Privacy Policy

We use your information to:

• Create and manage your account
• Send you a verification email when you register
• Display your profile and activity on the Platform
• Process membership payments through our payment provider (see Section 4)
• Send community news and updates if you opted in (you can unsubscribe anytime)
• Understand how features are used so we can improve the Platform
• Investigate abuse or security incidents
• Screen usernames and names during registration against a word filter to prevent inappropriate or impersonating account names (see our Terms of Service, Section 3 for username policies)

Internal analytics

We use our own internal analytics to understand how the Platform is used. This data stays in our own database and is never sold.

What we track internally:

• File downloads and bookmark activity
• Job listing views
• File ratings
• General account activity (logins, profile updates, map changes)

This data is tied to your account and is used solely to operate the Platform, enforce usage limits for certain membership tiers, and help us understand which features are most valuable to the community.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

In addition to our internal analytics, we use Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-LMLH1YXJNV) to measure aggregate site traffic, understand how visitors discover our content, and improve the Platform. Google Analytics is a third-party service provided by Google LLC.

What GA4 collects:

• Page views, session duration, and navigation paths
• Approximate geographic region (city/country level, derived from IP — your IP address is not stored)
• Device type, browser, and operating system
• Referring site (how you arrived at WorkCampConnect)
• Anonymous aggregate event counts (such as clicks on certain buttons)

GA4 uses cookies and similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for the list of GA4 cookies and their durations. Google may use this data according to Google's Privacy Policy and Google Analytics Terms of Service.

How to opt out:

• When you first visit the Platform, a cookie banner lets you Decline non-essential cookies. Declining blocks GA4 tracking on future page loads.
• You can install Google's official browser opt-out add-on, which blocks GA4 site-wide across every GA4-enabled website.
• You can enable "Do Not Track" or a tracker-blocking extension in your browser.

GA4 processes IP addresses in-memory only and does not store them (IP anonymization is the default in GA4). We do not use GA4 for advertising, remarketing, or ad personalization on WorkCampConnect. If you have concerns about GA4 data handling, we encourage you to use one of the opt-out methods listed above.

We use Square to process membership payments. When you subscribe to Full Hookup, Square collects your payment card information directly — we never see, handle, or store your full card number, CVV, or billing details.

Square receives only the information necessary to complete your transaction (name, email, and payment details). If you request a refund, we share your transaction details with Square to process the return to your original payment method. Their handling of your data is governed by Square's Privacy Policy.

We send the following types of email:

• Transactional emails — account verification, password resets, membership confirmations, and security alerts. These are sent from our own mail server and cannot be opted out of.
• Community newsletters & announcements — periodic updates about new features, community news, job alerts, and tips. You can unsubscribe from these at any time using the link at the bottom of every newsletter.

Newsletter and announcement emails are delivered through Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), a third-party email delivery service. Brevo receives only your email address and first name for the purpose of delivering the email. Their handling of your data is governed by Brevo's Privacy Policy.

Email tracking: Newsletter emails may contain a small invisible tracking pixel and tracked links. This allows us to measure whether an email was opened and which links were clicked. This data is used solely to improve our communications and is never shared with third parties. If you prefer not to be tracked, most email clients allow you to disable remote image loading.

WorkCampConnect requires a phone number for account registration and offers SMS text message verification for login. This service is powered by Twilio.

What we collect:

• Phone number — required during registration. Stored in your account record. US and Canadian numbers supported.
• Verification logs — we log when a code was sent, whether it succeeded or failed, and the general context (registration or login). We do not store the verification codes themselves — Twilio manages those on their servers.
• Device memory — if you check "Remember this device for 30 days" during phone login, we store a hashed token, device type, and IP address. This data is automatically deleted after 30 days.

How we use your phone number:

• Sending 6-digit verification codes during registration (if you choose text over email)
• Sending 6-digit login codes when you use "Log in with text message"
• Employer contact — so employers can reach you about job opportunities in the future
• Security alerts for unusual account activity (opt-in only)

What we do NOT do:

• We never sell, rent, or share your phone number with third parties
• We never send marketing or promotional text messages

Only one phone number may be associated with each account. You can change your phone number in Account Settings at any time. A phone number is required and cannot be removed from your account. Standard carrier message and data rates may apply.

