Privacy policy

Last updated: 8 October 2026 · Version 0.9 (draft)

This policy explains which personal data the Downwind app and this website process, why, and what rights you have. It follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revDSG/nDSG) and, for users in the EU/EEA, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Controller

Christoph Umbricht, Huebacherstrasse 18, 5417 Untersiggenthal, Switzerland · hello@flydownwind.ch. Questions about privacy: same address.

2. Short version

• No ads, no selling of data, no analytics, no tracking, no cookies on this website.
• Your flights are visible only to the pilots you confirm as wingmen (or only to you).
• Location is used only while a flight is recorded and, with auto-record, to notice that you are near an airfield.
• You can export everything and delete your account in the app at any time.

3. Data we process

• Account: e-mail address (sign-in link). If you choose Sign in with Apple or Google, the identifier and e-mail address that service gives us.
• Profile: first name, last name, pilot name, profile photo, home airfield, licences and ratings, language, links to your social profiles, clubs you belong to.
• Expiry dates of ratings, medical and licences that you enter – private, visible only to you.
• Flights: date and times (block and flight), airfields, aircraft registration and type, role (e.g. PIC), landings, night time, notes, photos and the GPS track (position, altitude, speed, time).
• Passengers: pilots you tag as passengers, or first names of guests you enter; souvenir links you create for them (only first names; you can revoke them).
• Social: wingman requests and connections, likes, comments, chat and club chat messages and photos, fly-out events with answers and comments, airfield reviews, photos and links, aircraft directory entries, badges and collected routes, reports and blocked pilots.
• Family and live link (optional): people you link as family and positions you share with a live link while you fly.
• Notifications: a push token of your device and your notification settings.
• Feedback you send: text, optional screenshot, app version and device type.
• Error reports: error message, technical details, app version and platform, so we can fix problems.
• Verification (optional): if you ask to be shown as the official account of an airfield or club, or as a flight instructor: the contact e-mail and message you enter; for instructors also a photo of the licence page with the FI certificate and its expiry date. Only Downwind admins see the request. The photo is deleted as soon as the request is decided. The verified role (e.g. “official account of LSZG”, “FI”) and the date are visible to signed-in pilots. Airfield accounts can send feedback on traffic circuits, optionally with a photo or PDF of the official circuit chart (only admins see it).

4. Location

• While recording a flight (started by you or automatically), the app uses GPS to record the track – also in the background.
• Auto-record (optional, permission "Always"): outside airfields Downwind uses no GPS; iOS only tells the app when you enter an area of about 2 km around a nearby airfield (geofence). Near an airfield, GPS detects taxiing, take-off and landing.
• After landing, a recorded flight stays a private draft on your phone until you review and share it. You can turn auto-record off or pause it at any time.

5. Who sees what

• Flights, tracks, photos and statistics are visible to confirmed wingmen (both agreed), to tagged passengers, or only to you – you choose per flight. You can hide the first and last 500 m of every track.
• Pilots who are not your wingmen see your name and profile photo, so they can send you a request. Earned badges and collected routes (not the flights behind them) can be seen by signed-in pilots.
• Airfield reviews, airfield photos and aircraft directory entries are visible to all signed-in pilots, with your name. Club members see club content; fly-out events are visible according to the visibility you choose (club, wingmen or public).
• A live link or souvenir link can be opened by anyone who has the link, until it ends or you revoke it.
• Moderators see reported content to handle reports.
• Chat messages are not end-to-end encrypted. They are encrypted in transit and stored on our provider's servers; only the members of a chat can read them in the app.

6. Purposes and legal basis

We process your data to provide the app (logbook, sharing, community features) – GDPR Art. 6(1)(b), contract; to keep the service safe and fix errors (moderation, error reports) – Art. 6(1)(f), legitimate interest; and for optional features such as auto-record, live link, push or ADS-B only with your consent – Art. 6(1)(a), which you can withdraw at any time in the app or in the iPhone settings.

7. Service providers and third parties

• Supabase (database, sign-in, file storage, server functions) – servers in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany). Supabase Inc. is based in the USA; data transfers are covered by the EU standard contractual clauses.
• Apple – App Store / TestFlight distribution, Apple Push Notification service, Sign in with Apple (if you use it).
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging – delivers push notifications to your device (push token and the notification content). Sign in with Google (if offered and you use it).
• Map tiles: swisstopo (Swiss Federal Office of Topography), OpenFreeMap / OpenStreetMap, terrain data from AWS Open Data. Your device loads map images directly from these services, so they see your IP address and the map area.
• Weather: aviationweather.gov (NOAA) – queried by our server; only airfield codes are sent, no personal data.
• ADS-B (optional, off by default): if you turn it on, our server asks adsb.lol for the positions of the aircraft registrations you choose.
• Links to airfield websites and webcams open in your browser; those sites have their own privacy policies.
• The app is built with Codemagic; Codemagic receives no user data.

We do not sell personal data and do not share it for advertising.

8. Retention and deletion

• Your data is kept as long as you have an account.
• Settings → Account → Delete account deletes your account, profile, flights, tracks, photos, messages and all other personal data at once (and revokes Sign in with Apple). Reports and error reports you made remain without a link to you; backups of our provider are overwritten within at most 30 days.
• Export: Settings → Data – logbook as CSV and PDF, tracks as GPX, all your data as a JSON file.

9. Your rights

You can request access to your data, correction, deletion, restriction, data portability, and object to processing. Most of it you can do directly in the app; otherwise write to hello@flydownwind.ch. You can complain to the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC/EDÖB, edoeb.admin.ch) or to the data protection authority in your EU country.

10. Children

Downwind is meant for pilots and passengers aged 16 or older.

11. This website

flydownwind.ch is a static website hosted by GitHub Pages (GitHub Inc., USA). GitHub processes technical access data (e.g. IP address) to deliver the pages and keep them secure. We use no cookies, no analytics and no external fonts or scripts.

12. Not for navigation

Downwind is a logbook and a way to share flights. It is not for navigation and not a flight tracking or alerting service.

13. Changes

We update this policy when the app changes and announce important changes in the app. The date at the top shows the current version.