Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 27, 2026

This policy explains what personal information Women's Travel Shield collects through womenstravelshield.com and the Women's Travel Shield apps for iPhone and Android (together, the “Platform”), why, who else handles it, how long we keep it and what you can do about it. We do not sell your personal information, we do not show ads, and we do not use advertising or cross-site tracking.

1. Who is responsible for your information

The Platform is run by Ishini Weerasinghe, operating as Women's Travel Shield (a registered sole proprietorship) in Alberta, Canada. We are responsible for the personal information described here. For any privacy question or request, email team@womenstravelshield.com.

2. What we collect

You can use the guides without giving us anything

The country guides, emergency contacts and safety map can be read without an account. When you do that, we only receive the technical information described under “Collected automatically” below.

When you create an account

• Your first and last name and email address.
• Your date of birth, which we use to confirm you are 18 or older. It is not shown to other members.
• Your password, which we store only as a one-way hash we cannot read back.
• The alias you choose. Other members see your alias, not your name or email.

When you choose to use a feature

• Travel records: the countries you mark as visited, your current trip, safety ratings and comments you leave on countries, and collections you save.
• Map pins: a place you pin on the map, with its exact location, title, note and rating. You choose each location yourself - the Platform never reads your device's location.
• Sisterhood (community): your posts, comments, reactions, poll votes, bookmarks, and the people you block or mute. Photos you upload are re-encoded on our server with all hidden metadata removed, including any GPS location the camera recorded.
• Reports: if you report content, the report and your reason.
• Identity (optional): how you identify and the skin colour you identify with, if you choose to answer. See section 3.
• Sign in with Google (if you use it): your Google account identifier, the email address and name on that Google account at the time you connect it.

When you join the waiting list

Your name, email address, the language you were using, and a one-way hash of your IP address, which we use only to stop automated sign-ups.

Collected automatically

• Cookies: only the ones the Platform needs to work - see our Cookie Policy.
• Visit statistics: we use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. It records the page, the referring site, and your country, device type, operating system and browser. It sets no cookies and does not identify you or follow you across other sites.
• Security records: to stop abuse such as password guessing, we keep short-lived counters keyed by a one-way hash of your IP address or email address.
• Product events: a record that an account did something such as verifying its email or creating a pin, which helps us see which features are used. These records contain no IP address or device information.
• Hosting logs: our hosting provider keeps standard request logs (including IP addresses) for a short time for security and troubleshooting.

3. Sensitive information: how you identify

Answering how you identify and the colour of skin you identify with is entirely optional, and “Prefer not to say” is always available. This is sensitive information, so we only collect it when you choose to give it, which is your explicit consent. We use it to let members filter safety ratings by women like them. It is shown beside your alias on your ratings only if you switch that on. Your answers also count towards filtered averages; while the community is small, such an average may be based on very few women. You can change or clear your answers at any time in Settings, which withdraws your consent from then on.

4. What others can see

• Other members see your alias with your ratings, pins, posts and comments.
• Your public profile page (womenstravelshield.com/u/your-alias) shows your alias, the month you joined, the countries you have visited and how many pins you have made. Nothing else.
• If a Sisterhood post is shared, its title and opening lines can be read by anyone with the link.
• We ask search engines not to index profile or shared-post pages.

5. Why we use it

• To run your account and the features you use (this is necessary to provide the service you asked for).
• To keep members safe: moderating community content, acting on reports, and preventing abuse and fraud (our legitimate interest in a safe platform).
• To send you emails you need - verifying your email, resetting your password, and security alerts such as a change to how you sign in.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the Platform is used so we can improve it (our legitimate interest; the statistics do not identify you).
• For the optional identity feature: your explicit consent, as described in section 3.
• To meet legal obligations.

We never use your information for advertising, and we never sell or rent it.

6. Who else handles it

We use a small number of service providers who process information only on our instructions to run the Platform:

• Vercel - hosting, visit statistics and storage of uploaded photos.
• Neon - the database that holds account and community information.
• Resend - sending account emails.
• CARTO - map tiles. When a map loads, your browser requests map images from CARTO, which therefore receives your IP address.
• Google - only if you use Sign in with Google.
• Apple and Google app stores - if you install our app, they handle the download under their own privacy policies.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to protect someone's life, health or safety.

7. Where it is stored

We are based in Canada, but our service providers store and process information in the United States and possibly other countries. Information held abroad is subject to the laws of those countries, and may be accessible to their courts and authorities. We choose providers that protect personal information with safeguards comparable to Canadian standards.

8. How long we keep it

• Your account is kept until you delete it. Deleting your account (Settings → Account) permanently removes your profile and everything you authored - ratings, pins, posts, comments, photos and collections - immediately. Copies may remain in encrypted database backups for a short period until those backups expire.
• Deleting a single item - a post, comment, pin or rating comment - hides it from everyone straight away. The record itself is kept, out of sight, until you delete your account, so that reports about it can still be reviewed.
• Deactivating hides your account and content without deleting them, until you sign in again.
• Sign-in sessions end after 30 days without use. Email and password-reset links expire after 24 hours and 1 hour.
• Waiting list entries are kept until we launch the features you signed up for, or until you ask us to remove yours.
• Moderation records (reports and actions taken) are kept after an account is deleted, without linking to it, so decisions can be reviewed.

More detail is on the account and data deletion page.

9. Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to: tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy; correct it; delete it; or stop using it for a purpose you consented to. Much of this you can do yourself in Settings; otherwise email team@womenstravelshield.com. We reply within 30 days and may need to confirm it is really you first.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, or, if you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, your local data protection authority. People in the EEA and UK also have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests and to data portability.

10. Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit, passwords are hashed, sign-in links and sessions are stored only as hashes, and access to the database is restricted. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will tell you and the regulators as the law requires.

11. Age limit

The Platform is for adults aged 18 and over, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you believe a minor has an account, email us and we will delete it.

12. Changes

When we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you by email or in the Platform before it takes effect.