Aero Crew News — Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 13, 2026
Last updated: September 24, 2026

WHO WE ARE

Aero Crew News, including its iOS application, Android application, related backend services, and the aerocrewnews.com website, is owned and published by CrewDesk, LLC (“CrewDesk,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a Pennsylvania limited liability company.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and disclose it, how long we retain it, and the choices and rights available to you.

Questions and privacy requests may be sent to:

CrewDesk, LLC
Aero Crew News
P.O. Box 4165
Easton, PA 18043
Email: [email protected]

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect information needed to operate Aero Crew News, provide requested features, manage subscriptions, protect the service, communicate with users, and comply with applicable law.

A. Account and sign-in information

When you create an account, we collect your email address and authentication information. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are stored as salted hashes; CrewDesk does not see or store your password in plain text.

If you use Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google, we receive a provider-specific account identifier and the email address you authorize the provider to share. Apple may provide a private-relay email address.

Your authentication session is stored using platform-appropriate application storage. On Apple devices, secure credentials are stored in the Keychain. On Android, the authentication library stores the session in the App’s private application storage.

B. Profile and aviation-professional information

You may provide profile information including:

Username;
First and last name;
Date of birth, which is used to enforce the App’s minimum age;
Job title;
Company;
General location, such as city, state, region, or country;
Profile photograph;
Social-platform preferences;
Airline;
Crew position, role, or seat;
Aircraft type;
Pay column;
Date of hire;
Crew base or operating base; and
Other airline-profile preferences.

This information is used to personalize airline, pay, schedule, seniority, premium-pay, and other crew-related features.

Some profile information, such as your username, display name, and profile photograph, may be visible to other members when you post community content.

C. Seniority information

If you use seniority tools, you may enter an employee or seniority number. We store that number with your account to provide your seniority view.

Position lookups compare the number you enter with protected roster data. Roster tables used for these lookups are designed not to expose names or permit users to browse other members’ individual positions. The App returns your own applicable result and aggregate information such as list size or category size.

Some projections use retirement-date or aggregate staffing information. All seniority and retirement projections are estimates and are not official airline records.

D. Content, searches, preferences, and community activity

We may collect and store information you create or select, including:

Comments and replies;
Article likes and saved articles;
Comment likes;
Airlines, airports, companies, columns, and topics you follow;
News and article filters;
ATC watchlists and notification preferences;
Layover favorites and private notes;
Layover tips, hotel facts, photographs, crash-pad listings, and other crew submissions;
Reports concerning objectionable, incorrect, or abusive content;
Airline, contract, schedule, hotel, KCM, or other member-submitted corrections;
Entertainment watch lists and related search terms;
Ask-the-News questions and other searches;
Commuter searches and saved flight selections; and
Other preferences used to personalize the App.

Some community submissions are visible to other users after moderation. Private notes and account-specific preferences are not displayed publicly unless the feature clearly indicates otherwise.

E. Member blocking and moderation

When you block another member, we store the account identifiers of the blocking and blocked members and the date of the block.

This information is used to hide each member’s comments, replies, layover tips, and layover-photo listings from the other and to prevent applicable community interactions. You can view and remove your outgoing blocks from the App.

Authorized staff may view block relationships for safety and moderation. Staff cannot create or remove a member-controlled block on a user’s behalf.

A block prevents normal in-App discovery of applicable content. It cannot revoke access to a public image URL that someone obtained before the block.

F. Calendar, schedule, trip, and watched-flight information

If you authorize calendar access, Aero Crew News reads events from the calendar or calendars you select. The App uses those events to identify flight trips, training events, and recognized non-flight assignments.

Calendar identifiers and calendar-selection settings are stored locally on your device. Information parsed into a trip or schedule may be saved to your Aero Crew News account so it can persist across devices and reinstalls.

If you provide a crew-schedule subscription URL, the App may retrieve the schedule from the provider hosting that feed. Schedule-feed URLs, usernames, or passwords may be stored on your device. Credentials are transmitted to the applicable schedule provider when necessary to retrieve the feed and are not intentionally sent to CrewDesk’s backend. Parsed trip information may be stored with your Aero Crew News account.

