Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 27, 2026

The Next Shelter is a hiking planner. This policy explains the information used to operate its website and accounts.

Information used by the site

When you create or sign in to an account, our authentication provider, Clerk, processes account information such as your email address and sign-in details. If you choose Google sign-in, Google and Clerk process information needed to authenticate you. The Next Shelter uses an account identifier to associate saved hikes with your account.

When you save a hike, the site stores information you provide, such as its name, route, stops, date, pace, notes and completion status. Your browser may also store site data, including older browser-saved hikes, to support the planner and importing earlier plans.

Cloudflare hosts the site and its database and may process technical information, such as IP addresses and request information, to deliver and protect the service. Authentication and hosting providers may use cookies and similar technologies to operate their services.

Maps and other providers

The map requests map tiles from Esri or, if you select the street map, OpenStreetMap. Those providers receive technical request information needed to supply the map, such as your IP address and the requested map area. Their own privacy policies apply to their services.

Sharing a hike

If you create a trip link, anyone with that link can view a read-only snapshot of the hike. Notes are included only if you choose to include them. You can stop sharing or replace the link; a person who viewed the snapshot may already have copied or saved it.

Deleting information

You can remove a saved hike from your account in the planner. The site retains a record marked as deleted to support synchronization and conflict handling; removing a hike from view does not immediately erase that record. Browser data and downloaded backups or GPX files are separate copies on your devices.

To request account deletion or ask about information associated with your account, contact us at andrewgbatten@gmail.com. We will review the request and take applicable steps with our service providers.

Questions and updates

For privacy questions, contact andrewgbatten@gmail.com. We may update this policy as the site changes and will update the effective date when we do.