Privacy & Data Collection Policy

This Privacy & Data Collection Policy (the policy) explains what data Skyvex Software collects through Stratos, why, who controls it, where it's stored, and your rights over it. It covers the Stratos desktop client, the Stratos mobile app, the Skyvex Software service, our Discord server, and our website at skyvexsoftware.com. Stratos is built by Skyvex Software Pty Ltd (ABN 21 693 871 019, ACN 693 871 019), a company based in Queensland, Australia (Skyvex Software, we, us, our).

Who we are

We build Stratos, an ACARS client that virtual airlines use to track their pilots' flights in their flight simulators. A virtual airline signs up to Skyvex Software and connects its own website or backend. We don't host a virtual airline's backend.

How signing in works

A pilot doesn't need a Skyvex Software account. You sign in to Stratos through your virtual airline, and Stratos checks with your airline who you are. From your airline's answer we keep only the first name and last initial on your airline profile, and your pilot ID. We don't keep your airline sign-in details.

Who controls your data

For most pilot data, your virtual airline is in charge and we handle the data for it. In privacy terms, the airline is the controller and we are its processor. This covers your pilot details, your flights and your support requests. To access, correct or delete that data, contact your airline first, and we'll help it. Your airline is also responsible for telling you what it collects and why.

We are the controller of the data we use for our own purposes: Skyvex Software accounts and billing, the device and app details Stratos sends us, diagnostics, landing recordings, Discord and roadmap data, the waitlist and our website. If you hold a Skyvex Software account, including a pilot who links one, we're also the controller of that account and of the features we provide to you directly, such as your logbook, statistics and leaderboards. For any of this, contact us directly.

The data we collect

Category	What we collect	Why	Our role	How long we keep it
Pilot details	The first name and last initial on your airline profile, your pilot ID and airline	Show your airline who flew what	Processor	While the airline's account is active
Device and app details	Your Stratos version, operating system, and the country you connect from, and a record of when you accept the Stratos licence	Keep Stratos working on the computers pilots use, and keep a record of the licence	Controller	While your pilot record exists; licence records for up to seven years
Flight data	Data about your simulated flights, captured from your flight simulator, such as where your aircraft is and how it's flying, your route and timings, and your landing. If your airline turns on flight recordings, a fuller recording of each flight	Provide the service to your airline, including the features it turns on, make Stratos better for you, such as your logbook, statistics and leaderboards, and measure usage for billing	Processor for your airline, and controller for the features we provide to you directly	While it's needed to provide the service, then deleted or anonymised. Flight recordings for as long as your airline's plan keeps them
Landing recordings	A recording of each landing, from about 90 seconds before touchdown to 30 seconds after	Make Stratos's landing measurements more accurate	Controller	180 days
Diagnostics	Stratos's logs and crash reports, which record what Stratos did and any errors, with basic details of your computer such as its operating system and graphics card. Stratos removes your home folder name and email addresses before sending them	Find and fix problems in Stratos, including ones nobody has reported. They're part of using Stratos, not an optional extra	Controller	12 months, or longer while we're investigating a problem
Support	The messages you send. A support request from Stratos includes your recent flights, settings and logs from Stratos, so we can see the problem as you saw it. A request to a plugin's developer includes only that plugin's recent logs	Sort out the problems you raise	Processor	While the airline's account is active
Plugin installs	Which plugins you have installed	Deliver the plugins you or your airline turned on	Processor	While installed
Skyvex Software account	Your name, email, password (stored securely) and profile details, and a security record of your sign-ins, the terms you accept and the policy updates you have seen	Run your account, keep it secure, and keep a record of what you agreed to	Controller	While the account is active
Billing	Your plan, invoices and payments, and your card's type and last four digits. Stripe holds your full card details; we never see them	Bill your account and meet tax rules	Controller	Up to seven years
Discord	If you connect Discord, your Discord ID, name and avatar. In our Discord server, moderation cases and short excerpts of reported messages	Sign in with Discord, give you the right roles in our server, and moderate it	Controller	The connection until you disconnect it; moderation cases indefinitely; reported excerpts for 90 days after the report is closed
Roadmap and feedback	The ideas, comments, votes and reactions you post	Run the public roadmap	Controller	While the account is active
Waitlist	Your name, email, airline details and how you heard about us	Run the waitlist and prevent abuse	Controller	Until you ask us to remove it, or 24 months without activity
Emails we send	Who we emailed, the subject, whether it arrived, and a copy	Show that account and service emails were sent	Controller	12 months

Flight data is about your simulated flight, captured from your flight simulator. It isn't your real-world location or movement. We keep it to provide the service to your airline and to make Stratos better for you, and only for as long as it's useful for that.

Your airline can set Stratos up to send more flight data and its full PIREP straight to the airline's own backend. That goes from Stratos to your airline, and we don't keep it, unless your airline turns on a feature that needs us to or you include it in a support request.

What we don't collect

Stratos isn't built to identify the person flying. Through Stratos we don't collect your email address or hardware identifiers such as serial numbers. The only ID Stratos creates is a random one for your install, recorded when you accept the Stratos licence. We don't capture screenshots or audio.

IP addresses

Like any website or app, our servers and the services we use see your IP address when you connect, and may record it in their logs. We store it ourselves only for security: with your sign-in session, when you accept our terms, and to stop abuse such as repeated failed sign-ins. From Stratos, we keep only the country you connect from.

The Stratos mobile app

The Stratos mobile app for iOS and Android lets you watch your own flight live, follow its events, and pause or resume it from your phone. It never connects to your simulator and doesn't use your location. You sign in with your Skyvex Software account.