For questions, please contact our support team.

Your personal information belongs to you. We will never:

• Sell, rent, trade, or share your personal information with any third party
• Share your email address with advertisers or marketers
• Store your payment card details on our servers
• Use third-party analytics or tracking services
• Allow third-party advertising on the Platform

The only exception is where we are required to comply with applicable law or a valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena).

We use a small number of cookies — all strictly functional — to operate the Platform. We do not use any advertising, analytics, or third-party tracking cookies.

• wcc_session — keeps you logged in to the main site (secure, HTTP-only; up to 90 days with "Remember me" checked, or browser session only if unchecked)
• xf_user — keeps you logged in to the community forum (secure, HTTP-only, up to 365 days)
• xf_session — forum session management (secure, HTTP-only, up to 4 hours)
• xf_csrf — protects forum forms against cross-site request forgery (session-only)

Cloudflare Turnstile (used on our registration form to prevent bots) may set its own cookies per Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Pinning your location on the Member Map is entirely voluntary. You can update or remove your location at any time from your dashboard. Location data is only used to display your approximate position to other members on the map.

Members on Base Camp may place a pin at state level precision only. Members on Full Hookup may choose city, state, or exact precision and may set their pin to private. Private pins are visible only to the member who placed them and are not displayed to other members on the map. All pins have an expiry period after which they are automatically removed from the map.

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you cancel your paid subscription, your subscription history and billing records are retained for legal and accounting purposes even after your account reverts to Base Camp. If you delete your account, your profile and personal information will be removed within 30 days. Forum posts may be anonymized rather than deleted to preserve community discussions.

Unverified accounts: If you register but do not verify your email address within 15 days, your account will be automatically marked as expired. Expired account records (name, email, and registration details) are retained so that you can re-register with the same email address in the future. No personal data beyond your registration information is stored for unverified accounts.

You have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data. To exercise these rights, contact our support team.

We use industry-standard security practices including bcrypt password hashing, HTTPS encryption, CSRF protection, and secure session cookies. No system is perfectly secure — please use a strong, unique password for your account.

Personal records data entered into the Resources section is encrypted at rest using AES-256-CBC encryption — the same standard used by banks, financial institutions, and government agencies worldwide. Encryption keys are never stored in the database. WorkCampConnect staff cannot read, view, decrypt, or access any personal records data you store in the Resources section. Additionally all user actions within the Resources section are logged for security purposes. This activity log is accessible only to you via your Security Settings page and to WorkCampConnect administrators for security investigation purposes only.

Members may optionally enable Two Factor Authentication for their account via the Resources section Security Settings. When 2FA is enabled a verification code will be sent to your registered email address each time you log in. Verification codes expire after 10 minutes. You may disable 2FA at any time from your Security Settings.

WorkCampConnect is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has registered, please contact us and we will remove the account.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll note the updated date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

The interactive Member Map includes Points of Interest (POI) layers and a route planner. Here is how data flows for these features:

• Map tiles are loaded from OpenStreetMap tile servers. Your browser sends your current map viewport (coordinates) directly to OpenStreetMap to retrieve map images. OpenStreetMap's data handling is governed by the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.
• POI data (fuel stations, campgrounds, essentials) is fetched from the OpenStreetMap Overpass API through our server. Your map viewport coordinates are sent to our server, which queries Overpass on your behalf. No personal information is sent to Overpass.
• Route planning uses OpenRouteService to calculate driving directions. Your start point, end point, and any waypoints are sent through our server to OpenRouteService. No personal information beyond the coordinates is transmitted. OpenRouteService's data handling is governed by their Terms of Service.
• No location history stored — we do not store your map browsing history, route calculations, or POI searches on our servers. All map interaction data stays in your browser session only.
• Local storage — your POI layer toggle preferences (which layers are visible) are saved in your browser's local storage so they persist between visits. This data never leaves your device.

