Privacy and disclaimer

Updated October 30, 2026. This covers the TrailRecon Field Guide app (the App Store, Google Play and web versions) and this website, all run by TrailRecon LLC.

The short version: no account, no ads, no tracking, and nothing we collect is tied to you. Your location never leaves your phone. We don’t sell or share your data.

What the app collects

• No account. You don’t sign up, and we don’t ask for your name or email.
• Location stays on your phone. If you turn on the region check, your phone compares your location to the region boundaries on the device. Your location is not sent to us.
• Listening progress stays on your phone. Where you left off, which chapters you’ve played and your speed setting are saved on your device (in the web version, in your browser’s storage).
• Downloads stay on your phone. Downloaded audio is stored on your device so it plays offline. You can remove it in Settings.
• Anonymous counts. The app counts, without any ID tied to you or your phone: how many times it’s opened each day, how many times a region is downloaded, how many times each chapter is started and finished, and how many times the onX button is tapped. The website counts visits, sample plays and clicks through to the app the same way. We use this to know which regions and chapters people actually listen to.
• Visitor counts. The website and the web version use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts page visits without cookies and without tracking you across sites.
• Feedback you send. If you use Send feedback, we store what you type, the chapter and time it’s about, the app version and whether you’re on iPhone or Android. We don’t ask for your name or email, and we don’t store your IP address with it. Please don’t put personal details in it. To stop spam, the app also sends a random key made on your phone. We keep only a scrambled version of it, which changes every hour, for two days, and one phone can send up to five messages an hour.
• Purchases. In the App Store and Google Play versions, Apple or Google handles every purchase, and we never see your payment details or your name. Our purchase service, RevenueCat, receives an anonymous ID made by the app and the store’s receipt, so the app can unlock what you bought and restore it on a new phone. To play a chapter you own, the app asks our server for a short-lived pass; that request carries only the anonymous ID.
• Basic server logs. Our host, Cloudflare, keeps standard request logs (like any website) to deliver files and stop abuse.

What we don’t do

• No ads and no ad networks.
• No tracking across other apps or websites, and no cookies for tracking.
• We don’t sell, rent or share your data. Cloudflare and RevenueCat work for us as service providers and use it only to run the Field Guide.
• The Field Guide isn’t aimed at children, and it collects nothing that identifies anyone of any age.

How long we keep it, and deleting it

Counts are kept as anonymous totals. Feedback is kept as long as it’s useful for fixing the guide. The spam-check key is gone after two days. Because nothing we collect is tied to you, we can’t look up one person’s data. If you sent feedback with something personal in it and want it removed, contact us with roughly when you sent it and what it said, and we’ll delete it.

Links to other services

The Trails tab can open onX Offroad. Some links may be affiliate links, and TrailRecon may earn a commission if you sign up through them. Those services have their own privacy policies.

Narration

Written and researched by Brad Kowitz. Narrated by a digital recreation of his voice.

Disclaimer

The Field Guide is background and storytelling, not a route plan or safety guide. Roads wash out, closures change, and conditions can be dangerous. Check current conditions with the managing agency before you go, stay on legal routes, carry water and recovery gear, and know what you and your vehicle can handle. You are responsible for your own trip.

Terms

Use of the app and site is covered by the terms of use.

Changes

If this policy changes, we’ll update it here and change the date at the top.

Questions

Contact TrailRecon LLC through the contact form on trailrecon.com, or use Send feedback in the app.