Privacy Policy

Effective May 20, 2026 · Last updated May 20, 2026

Setout (“we,” “our,” or “us”), a sole proprietorship operated by Adrienne Wylder and doing business as Setout at setout.guide, operates the Setout platform and related services (the “Platform”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information when you use the Platform, whether as a guide, trip organizer, or participant.

Please read this policy carefully. By using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

1. Who This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy applies to:

• Guides and organizers who create accounts on the Platform to manage bookings, participants, and trips
• Participants whose information is entered into the Platform by a guide or who interact with participant-facing features (portals, waivers, booking pages)
• Visitors who browse our public-facing pages without creating an account

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

Account registration: When a guide creates an account, we collect name, email address, and authentication credentials (managed via Clerk).

Guide profile: Display name, biography, location, activity types, profile photo, business logo, social media links, certifications, languages, contact information (business email, business phone, WhatsApp number), and any other information you choose to add to your public profile.

Trip information: Trip titles, descriptions, dates, locations, pricing, images, and activity details.

Participant information: Guides enter or collect participant information including names, email addresses, phone numbers, flight details, accommodation details, arrival and departure information, dietary restrictions, medical notes, emergency contacts, and payment status. Guides also collect waiver signatures, IP addresses, and timestamps at the point of signing.

Payment information: When you subscribe or collect payments, payment card and banking information is collected directly by Stripe, Inc. We do not store full payment card numbers. We receive limited payment metadata (last four digits, card type, transaction ID) from Stripe.

Communications: Content of messages you send through the Platform, including email templates, bulk messages to participants, and inquiries submitted through guide profile contact forms.

Discount verification: Email address used to verify educator, student, or nonprofit eligibility.

Calculator and lead capture: Email addresses submitted through our trip cost calculator or landing page email capture forms.

Legal consent: Timestamp, IP address, and version number recorded when a guide accepts our Terms of Service.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

Usage data: Pages visited, features used, time spent, clicks, and navigation paths within the Platform.

Device and browser information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.

Cookies and similar technologies: We use cookies and local storage for authentication session management and preference storage. See Section 7 for more detail.

Log data: Server logs recording requests made to our infrastructure, including timestamps, URLs, and response codes.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

Clerk: We use Clerk for authentication. Clerk may provide us with account metadata, login history, and authentication events.

Stripe: We receive transaction metadata, subscription status, and payment event data from Stripe.

Unsplash: If you use our Unsplash integration to find trip images, search terms are transmitted to Unsplash subject to their privacy policy.

3. How We Use Your Information

3.1 To Provide the Platform

• Creating and managing your guide account
• Displaying your public guide profile at setout.guide/g/[slug]
• Processing bookings and payments
• Sending automated participant email sequences on your behalf
• Generating waivers, social cards, print flyers, and other content tools
• Operating participant portals and managing participant data you collect
• Providing the trip cost calculator and other tools

3.2 To Communicate With You

• Sending transactional emails (account confirmation, subscription receipts, password reset)
• Sending product update and feature announcement emails (you may opt out)
• Responding to support requests

3.3 To Improve the Platform

• Analyzing usage patterns to improve features and user experience
• Identifying and fixing bugs
• Conducting internal research and analytics

3.4 To Protect Setout and Users

• Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Enforcing our Terms of Service
• Complying with legal obligations

3.5 Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or other jurisdictions with similar laws, our legal bases for processing personal data are:

• Contract: Processing necessary to perform our agreement with you (providing the Platform)
• Legitimate interests: Security, fraud prevention, and platform improvement, where our interests are not overridden by your data protection rights
• Legal obligation: Processing required by applicable law
• Consent: Where we have obtained your consent (e.g., optional marketing communications)

4. How We Share Your Information

4.1 With Service Providers

We share data with third-party service providers who process it on our behalf to operate the Platform. All service providers are contractually bound to process data only as instructed and to maintain appropriate security measures.

Current subprocessors:

We maintain a current list of subprocessors. When we add or materially change a subprocessor, we will update this policy and notify guides by email at least 14 days in advance.

4.2 Public Profile Information

Information you add to your guide profile (display name, bio, photos, trip listings, reviews, social links, location) is publicly visible at setout.guide/g/[slug] and may be indexed by search engines. You control what appears on your public profile.