If you access a File Portal shared with you by a WorkCampConnect administrator, the following data is collected:

• Name and email address — provided by the admin when creating your portal, used for identification and password reset emails
• IP address — recorded during login, file uploads, downloads, and messaging for security and audit purposes
• Browser/device information — user agent string recorded for session tracking
• Session data — a session cookie tracks your authentication state (expires after 24 hours of inactivity)
• File uploads — any files you upload to your portal are stored on our servers
• Download history — we track which files you download and when
• Messages — messages you send through the portal thread are stored
• Activity log — login times, uploads, downloads, and messages are logged

File Portal recipients do not need a WorkCampConnect account. Portal data is retained until the portal is deleted by the administrator. You may contact our support team to request deletion of your portal data.

WorkCampConnect offers two AI-powered assistants to help members:

• Trail Guide AI — a platform assistant available on the Help Center that answers questions about WorkCampConnect features, membership, and work camping topics.
• Camp Counselor AI — a career advisor available in the Job Readiness Center that provides personalized guidance on certifications, interview prep, and work camping careers.

How your data is used:

• Messages you send to either AI assistant are transmitted to Google's Gemini API for processing. Google receives the text of your message along with conversation context (such as which page you're on and your membership tier). Google's handling of this data is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
• Conversation storage — Camp Counselor conversations are stored in our database for up to 7 days so you can continue where you left off. Trail Guide conversations are session-based and are not stored after your browser session ends. Both systems log questions and answers for quality improvement purposes (retained for 90 days).
• Feedback — If you rate a response with thumbs up or down, that feedback is stored and associated with the message to help us improve answer quality.
• Caching — Common questions and answers may be cached on our servers (up to 7 days) to provide faster responses and reduce API calls. Cached answers are not personalized.
• No training — Your conversations are not used to train AI models. Google's Gemini API terms specify that data sent via the API is not used to train their models.

Both AI features are optional. You are never required to use them, and no personal data beyond what you type into the chat is shared with Google.

The Employer Portal allows businesses to create employer accounts, post job listings, and receive applications from work campers. Here is how employer data is collected and handled:

• Account information — When you register as an employer, we collect your company name, contact name, email address, and password (stored as a bcrypt hash). Your IP address is recorded at registration and login for security purposes.
• Company profile — You may optionally provide a company description, logo, photos (up to 6), location, and other details. This information is displayed publicly on your company profile page and alongside your job listings on the job board.
• Job listings — Job listing content you submit (title, description, location, compensation, perks, requirements, and application instructions) is stored in our database. Approved listings are displayed publicly on the WorkCampConnect job board.
• Credit purchases — We record your purchase history (pack type, amount, date, and Square transaction ID). Payment card details are handled entirely by Square — we never see or store your full card number. If you save a card on file, Square stores the card securely and provides us only a reference token. See Section 4 (Payment Processing) for details.
• Applications — When a work camper applies to your listing through WorkCampConnect, you receive their application message, screening question answers, and optionally their resume (PDF). Application data is stored in our database and is visible only to you and WorkCampConnect administrators.
• AI Writing Assistant — If you use the AI writing assistant when creating a job listing, the text you provide (job title, description draft, or improvement request) is sent to the Anthropic Claude API for processing. Anthropic receives only the text content necessary to generate or improve the description. No personal or company information is sent beyond what you type into the assistant. Anthropic's handling of API data is governed by their Privacy Policy. Per their API terms, data sent via the API is not used to train their models.
• Uploaded files — Company logos and photos are stored on our servers in a dedicated employer uploads directory. These files are publicly accessible when displayed on your profile or listings.
• Email communications — We send transactional emails to your registered email address for account verification, listing approval/rejection notifications, application notifications, credit purchase receipts, and listing lifecycle reminders (expiration warnings, renewal confirmations). These emails are sent from our own mail server and cannot be opted out of.

Employer accounts are separate from member accounts. If you also have a WorkCampConnect member account, the data in each account is stored and managed independently.

If you delete your employer account or request deletion, your company profile, job listings, and associated data will be removed within 30 days. Application records may be retained in anonymized form for platform analytics.

WorkCampConnect operates a separate marketplace at marketplace.workcampconnect.com. The marketplace has its own Privacy Policy and Terms of Service that govern how data is handled there. While the marketplace uses the same login as your WorkCampConnect account, the marketplace privacy practices are documented separately. See the marketplace footer for its Privacy Policy and Terms.

Privacy questions or concerns? Contact our support team.