Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 11, 2026  •  FlightMentor by Chase De Laurie

Development status: The app is in development. App-specific information below describes its current design and will be updated as needed before release. For the coming soon website’s email list, see Launch notification requests.

1. Information We Collect

Profile Information (you provide):

• Display name, home airport, aircraft type, CFI name
• Total flight hours and cross-country hours
• Current training track (PPL, IFR, CPL, or CMEL)

Training Progress (generated by your use):

• Lesson completion status and study streaks
• Oral exam sessions, scores, and weak topic areas
• Study notes you create or save from AI responses
• ATC practice transcripts and scores

Authentication Data:

• If you sign in with Apple: your email address and display name (as provided by Apple)
• A Firebase user ID is generated for your account
• An account is required to use the app; email/password and Sign in with Apple may be available

2. How Your Data Is Stored

On Your Device: The primary training database is stored locally using Apple's SwiftData framework. Authentication, analytics, crash diagnostics, AI requests, purchases, and document processing use the network as described below.

Cloud Sync: When you use Sync Now, your profile, lesson progress, weak topics, study notes, oral sessions, and ATC coaching records may be stored in Google Firebase (Firestore) under your user ID. Existing synced data is restored automatically when you sign in. It is not made available to other users.

AI Features: When you use Mentor, Oral Exam, Scenario, or ATC features, your request and relevant study context may be sent through Firebase Cloud Functions to Anthropic for processing. Context can include your selected track, home airport, aircraft, callsign, recent training turns, and relevant sections from an uploaded POH or checklist. Mentor chat history is not saved as a server-side conversation, but oral and ATC session records may be included in Cloud Sync. Spoken DPE/ATC content may be sent to OpenAI text-to-speech. Provider retention terms apply to data processed by their APIs.

Uploaded Documents: If you upload a POH or checklist PDF, it is stored in Firebase Cloud Storage under your user ID and processed server-side. Text is extracted, and both document sections and search queries are sent to OpenAI's embedding service so relevant sections can be retrieved. Uploaded documents and their derived chunks are included in the account-deletion process.

3. Microphone and Speech Data

FlightMentor uses Apple's on-device speech recognition for voice input in the Mentor, Oral Exam, and ATC Practice features.

4. Third-Party Services

• Firebase Authentication (Google) — manages sign-in and user accounts
• Firebase Cloud Firestore (Google) — stores synced training data under your user ID
• Firebase Cloud Functions (Google) — processes AI requests server-side
• Firebase Cloud Storage (Google) — stores POH / checklist PDFs you choose to upload, under your user ID; deleted along with the rest of your cloud data when you delete your account
• Firebase Analytics (Google) — collects anonymous feature usage data to help us improve the app
• Firebase Crashlytics (Google) — collects anonymous crash reports and device diagnostics to improve app stability
• Anthropic Claude AI — generates AI mentor responses, oral exam questions, and ATC scenarios
• OpenAI — synthesizes DPE / ATC voice audio (text-to-speech) and generates embeddings from your uploaded aircraft documents so they can be searched in-app
• Apple StoreKit — handles subscription purchases (we never see your payment details)

We use Firebase Analytics (Google) to understand which features are used and how the app performs. This includes anonymous event data such as which screens are viewed, which features are tapped, and general usage patterns. This data helps us improve the app. No personally identifiable information is included in analytics events.

We use Firebase Crashlytics (Google) to collect anonymous crash reports and diagnostic data. This includes device model, OS version, crash stack traces, and app state at the time of a crash. This data is used solely to identify and fix bugs.

We do not use advertising SDKs or behavioral tracking services. Analytics data is used solely to improve the app experience.

5. What We Don't Collect

• We don't track your location
• We don't collect device identifiers for advertising
• We don't serve ads or share data with ad networks
• We don't sell or share your personal data with third parties

6. Data Security

All network communication uses HTTPS encryption. Firebase Authentication tokens are used to verify your identity for API requests. Your AI conversations are proxied through our secure backend — the app never communicates directly with AI services. Server-side API keys are stored in Firebase Secret Manager, never in the app binary.

7. Your Rights and Choices

• Account access: An account is required; you can sign out from Settings
• Control cloud uploads: Sync Now uploads supported training records; previously synced records may restore automatically when you sign in
• Delete your account: Go to Settings > Account > Delete Account to permanently delete your Firebase account and all associated cloud data
• Reset progress: Go to Settings > Data > Reset All Progress to clear all local training data
• Sign out: Signing out clears the outgoing account's local training rows from that device to protect users on shared devices

8. Data Retention

Local training data remains until you reset progress, sign out, delete the account, or delete the app. Cloud-synced data and uploaded documents remain until you delete them or delete your account. Hashed purchase-validation records and deleted-subscription ownership tombstones are retained for up to one year to prevent receipt replay and account fraud; App Store notification audit records are retained for up to 90 days. A server-only account-deletion barrier keyed by the former Firebase user ID is retained for up to seven days so already-issued login tokens cannot recreate deleted data. These records do not contain payment-card details or raw signed receipts. User-scoped generated voice audio may be cached for up to 90 days. AI providers process requests under their applicable API retention terms.

9. Children's Privacy

FlightMentor is designed for student pilots and aviation enthusiasts. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. You must be at least 13 years old to use the app.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Launch notification requests

Our launch signup form is provided by MailerLite. If you sign up, your email address and subscription/consent information are processed by MailerLite to manage our launch list and send updates. Confirm your address using the confirmation email to complete signup. The embedded form may also use anti-abuse checks. Signup does not create a FlightMentor app account or reserve beta access. You can unsubscribe using the link in our emails or contact Cdelaurie@flightmentor.app. See MailerLite’s privacy policy for details about its processing.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

Cdelaurie@flightmentor.app