Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

We collect information you provide directly — your name, email address, role (student, licensed pilot, CFI, aircraft owner, or mechanic), and profile details. For CFIs, this includes FAA certificate numbers and ratings submitted for verification. For students and pilots, this includes flight log entries and training records.

We also collect credential and currency metadata — the type and dates of your certificates, ratings, endorsements, flight review, and medical certificate, and your date of birth. Section 4 explains exactly what we do and do not store about your medical certificate, and why the date of birth is needed.

We also collect certain information automatically when you visit vector61.com, including your IP address, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, your browser and device type, an approximate geographic location derived from your IP address, and the page that referred you to our site. This data is collected for internal analytics purposes only — specifically to understand how many people visit the platform and from where — and is never sold or shared with third parties.

2. Automatic data collection and analytics

By visiting vector61.com you acknowledge that we collect the following data automatically:

• IP address (used to count unique visitors and approximate geographic region)
• Approximate city, region, and country, resolved from your IP address by our hosting provider
• Pages visited and navigation path through the site
• Browser user agent (browser type and operating system)
• Referring URL (the page that linked you to our site)
• Date and time of visit

This data is stored in our database and accessible only to Vector61 LLC employees and administrators. We do not use third-party analytics services such as Google Analytics, we do not use advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not run session-replay or advertising pixels. In fact we set no cookies at all: keeping you signed in uses your browser’s local storage, which stays on your device and is not transmitted to us automatically the way a cookie would be.

We collect no account information from visitors who do not create an account. We want to be precise about one point, however: an IP address is treated as personal information under California and other privacy laws, and we do log IP addresses from all visitors as described above. Visiting the site without an account is therefore not anonymous, and we do not claim otherwise. This data is retained as described in Section 7.

3. How we use your information

• To operate the platform and provide services (scheduling, billing, progress tracking)
• To calculate expiration dates and send currency and renewal reminders
• To verify CFI credentials and award the Certified badge
• To display CFI profiles on the public discovery board (only information you choose to make visible)
• To send transactional emails (lesson confirmations, invoice receipts)
• To monitor platform usage, improve our services, and detect fraudulent or unauthorized activity

4. Medical certificate and credential data

So that the platform can calculate expiration dates and remind you before you go out of currency, we store metadata only about your medical certificate: its class (First, Second, Third, or BasicMed), the date of your exam, and your date of birth. We store the date of birth because 14 CFR § 61.23(d) makes the certificate’s duration depend on whether you were under 40 on the date of the exam — 60 calendar months if you were, 24 if you were not — so the date is required to compute the correct expiry and to recompute it if you later correct your exam date. We handle certificates, ratings, endorsements, flight reviews, and insurance the same way: type and dates only.

We deliberately do not collect or store images, scans, or PDFs of medical certificates, nor any medical condition, diagnosis, treatment, waiver, or Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA), nor any other health information about you. We only need the dates to run the math.

Vector61 LLC is not a healthcare provider, health plan, or healthcare clearinghouse, and is therefore not a HIPAA-covered entity. Where state consumer health data laws apply — including the Washington My Health My Data Act and comparable statutes — we treat medical certificate metadata as consumer health data. We collect it only with your consent, given when you choose to enter it; we use it solely for the expiration and currency reminders described above; we never sell or share it; and we delete it on request.

Entering this information is optional. You may remove it at any time from your profile without deleting your account, and doing so only disables the related reminders.

5. Your flight logbook

Your flight log data belongs to you. CFIs can only add their signature to entries you create — they cannot edit, delete, or view entries beyond what you share. You can export your full logbook at any time. We will never sell or share your logbook data with third parties without your explicit consent.

6. Data sharing and service providers

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the service providers necessary to operate the platform:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage (United States)
• Vercel — website and application hosting, and the approximate IP-based geolocation described in Section 2
• Stripe — payment processing and payouts
• Resend — transactional email delivery

All providers are contractually required to protect your data and may not use it for their own purposes. We update this list when our providers change. We disclose data to anyone else only when compelled by a valid subpoena or court order.

7. Data retention and deletion

Visit data (IP addresses, approximate location, and page views) is retained for up to 24 months and then deleted. Account data is retained for the duration of your account. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time from your account settings or by contacting us at hello@vector61.com. Flight log entries are retained for the period required by FAA record-keeping regulations unless you specifically request deletion and acknowledge that deletion may affect your regulatory compliance. Invoices and billing records are retained for up to 7 years as required by tax and audit law.

8. Your rights

Depending on your location you may have rights regarding your personal data including the right to access, correct, or delete your data. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@vector61.com. We will respond within 30 days.

California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising and therefore do not offer an opt-out of sale. Washington and Nevada residents have specific rights regarding consumer health data described in Section 4; to exercise them, contact hello@vector61.com. For any privacy inquiry, that address reaches us.

9. Security

We use industry-standard security practices including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), row-level security on all database tables, and regular security reviews. Payments are processed by Stripe — we never store full card numbers. Despite these measures no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

10. Children

Vector61 is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information please contact us at hello@vector61.com and we will delete it promptly. Student pilots between 13 and 18 may use the platform only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, who must review and agree to our Terms of Service on their behalf.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Each version carries a version number, shown at the top of this page. We will notify registered users of material changes by email, and may ask you to review and accept the updated policy the next time you sign in. Continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at hello@vector61.com. You may also write to us at: Vector61 LLC, Utah, United States.