The app collects only what it needs. If you turn on notifications, your phone gives us a notification token, which we register with Expo along with a random ID for your phone, and delete after 60 days without use. On iOS, a Live Activity token updates your flight on the Lock Screen, and we delete it shortly after the flight ends. To link your phone to Stratos, the app can scan a QR code; the camera image stays on your phone, and you can type the code instead. The app has no advertising, no third-party tracking and no in-app purchases, and it doesn't collect your contacts or photos.

Discord Rich Presence

When Discord is running on your computer, Stratos shows your current flight on your Discord profile, where anyone who can see your profile can see it. This goes from Stratos straight to Discord on your computer, not through us. You can turn it off in Stratos's Settings.

Why we store only your initial

We store only the first letter of a pilot's last name. That's enough for an airline to tell its pilots apart while making the data less identifiable.

How we use the data

• show a virtual airline its activity and live flights;
• show you your logbook, statistics and leaderboards;
• measure usage and bill accurately;
• sort out the support problems you raise;
• find and fix problems in Stratos, and make its flight and landing measurements more accurate;
• send account and service emails;
• keep the service reliable and secure, and prevent abuse.

We don't use your flight data for advertising. We do publish totals across all of Stratos, such as the number of pilots, flights and hours flown, which can't identify any pilot or flight.

Where your data is stored

Our servers and storage are in Australia, with DigitalOcean and Vultr. These providers help us run the service:

• Cloudflare, worldwide: our website, security, and live flight tracking, including storing completed flight tracks.
• Laravel Forge, United States: managing our servers.
• Laravel Nightwatch, Australia: monitoring the service's performance and errors.
• Postmark, United States: sending account and service emails.
• Stripe, United States: payments.
• Sentry, United States: Stratos's error reports.
• Expo, Apple and Google, United States: notifications and updates for the mobile app.
• Discord, United States: Sign in with Discord and our Discord server.
• Anthropic, United States: drafting flight event rules when an airline describes one in its own words. No pilot or flight data is sent.

Some of these providers handle data outside Australia. We check each one and have contracts that require them to handle personal data in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. We keep this list up to date and let you know about significant changes.

Sharing

We don't sell personal data, and we never have. We don't share it for anyone else's marketing.

Your full flight and PIREP data goes from Stratos straight to your airline, and we don't keep it except as described above. Beyond the providers listed above, the data we hold is seen only by your airline, which sees your flights and the support requests you send it; pilots at your airline, who see your name, pilot ID, flights and hours on its leaderboards; and a plugin's developer you contact from Stratos, who receives your message with the details needed to help, such as your airline, simulator and the plugin's logs.

How we protect your data

• Data is encrypted when it's sent and when it's stored.
• We back up the database twice a day and can restore it to any point in the last 30 days.
• Stratos's sign-in keys are stored in a form that can't be turned back into the key.
• We collect as little as we can, such as only your last initial.
• Only the people who run the service can access it.

No system is completely secure, but these steps keep the risk low.

Your rights

You can ask to access, correct, export or delete the personal data we hold. For data we control, contact us directly. For pilot data, contact your airline, and we'll help it. Your name and last initial are corrected by your airline and update the next time you sign in to Stratos.

How long we keep data

We keep data while your account is active, unless the table above gives a shorter period. When an account is deleted or deactivated, we delete your personal data, or anonymise the data the service still needs to work so it no longer identifies you. For example, your flights still count towards your airline's totals and our statistics, but without your name or details. Some records we keep only as long as the law requires, then destroy them: billing records and licence acceptance records for up to seven years. Discord moderation cases are kept after an account is deleted, so the server's history stays complete.

If we close an account, we give you at least 30 days to export your data first, as set out in the Terms of Service.

Compliance

We're an Australian company, and we handle personal data in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you're not happy with how we've handled a privacy concern, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

Users in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland

We offer Stratos to people in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, so the GDPR and the equivalent UK and Swiss laws apply to personal data about people there. Where we handle data for a virtual airline, the airline is the controller and these obligations are its; we help it meet them.

Legal bases. We handle personal data only where the GDPR allows it: to perform our contract with you (running your account, Stratos, the mobile app and the service); for our legitimate interests, where your rights don't outweigh them (keeping the service reliable and secure, finding and fixing problems, sorting out support requests, moderating our Discord server, and publishing totals); to meet legal obligations (billing and tax records); and with your consent where we ask for it, such as mobile notifications, which you can turn off at any time.

Your rights. You can access, correct, erase, restrict or object to how we handle your personal data, and ask for a copy to take elsewhere. You can withdraw consent at any time. For data we control, contact us at privacy@skyvexsoftware.com. For pilot data, contact your airline, and we'll help it. You can also complain to your local data protection authority; in the UK that's the Information Commissioner's Office.

Transfers. We store data in Australia, and some of our providers are in other countries, such as the United States. Wherever your data is, we protect it the same way: with providers we've checked, and with encryption when it's sent and stored.

Cookies and analytics

Our website uses no advertising or tracking cookies. We measure visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which doesn't use cookies or follow you across other sites. The site sets only the cookies it needs: to keep you signed in, protect its forms, and remember preferences such as light or dark mode. It also keeps some preferences and unsent drafts in your browser.

Maps on the website, in Stratos and in the mobile app come from OpenFreeMap, and the website's satellite view comes from Esri.

Children

Stratos isn't directed at children. You must be at least 18, or old enough to enter a contract where you live, to hold an account. If you think a child has given us personal data, contact us and we'll delete it. If it's pilot data, we'll also tell the airline so it can act on its side.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we post the new version here and update the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we let you know before they take effect, by email and the next time you sign in.

Contact

This policy is provided by Skyvex Software Pty Ltd (ABN 21 693 871 019), Queensland, Australia. For any question about this policy or your data, contact us at privacy@skyvexsoftware.com.