Privacy Policy

Who we are

Freecation (“we”, “us”) runs the Freecation app and website. Questions about this policy or your data: support@freecation.app.

What stays on your device

These are stored only on your phone (or, on the website, in your browser), and we can’t see them:

• your dream trips and bookings, boarding passes and passport stamps;
• your journal entries and any photos you add to them;
• your travel profile: who you travel with, your travel style, trip length and the things you love;
• your settings, including whether AI is on, and trip notifications, which are scheduled on the phone itself;
• the copy of your current trip that the Home Screen widget reads. To show the weather, the widget asks our server for the forecast at your destination, like the app does.

On the website, trips, custom destinations and “Find the real thing” results are kept in your browser’s local storage. Deleting the app, or clearing the site’s data in your browser, deletes them.

What our server stores

Anonymous usage counts

So we can tell whether Freecation is working, the app sends daily totals such as how many postcards were opened or trips were booked, and how many days ago the app was first opened. There is no account, device ID or IP address with these counts, and nothing about where you’re going, so they can’t be traced back to you or anyone else. Turn them off any time in Profile → Settings → Privacy → “Share anonymous usage counts”.

If you create a Community account

• your handle and avatar, a random account ID and when the account was created;
• a scrambled (hashed) copy of your sign-in token. The token itself is kept by the app on your phone; we can’t read it back;
• which version of the Terms you accepted, and when;
• your posts: the title, caption and the trip summary you share (destination, country, airports, cabin, the name and tier of the stay, number of nights and travelers, experiences, the trip’s dream value and a destination photo link). Posts never include your name or your trip dates;
• your upvotes, the posts you report (with the reason you pick), the accounts you block, and “inspired” claims (that you booked a dream trip from someone’s post);
• badges you earn, and moderation records, such as whether a post was hidden or an account banned.

What’s public: your handle, avatar, level, badges, points and rank, and your posts with their upvote and “inspired” counts can be seen by anyone using Freecation. Reports and blocks are private; moderators can see reports.

To prevent abuse and control costs

Every request passes through rate limits, short-lived counters keyed to the IP address it came from (an IPv6 address is shortened to its network prefix) and, for signed-in actions, your account ID. Each counter is deleted when its window ends, which is at most one hour. Daily counters for AI requests, keyed to the IP address (or, for Freecation Plus members, to the subscription’s transaction ID), are deleted within two days. We use these counters only to limit requests.

Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs, including IP addresses, for a short time for security and troubleshooting.

AI processing (Anthropic)

Some features use Anthropic’s Claude, through Anthropic’s commercial API: daily postcards, the trip guide chat, daily choices for Plus members, turning anything you type into “anywhere” search into a destination, and “Find the real thing”, which researches real hotels and tours for a destination.

• In the app, only with your permission. The app asks before any AI is used, and you can change your answer any time in Profile → Settings → Privacy → “AI postcards and search”. With AI off, postcards come from a built-in writer and searches are built from public map and encyclopedia data.
• On the website, these features use AI when you use them.
• What is sent: trip details (the destination, dates and each day’s weather, cabin, stay, experiences, number of nights and travelers, departure airport), the titles of your day plans, the choices you pick each day, the messages you send your trip guide, the places you search for and the travel styles and interests you picked, and destination names for real-place research. Your guide conversation is kept on your phone, not on our server.
• What is never sent: your name, your journal, your photos, your handle or your IP address.

Anthropic uses this to write the text and sends it back to us. We don’t use it to track you or for ads. See Anthropic’s privacy policy.

Freecation Plus subscriptions

Plus is sold and billed by Apple through the App Store. We never see your payment details, name or Apple ID. To unlock Plus features, the app sends Apple’s signed proof of your subscription (the product, its transaction ID and its dates) with requests to our server. The server checks Apple’s signature and the expiry date, then forgets the proof: it isn’t stored or logged. Only the daily AI counter above uses the transaction ID. Manage or cancel Plus in your Apple account settings.

