Privacy Policy

• We do not sell your personal data. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone.
• We are not in the business of pre-emptively harvesting your information to resell it.
• If a business advertises with us, we only show them aggregate campaign performance (such as how many people saw or tapped an ad) — never your personal information or who you are.
• We do save activity and location/“movement” information to make features like nearby groups, check-ins, gatherings, and hunts work — but that data is used to run the app, not sold.
• Children’s accounts are created and managed by a parent or guardian, with parental controls over posting and messaging.

Account & profile. Name or display name, username, email address (held by our authentication provider), city/state, avatar, bio, and preferences.

Family & student information. If you set up a family, the children (students) you add — first name, grade/age group, and parental settings you choose. This is provided by the parent or guardian.

Content you create. Posts, photos, comments, reactions, messages, groups/associations, gatherings, and hunts you create or join.

Usage & device data. How you use the app (pages viewed, features used, interactions), device and app version, and diagnostic/log data.

Location / movement data. With your permission, approximate or precise location to power location-based features (nearby groups and venues, check-ins at gatherings, and hunts). You can disable location in your device settings; some features will be limited.

Communications. Messages you send through the app and support requests you send to us.

• To provide and operate the app and its features.
• To keep the community safe — including parental monitoring tools, moderation, and abuse prevention.
• To send notifications you’ve enabled (messages, invites, reminders).
• To personalize what you see (e.g., groups and events near you).
• To measure and improve the app, and to understand which features are useful.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not build hidden profiles of you to auction to advertisers.

If and when we show advertising, advertisers pay to reach an audience; they do not receive your personal data. What an advertiser can see is limited to aggregate, de-identified campaign performance — for example, total impressions and taps for their campaign. We do not tell advertisers who you are.

Explorer Social is built for homeschool families, which means minors use it under a parent’s or guardian’s direction. Child (student) accounts are created and managed by a parent or guardian, who controls settings including whether a child’s posts are reviewed before publishing and whether a child’s messages are monitored.

For children under 13, we rely on verifiable parental involvement consistent with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): a parent sets up and oversees the account. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from a child under 13 without that parental involvement, and we do not serve behavioral/targeted advertising to children. A parent may review, edit, or delete their child’s information, or remove the child’s account, at any time from the family settings or by contacting us.

We share information only as needed to run the service:

• With other users, as you choose — e.g., your profile, posts, and content within the groups, gatherings, and hunts you participate in. Group and family organizers can see members and relevant details of their group/family.
• With service providers who operate the app on our behalf (cloud hosting, authentication, email delivery, and payment processing). They may only use the data to provide their service to us.
• For safety and legal reasons — to protect people from harm, enforce our Terms, or comply with law or valid legal process.
• In a business transfer — if we are involved in a merger or acquisition, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy.

We do not share your personal information with advertisers for their own use.

• Access and update your profile and family information in the app.
• Control notifications and location permissions in the app and your device settings.
• Delete content you’ve posted, and delete your account. Deleting your account removes your profile and associated personal data, subject to limited retention for legal, security, or backup purposes.
• Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your data. Contact us to exercise them.

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. We keep information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service, resolve disputes, and meet legal obligations.

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the new version here and update the “Last updated” date. Significant changes will be communicated in the app.

Questions about this Policy or your data? Email info@explorersocial.com.