Trip information may include:

Pairing or trip identifier;
Flight number;
Scheduled date and time;
Departure and arrival airport;
Training or non-flight assignment;
Hotel;
Ground transportation;
Van or pickup information;
Gate information;
Duty, show, block, credit, or pay-related information; and
Notes you attach to the trip.

The App may create a watched-flight record so our systems can match FAA, FlightAware, ADS-B, weather, or other operational aviation data to an upcoming flight. These records may contain the flight number, date, airports, and related trip identifier, but are not sent to public aviation providers with your name or email address.

If calendar sharing is enabled and you choose to use it, the App creates an opaque calendar-feed link. Anyone who obtains that link may be able to view the trip information included in the feed. You are responsible for sharing the link only with people you trust. The link may be rotated or revoked through the App when that functionality is available.

G. Schedule Corrections and diagnostic submissions

If you submit a Schedule Correction, we collect:

The issue category;
The correction and notes you enter;
Screenshots you choose to attach;
App version;
Device model;
Operating-system version; and
Submission status and timestamps.

You may separately choose to include selected-trip information such as a trip identifier, pairing, dates, airports, flight numbers, scheduled times, source, and calculated show or duty summary.

You may also separately authorize follow-up contact using your verified account email.

When the trip-details option is off, the selected-trip identifiers and details are not sent. The App does not intentionally attach your complete calendar, complete crew list, or unrelated hotel details to a Schedule Correction.

Schedule Correction reports and screenshots are retained for up to 90 days and are then deleted unless earlier deletion is appropriate or a longer period is required by law.

H. Images and documents you scan

If you use hotel-sheet scanning, schedule-screenshot importing, aircraft tracing, or another image-assisted feature, the image you select may be transmitted through our systems to our artificial-intelligence provider for processing.

CrewDesk does not intentionally retain the original image or raw AI response on its servers after the real-time processing request unless:

You separately submit the image as community content;
You attach it to a Schedule Correction;
You submit it through support or a news tip; or
The feature clearly informs you that the image will be saved.

Structured information extracted from an image may be saved to your trip, schedule, hotel record, or other applicable feature.

Do not submit images containing information you do not have permission to process or share.

I. Location

On supported Apple devices, the ATC sector map may offer an optional “you are here” dot. If you grant when-in-use location permission, the App uses an approximate device location to position that dot.

CrewDesk does not receive or store those location coordinates. The location is processed on the device for that feature.

The Android application currently does not request device-location permission.

Maps, radar, and route displays may request map tiles or aviation information for the geographic area being displayed. Those providers may receive ordinary network information such as an IP address and the requested map area, but they do not receive your Aero Crew News account profile from us.

J. AI-feature inputs

When you use an AI feature, information needed to answer the request is sent through CrewDesk’s servers to our AI provider, Anthropic.

Depending on the feature, this may include:

Your question;
Relevant Aero Crew News article content;
Selected aviation context;
Calendar or schedule text;
An image you selected;
A crew submission requiring moderation; or
Followed topics used to create a personalized briefing.

Successful Ask-the-News questions and answers may be cached for up to 24 hours and reused anonymously for other paid users. The shared cache does not contain an Aero Crew News user identifier and is automatically deleted after expiration.

We keep account-linked usage counts to enforce subscription limits and prevent abuse. We do not maintain a personal AI-chat history comparable to a general-purpose chatbot.

Do not include unnecessary personal, confidential, medical, financial, employment-sensitive, or security-sensitive information in an AI question.

Under Anthropic’s standard commercial API terms, API inputs and outputs are not used to train its models by default. Anthropic may retain API inputs and outputs for a limited period, generally up to 30 days, unless a different retention arrangement applies or longer retention is required for safety, abuse prevention, or legal compliance.

K. Subscriptions and digital purchases

If you purchase a subscription on an Apple device, Apple processes the payment through the App Store.

If you purchase a subscription on an Android device, Google processes the payment through Google Play.