4.3 Guide-to-Participant Data Flow

When a guide collects participant information through the Platform, that data is accessible to the guide as the operator. Setout processes participant data as a data processor on behalf of the guide. Guides are data controllers and are responsible for their own compliance with applicable privacy laws — including GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable regulations — in relation to participant data they collect.

4.4 Referral Information

If you use a referral link to sign up, the referring guide will know that a signup occurred through their link and will receive credit. We do not share your personal details with the referring guide beyond confirming the referral event.

4.5 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Setout, our users, or the public.

4.6 Business Transfers

If Setout is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice of any such transfer and of any material changes to this Privacy Policy.

4.7 No Sale of Personal Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes. The Setout Platform is ad-free and does not monetize user data through advertising. Claude products used in development of this Platform are ad-free; Anthropic does not allow advertisers to influence Claude’s responses.

5. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Specific retention periods:

• Account data: Retained while your account is active. Deleted or anonymized within 90 days of account deletion, subject to legal hold obligations.
• Participant data: Retained for the duration of your guide account. Signed waiver records may be retained longer as they constitute legal documents — we strongly recommend you download and retain independent copies.
• Payment records: Retained for a minimum of 7 years to comply with financial recordkeeping requirements.
• Legal consent records: Retained indefinitely as evidence of agreement to Terms of Service.
• Email send logs: Retained for 24 months.
• Usage and analytics data: Retained for 24 months in identifiable form, then aggregated or deleted.

6. Your Rights and Choices

6.1 All Users

• Access: You can access and update your account information through your dashboard at any time.
• Deletion: You can request deletion of your account and associated data by contacting privacy@setout.guide. Note that some data may be retained as described in Section 5.
• Opt-out of marketing: You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in those emails. Transactional emails (receipts, account alerts) cannot be opted out of while your account is active.
• Data portability: You can export your trip and participant data from your dashboard.

6.2 EEA and UK Users (GDPR Rights)

If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, you have the following additional rights under the GDPR or UK GDPR:

• Right of access: Request a copy of personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure: Request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction: Request that we limit processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise these rights, contact privacy@setout.guide. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

6.3 California Users (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have the right to: know what personal information we collect and how it is used; request deletion of personal information; opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising); and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

To submit a California privacy request, contact privacy@setout.guide.

7. Cookies and Tracking

We use the following categories of cookies and similar technologies:

Essential / Strictly Necessary: Required for the Platform to function. Includes authentication session cookies managed by Clerk. Cannot be disabled without losing access to authenticated features.

Functional: Remember your preferences and settings. Can be disabled through browser settings, but may affect Platform functionality.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or cross-site behavioral tracking technologies. The Platform is ad-free.

8. Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption in transit (TLS) for all Platform communications
• Encryption at rest for database storage via Supabase
• Row-level security policies on all database tables limiting access to authorized users only
• Authentication managed by Clerk with industry-standard protocols
• Payment data handled exclusively by Stripe (PCI-DSS compliant)
• Access controls limiting personnel access to production data

No security measure is perfect or impenetrable. We cannot guarantee that unauthorized parties will never gain access to your data. In the event of a data breach that affects your rights or interests, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

9. International Data Transfers

Setout is based in the United States. Your data may be processed in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate, including the European Union (Supabase storage) and other regions. If you are located in the EEA or UK, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and other appropriate safeguards with applicable service providers to ensure lawful data transfers.

10. Children’s Privacy

The Platform is not directed at children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child under 13, please contact privacy@setout.guide and we will promptly delete it.

For participants between 13 and 17, guides are responsible for obtaining appropriate parental or guardian consent before enrolling minor participants in trips or collecting their personal data through the Platform.

11. Participant Privacy Notice

If you are a participant who has received a booking confirmation, waiver, or portal link from a guide using Setout — the guide who organized your trip is the data controller responsible for how your data is used. Setout processes your data on that guide’s behalf as a data processor.

You may contact the guide directly with questions about your data. If you believe your data has been misused, you may also contact Setout at privacy@setout.guide and we will investigate promptly.

Your data collected in connection with a trip may include: your name, email, travel details, emergency contacts, dietary and medical notes, and a signed waiver record. This data is retained as described in Section 5.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or by posting a notice on the Platform at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not accept the updated policy, you must stop using the Platform and may request account deletion.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, rights requests, or data-related concerns:

Setout (d/b/a Setout.guide)
privacy@setout.guide

For general support: support@setout.guide
For legal matters: legal@setout.guide

This Privacy Policy was last updated on May 20, 2026.