Privacy

TrailTruth privacy

Last updated October 28, 2026. TrailTruth is run by Steel Lantern (steellantern.com). This covers the free test.

In short

We collect very little: what you type into our forms, simple counts of how often the app is used, and any trail notes you choose to leave (a phrase, a spot and a time, shown to other hikers). You can ask us to delete your data at any time, and remove your own notes yourself.

What we collect, and why

• If you sign up for the test: your email address, the park or area you hike most, whether you use an iPhone or Android, the date, and the date you ticked that you agree to the terms and this policy. We use them to give you your personal link to the app and to write to you about the test.
• If you use a personal link, usage counts: for your personal link, per day, how many times the app was opened, how many times you asked it something while your phone's GPS showed you inside a downloaded park's map area (our rough sign that you used it on a hike), and whether you came back on a later day, plus which version of the terms you tapped I agree to in the app, and the day we learned it. These are numbers only: we don't record where you were, what you asked, or any time of day. The app keeps the counts on your phone until it has signal, then sends them. We use them to see whether the app is useful on real hikes.
• If you use the open app, with no sign-up: the same daily counts (times opened, questions asked inside a downloaded park), added straight into one total for everyone that day. Nothing is kept per phone or per person.
• If you scan a TrailTruth QR code (on a trailhead or visitor-center poster): one more on that poster's count for the day. The code names the place, not you. A phone is counted once an hour per code, using the scrambled internet address described below, held in memory only.
• If you leave a trail note (a short phrase such as "Water here, flowing", picked from a fixed list, with no free text): the phrase, the spot where you stood when you left it, the day and time, and how many hikers said it is still true or not any more. Anyone using TrailTruth can see these, because the note is for the next hikers. To tell your notes apart, the app makes a random code on your phone. Our server keeps only a scrambled form of it and never shows it; it carries no name and no device ID, but it does link the notes left from the same phone, so we treat it as personal data. When you rate a note, the app sends your GPS position once to check you are within 150 m of the note; the position is not stored, and your vote is kept with the same scrambled code so each phone counts once.
• If you send feedback from the app: your answers and the date, tied to your link rather than to your name. Your email is included only if you tick "I'd like a reply" and type it. We use feedback to fix and improve TrailTruth, and the email only to answer you.

We don't collect your name, your location (except the spot of a trail note you choose to leave), your contacts or any device ID, and there are no ads or tracking tools. To stop people flooding our forms, our server briefly uses a scrambled form of your internet address to count how often one sender posts. It is held in memory only and never stored.

Your walks, pins, park maps and settings stay on your phone. With signal, the app fetches weather, park alerts and map tiles straight from the U.S. government services that publish them (weather.gov, the National Park Service and the USGS), like any web page would.

Who sees it

Trail notes are public: anyone using TrailTruth sees each note's phrase, spot, time and ratings, never the code behind it. Everything else, only the small Steel Lantern team running the test. We never sell, rent or share your data, and we send your email to no one. It is stored with our hosting provider (Cloudflare) on our account.

How long we keep it

Trail notes fade: water notes after 7 days, hazards after 10, wayfinding notes after 120 and views after a year, each kept a little longer when hikers say it is still true. Within a few days of fading, a note is deleted from our server, with its ratings and the scrambled code linking it to your phone. The count of how many notes a phone left on a day is deleted within a few days too. Everything else, for as long as the test runs. When it ends, we delete the sign-ups, usage counts and feedback we no longer need, or keep only totals with nothing tied to you.

Deleting your data

Children

The test is for adults. Please don't sign up if you are under 18.

Changes

If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top before we start.

See also the terms.