Privacy Policy

Soak Trail ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit www.soaktrail.com (the "Site"), use our Soak Atlas MCP server, or interact with our regional hot springs guide network.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact:

Chester Beard — Soak Trail
Email: [email protected]

We aim to respond within 48 hours.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide Voluntarily

• Condition Reports & Photo Submissions: When you submit hot spring condition updates or photos through our site or regional partner sites, we collect the content you submit, your display name, and any location metadata you choose to include.
• Trip Planner Data: If you save trips or itineraries, we store your selections locally in your browser unless you explicitly share them.
• Shop Orders: If you purchase posters or digital products from our shop, we collect your name, shipping address, email address, and payment information through our payment processor.

Information Collected Automatically

• Usage Data: We use Cloudflare Analytics and Google Analytics to collect anonymized data about how visitors interact with our Site, including pages visited, time on site, referral sources, and approximate geographic location (city/region level only).
• Device Data: Browser type, operating system, screen resolution, and language preferences.
• Cookies & Similar Technologies: We use cookies to remember your preferences, analyze traffic, and serve personalized advertising through Google AdSense and affiliate partners. See our Cookie section below for details.
• MCP Server Queries: When you query our Soak Atlas MCP server through an AI assistant, we log the query parameters and response metadata for service improvement and rate limiting. We do not link MCP queries to personal identities.

Information from Third Parties

• Open Data Sources: Our hot spring database incorporates publicly available data from USGS, NOAA, OpenStreetMap, Wikipedia, Recreation.gov, and weather services. This data does not contain personal information.
• Affiliate Partners: When you click affiliate links (Amazon Associates, lodging booking sites), those third parties may place tracking cookies and collect data according to their own privacy policies.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

1. Provide and improve the Site: Maintain our database of 500+ hot springs, generate spring detail pages, and keep access conditions current.
2. Personalize your experience: Remember your region preferences and show relevant spring recommendations.
3. Process transactions: Fulfill poster orders through Stripe and Gelato print-on-demand services.
4. Communicate with you: Respond to condition reports, send order confirmations, and notify you of significant site updates.
5. Analyze and optimize: Understand which springs, regions, and content are most useful to visitors.
6. Monetize sustainably: Display relevant ads through Google AdSense and earn affiliate commissions from gear and booking recommendations.
7. Ensure security and prevent abuse: Protect against spam submissions and unauthorized API usage.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help websites function and remember your preferences.

Types of Cookies We Use

Your Cookie Choices

When you first visit Soak Trail, a cookie banner allows you to:

• Accept All: Enable all cookies including analytics and advertising.
• Customize: Choose which cookie categories to allow.
• Reject Non-Essential: Block analytics, advertising, and affiliate cookies while keeping essential functionality.

You can change your preferences at any time by clicking the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer.

Third-Party Advertising

We use Google AdSense to display ads. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to Soak Trail and other sites. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings or About Ads.

How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: Stripe (payment processing), Gelato (print fulfillment), Cloudflare (hosting and analytics), Google (analytics and advertising).
• Legal Compliance: When required by law, subpoena, or to protect our rights, safety, or property.
• Business Transfers: If Soak Trail is acquired or merged, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction.
• Anonymized/Aggregated Data: We may share de-identified hot springs visitation trends or regional popularity data with researchers or tourism organizations.

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information:

• All data transmission uses HTTPS/TLS encryption.
• Payment data is handled exclusively by PCI-compliant Stripe; we never store full credit card numbers.
• Our MCP server endpoints are rate-limited and do not expose personally identifiable information.
• User-submitted photos and condition reports are reviewed before public display to prevent spam or inappropriate content.

No internet transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Data Retention

• Analytics Data: Retained for 26 months (Google Analytics default) then automatically deleted.
• Condition Reports & Photos: Retained indefinitely unless you request deletion, as they benefit the hot springs community.
• Shop Order Data: Retained for 7 years for tax and accounting purposes, then anonymized.
• Cookie Preferences: Retained for 12 months, then the banner will reappear.
• MCP Query Logs: Retained for 90 days for service improvement, then deleted.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

For All Users

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Objection: Object to our use of your data for direct marketing or certain profiling.

For California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

You have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, share, and sell (we do not sell personal information).
• Request deletion of your personal information.
• Opt out of the sale of personal information (not applicable, as we do not sell data).
• Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise CCPA rights, email [email protected] with "CCPA Request" in the subject line.

For EU/UK Residents (GDPR)

You have the right to:

• Access, rectify, or erase your personal data.
• Restrict or object to processing.
• Data portability.
• Withdraw consent at any time (does not affect processing before withdrawal).
• Lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.

Our legal basis for processing:

• Consent: Analytics, advertising, and affiliate cookies (you choose via cookie banner).
• Legitimate Interest: Site security, fraud prevention, and service improvement.
• Contract: Processing shop orders you initiate.
• Legal Obligation: Tax and accounting record retention.

For Users Outside the US

Your data is hosted on Cloudflare's global network, which may process data in the United States and other countries. By using the Site, you consent to this transfer.

Children's Privacy

Soak Trail is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will delete it.

Third-Party Links and Services

Our Site contains links to:

• Regional partner sites (washingtonhotsprings.com, soakcolorado.com, etc.)
• Affiliate retailers (Amazon Associates, lodging booking sites)
• Government data sources (USGS, NOAA, Recreation.gov)
• Social media platforms (Instagram, Bluesky, Pinterest)

Each of these has its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review them before providing personal information.

MCP Server and AI Assistants

Our Soak Atlas MCP server allows AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) to query hot spring data. When you use an MCP client to access our data:

• We do not receive your personal identity or conversation history.
• We log query parameters (location filters, search terms) for service improvement.
• AI assistants may cache responses; we do not control their data practices.
• For AI assistant privacy practices, consult the provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.).

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the most recent revision. For material changes, we will:

• Post a prominent notice on the Site for 30 days.
• Update the cookie banner to re-collect consent if required by law.

Compliance Statement

Soak Trail complies with:

• Google AdSense Program Policies and Google Publisher Policies regarding user transparency and cookie consent.
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA).
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for EU visitors.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines on affiliate disclosures.
• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

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Soak Trail is published by Chester Beard as an independent research project. Affiliate commissions and advertising revenue support the ongoing field research and database maintenance that makes this resource possible.