CAMPING BUDDY PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: [07 29, 2026]

Camping Buddy respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain and protect personal information.

Camping Buddy is operated from British Columbia, Canada, by [Paul Smith]. For the purposes of applicable privacy law, [Paul Smith] is the organization responsible for deciding how personal information collected through CampingBuddy.ca is processed.

This Policy is intended to address British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act where applicable, and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation where Camping Buddy offers services to individuals located in the European Economic Area.

Mandatory privacy rights provided by applicable law are not limited by this Policy.

Camping Buddy is currently operated primarily for users in Canada. We do not currently market or specifically offer memberships to residents of the European Union or European Economic Area.

1. Information We Collect

A. Account Information

When you register or maintain an account, we may collect:

username;
display name;
email address;
password hash;
account status;
membership level;
registration and renewal dates;
communication preferences; and
account verification information.

Passwords are not intended to be stored in readable form.

B. Profile and Community Information

Depending on the information you choose to provide, we may collect:

profile descriptions;
profile photographs;
approximate location, region, city or campground;
camping interests and preferences;
travel plans;
posts, comments and other community content;
private messages sent through the platform; and
reports or complaints submitted about community activity.

Optional profile information is visible according to the privacy settings and audience shown when it is posted.

Camping Buddy does not require precise GPS location information and does not provide continuous real-time location tracking.

Users should avoid publishing highly sensitive information, including medical information, government identification, financial account information or other information that could create a personal-safety risk.

C. Payment and Membership Information

When you purchase or renew a membership, we may collect:

name and email address associated with the payment;
membership purchased;
amount, currency and date;
transaction or payment reference;
payment status;
refund or dispute information; and
limited billing information supplied by the payment provider.

Payments may be processed by services such as Stripe, PayPal or participating financial institutions through e-Transfer.

Camping Buddy does not intend to receive or store full payment-card numbers or online-banking passwords. Payment providers may independently collect and process card information, billing addresses, device information and fraud-prevention information under their own privacy notices and legal obligations.

D. Technical and Security Information

When you access Camping Buddy, we may automatically collect:

IP address;
browser and device type;
operating system;
access date and time;
pages or functions requested;
referring address where available;
login records;
error logs;
security events; and
cookies or similar identifiers necessary for account sessions and security.

2. Information We Do Not Intentionally Request

Camping Buddy does not intentionally request:

government identification;
full payment-card numbers;
online-banking passwords;
biometric identification;
continuous real-time GPS tracking; or
personal information for sale to data brokers.

Camping Buddy is intended only for adults aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly permit accounts belonging to minors.

3. How and Why We Use Information

We use personal information to:

create and administer accounts;
provide membership services;
allow members to create profiles and communicate;
process payments, renewals and refunds;
send account, payment and security notices;
provide support;
moderate community activity;
investigate spam, fraud, harassment and misuse;
enforce platform rules;
maintain and improve the service;
comply with accounting, tax and legal obligations; and
establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Where GDPR applies, our legal bases may include:

performance of our membership agreement;
compliance with legal obligations;
our legitimate interests in operating, protecting and moderating the platform;
protection of members and the public; and
consent for optional processing such as non-essential analytics, marketing communications or optional cookies.

Where processing is based on consent, consent may be withdrawn at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred lawfully before withdrawal.

Some information, such as an email address, account credentials and payment confirmation, is required to provide a paid membership. If required information is not provided, we may be unable to create or maintain the account.

4. Private Messages and Member Content

Private messages are stored to provide the messaging service.

Camping Buddy does not routinely read private messages. Authorized access may occur where reasonably necessary to:

investigate a member report;
address a security or technical problem;
enforce community rules;
protect a person from a credible safety threat; or
comply with a valid legal obligation.

Members are responsible for deciding what information they share with other members. Privacy settings reduce visibility but cannot guarantee that another member will not copy, disclose or misuse information they receive.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Camping Buddy uses essential cookies for:

login sessions;
account security;
fraud and abuse prevention;
remembering necessary settings; and
delivering requested site functions.

Essential cookies cannot be disabled through our consent controls when they are required to provide the service.

If we use non-essential analytics, advertising or similar technologies, users will be given appropriate information and choices before those technologies are activated where required by law.

Users may withdraw consent for non-essential cookies through [cookie-settings link or instructions].

Additional information about each cookie, its provider, purpose and duration is available in our [Cookie Policy].

