protect information

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate for a small company handling financial records about families, including encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, role-based access, [MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION OPTION], restricted staff access on a need-to-know basis, and a written information security program. No system is perfectly secure. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will notify the affected unit and individuals as required by law.

11. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, and to opt out of certain uses. We offer these rights to all users regardless of where they live. To make a request, email [email protected]. We will verify your identity and respond within the time required by law (typically 30–45 days). If your request concerns records a unit controls, we may forward it to the unit's administrators. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Because we do not sell or share personal information for targeted advertising, there is nothing to opt out of in that respect. We honor Global Privacy Control signals in any case.

12. Email and notifications

We send service messages (invitations, approval requests, statements, and security notices) that are needed to use the Service. If we send optional product news, it will go only to adult users, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

13. Where information is stored

Trailhead is intended for units in the United States. Information is stored and processed in the United States by us and our service providers.

14. Changes to this policy

We will post any changes on this page and update the "Last updated" date. For material changes, we will notify unit administrators by email or in the app at least [NUMBER, e.g., 30] days before they take effect. We will not use previously collected children's information in a materially different way without any required parental consent.

15. Contact us

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME]

Attn: Privacy

[MAILING ADDRESS]

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://trailheadfi.com

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