Data providers

Our server looks up public travel data, sending only what each lookup needs, never your account, name or IP address:

• Open-Meteo: a destination’s coordinates and dates, for weather; place names, to find where a place is.
• Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia: destination and place names and a destination’s coordinates, for photos, descriptions and nearby landmarks.
• Google Places (Google Maps Platform): names of real hotels and experiences, for photos, ratings and reviews.
• Duffel: departure and arrival airports, dates, cabin and number of travelers, for real flight prices.
• Unsplash and Pexels (when enabled): destination names, for photos.

Photos load straight from those services (Google, Wikimedia, Unsplash, Pexels) into your app or browser, so they see your IP address and standard device information, as with any image on the web. Their own privacy policies apply.

Bookings are simulated

Dream Checkout is a simulation. Nothing is reserved, nothing is charged and no payment details are ever asked for or stored. Boarding passes and confirmation numbers are not valid for travel.

“Make it real” links and affiliate partners

Affiliate disclosure: some “Make it real” and “Book it for real” links are affiliate links. If you book through one, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Our partners include Travelpayouts (Aviasales), Stay22 (which links to Booking.com, Expedia and others), Viator and GetYourGuide; other links go to Google Flights and Booking.com without tracking. Commissions don’t change the trips or prices we show, and every price in Freecation is an estimate.

When you tap one of these links you leave Freecation. The partner receives the search in the link (destination, dates, number of travelers and sometimes a hotel name), our partner ID and a random trip reference, plus whatever their own site collects under their privacy policy. To show “live fares seen from” prices, our server may also ask Travelpayouts for fares on your route and month.

Website analytics

When analytics are enabled, the website sends usage events to PostHog, such as opening the site, picking a destination, sharing a trip or tapping a partner link. Each event carries a random ID stored in your browser, the number of days since your first visit and the page address. PostHog receives your IP address with each event. For share links, the page address contains the link’s contents, including a first name if you chose to add one. Clearing the site’s data resets the ID. The iOS app contains no third-party analytics.

Share links

A share link carries its trip summary inside the link itself, and on the website you can choose to add your first name. We don’t store share links: anyone who has the link can see what’s in it, and it keeps working after you delete your account. Shared trip pages are labeled “Shared by a traveler · not an offer”.

A “travel together” invite from the app is a share link that also carries the trip’s departure day, the experiences you picked and, if you choose, your first name. The friend’s name you enter stays on your phone. When you travel with a friend, our server only learns that you are, and writes postcards with a placeholder that your phone replaces with their name.

Children

Freecation isn’t meant for children under 13, and you must be 13 or older to create a Community account. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, email support@freecation.app and we’ll delete it.

How long we keep data

• Community account, posts, votes, blocks and badges: until you delete them or your account.
• Reports: as long as both the post and the reporting account exist; they are deleted with either. Moderation records are deleted with the post.
• Rate-limit counters: at most one hour. Daily AI counters: at most two days. Anonymous usage counts: 400 days.
• Data on your device: until you delete it or the app.

Deleting your data

In the app, go to Profile → Settings → Community → “Delete my account”. This immediately removes from our server your handle, avatar, posts, upvotes, reports, blocks, “inspired” claims, badges and points, including the points your votes gave others. Your trips, journal and photos stay on your phone until you delete them or the app. More on the Support page.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example California, the EU or the UK), you may have the right to know what we hold about you, get a copy, correct it, delete it, or object to how we use it. Most Freecation data lives on your device and is in your control already; for anything on our server, email support@freecation.app with your handle. We respond as the law requires and won’t treat you differently for asking. We don’t sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising.

Security

Sign-in tokens are long random values, stored on our server only as a one-way hash. Connections to Freecation use HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, so keep your phone locked: anyone with your unlocked phone can use your account.

Where data is processed

We and the providers above may process data in the United States and other countries, with protections required by law.

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes we update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your data, we’ll tell you in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

Freecation · support@freecation.app