6. Service Providers and Recipients

We may disclose limited personal information to service providers where reasonably necessary to operate Camping Buddy, including:

Canadian website-hosting and server providers;
email-delivery providers;
Stripe;
PayPal;
participating banks or financial institutions handling e-Transfers;
security, backup or technical-support providers;
professional advisers where necessary; and
government, regulatory or law-enforcement authorities where disclosure is legally required.

A current list of major service providers, their purposes and their processing locations is available at [service-provider page or policy section].

Service providers receive only the information reasonably required for their function. Some payment providers act as independent organizations responsible for their own uses of payment and fraud-prevention information.

Camping Buddy does not sell or rent member information.

7. International Processing and Transfers

Camping Buddy is operated and primarily hosted in Canada. Information submitted by users outside Canada will be processed in Canada.

Some service providers may process information in the United States, the European Economic Area or other countries. Privacy and government-access laws in those countries may differ from those in the user’s country.

Where GDPR applies, Camping Buddy will use a legally recognized transfer mechanism where one is required. Depending on the recipient and destination, this may include:

a European Commission adequacy decision;
the EU–US Data Privacy Framework while legally available;
European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses;
approved Binding Corporate Rules; or
another transfer mechanism permitted by applicable law.

Where a transfer mechanism changes or is invalidated, we will review the affected service and adopt another lawful mechanism, apply appropriate supplementary protections, replace the provider or discontinue the affected transfer where necessary.

Information about applicable transfer safeguards may be requested using the contact information below.

8. Information Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information, including:

encrypted connections;
password hashing;
access restrictions;
server and account security controls;
software maintenance;
logging and abuse-prevention measures;
backups; and
incident-response procedures.

No website, server or transmission method can guarantee absolute security.

Where required by applicable law, Camping Buddy will notify affected individuals and appropriate privacy authorities of a qualifying personal-information breach.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy and to meet legal, accounting, security and dispute-resolution requirements.

Our general retention practices are:

active account information: retained while the account remains active;
deleted account information: removed from active systems within [period], subject to legal and security exceptions;
backup copies: overwritten or deleted within approximately [period];
server and security logs: retained for approximately [period];
payment, accounting and tax records: retained for the period required by applicable law;
unresolved reports, disputes or legal claims: retained until the matter and any required limitation period have ended; and
moderation records: retained for [period or criteria].

Posts or comments may remain after account deletion where necessary to preserve discussions involving other members. Where reasonably possible, remaining content will be deleted or disconnected from the former member’s identifying profile.

The exact effect of account deletion may depend on the nature of the content, the rights of other members and applicable legal obligations.

10. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and which law applies, you may have the right to:

request access to personal information we hold about you;
request correction of inaccurate information;
request deletion of eligible information;
request restriction of certain processing;
object to processing based on legitimate interests;
withdraw consent for optional processing;
request a portable copy of eligible information;
obtain information about recipients and international-transfer safeguards; and
complain to an appropriate privacy regulator.

EU and EEA users may lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority in the country where they live, work or believe an infringement occurred.

Canadian users may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as applicable.

Requests may be submitted using the contact information below. We may request reasonable information to verify the requester’s identity before disclosing or deleting account information.

Where GDPR applies, we will normally respond within one month, subject to extensions permitted for complex or numerous requests.

11. Automated Decisions

Camping Buddy does not currently use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects concerning members.

Automated security or spam controls may temporarily restrict activity. Members may contact us to request review of a restriction.

12. Account Deletion

Members may request account deletion through [account-deletion instructions] or by contacting us.

Deletion may be limited where information must be retained for:

payment and tax records;
fraud or security investigations;
unresolved disputes;
enforcement of legal rights;
protection of other members; or
compliance with law.

13. European Union Representative

Where required by Article 27 of the GDPR, Camping Buddy’s representative in the European Union is:

[EU representative’s legal name]
[EU address]
[EU representative email]

EU and EEA users may contact either Camping Buddy or its EU representative regarding GDPR matters.

14. Age Requirement

Camping Buddy is intended only for adults aged 18 or older.

If we learn that a minor has created an account, we may suspend or delete the account and associated information, subject to information that must be retained for safety or legal reasons.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy as the platform, service providers or legal requirements change.

The updated date will appear at the top of the Policy. We will provide reasonable notice of material changes. Where a change requires new consent, continued use alone will not be treated as consent and an appropriate consent request will be provided.

16. Contact Information

Camping Buddy is operated by:

Legal name: [Paul Smith]
Mailing address: [Box 96 Gold River, BC Canada V0P 1G0]
Privacy contact: [Paul Smith]
Email: [privacy@campingbuddy.ca]

Privacy questions, access requests, correction requests and deletion requests may be submitted using the contact information above.