Apple and Google handle your payment method and full payment-card information. CrewDesk does not receive your complete payment-card number for an App Store or Google Play subscription.

RevenueCat provides subscription-management services for Aero Crew News. RevenueCat may receive:

Your Aero Crew News account identifier;
Product and plan identifier;
Purchase receipt or Google Play purchase token;
Subscription status;
Purchase, renewal, expiration, cancellation, and refund events;
Store, currency, and locale information; and
Limited technical information needed to validate purchases and operate the subscription service.

CrewDesk receives subscription and entitlement information needed to unlock paid features, prevent purchase fraud, provide customer support, and analyze subscription performance.

L. Physical merchandise and Shopify checkout

The in-App Store loads products and creates carts using Shopify. Checkout opens Shopify’s hosted checkout.

Shopify and its payment providers collect the contact, shipping, billing, payment, fraud-prevention, and order information you enter during checkout.

CrewDesk may receive the customer, shipping, purchased-product, payment-status, and order information needed to fulfill and support the order. CrewDesk does not receive or store your complete payment-card number from Shopify checkout.

Purchases of physical merchandise are separate from Apple App Store and Google Play subscriptions.

M. Support, news tips, newsletter, and crew verification

If you contact support or submit a news tip, we collect the information you provide, which may include your name, email address, subject, message, and an optional image.

News tips may be submitted anonymously. Anonymous tips use non-identifying placeholder contact information and are not intentionally linked to your Aero Crew News account.

If you request crew verification, we use the work email address you provide to send a one-time verification code and confirm eligibility. Work-email information is not used for unrelated marketing.

If you join the newsletter, we store your email address and subscription preference. You may unsubscribe using the link in an email or by contacting us.

Beta feedback website. Beta testers can submit a report without signing in to an Aero Crew News app account. We collect the issue category, what happened, what the tester was trying to do, optional expected result and reproduction steps, platform, optional app version/build, browser-exposed device and browser details, and up to four screenshots selected by the tester. A follow-up email is optional, and we contact the tester only when they separately check the consent box. Reports and optional contact emails are stored privately in Supabase for up to 12 months; screenshots are stored privately for up to 90 days. Cloudflare Turnstile processes network and device information, including the IP address, to prevent spam. We use a one-hour hashed-IP throttle but do not retain the raw IP address with the report. After the report and screenshots are saved, SendGrid emails the report owner a notification that may contain the report, the optional contact email, and short-lived private screenshot links. Beta reports are account-independent and are not removed through in-app account deletion.

N. Push-notification information

If you enable push notifications, we collect a push-notification token and associate it with your account, device platform, and delivery environment.

Apple Push Notification service processes notification delivery on Apple devices.

Firebase Cloud Messaging, a Google service, processes notification delivery on Android devices. Firebase may use a Firebase Installation ID to identify the application installation to which a notification should be delivered.

Push tokens and installation identifiers are used for App functionality and security. CrewDesk does not use them for advertising or cross-app tracking.

O. Technical, security, usage, and crash data

We collect limited records needed to operate, secure, and improve the service, including:

Server and error logs;
IP address and request metadata;
Authentication and security events;
API and feature-usage counts;
App version;
Device model;
Operating-system version;
Push-delivery status;
Subscription events; and
Diagnostic information submitted through a support or correction flow.

On Apple devices, Apple’s MetricKit may provide crash diagnostics containing call stacks, exception or signal details, termination information, App and build version, device model, and operating-system version.

The App sends applicable crash diagnostics to our Supabase backend. If you are signed in, a crash report may be associated with your Aero Crew News account identifier.

Crash and diagnostic data is used only for service operation, security, debugging, analytics, and App improvement. It is not used for targeted advertising or cross-app tracking.

P. Website information, cookies, and advertising

When you visit aerocrewnews.com, our website and service providers may process:

IP address;
Browser and device information;
Requested pages;
Referring page;
Account information;
Comments;
Form submissions;
Newsletter preferences;
Contest, survey, or promotion entries;
Order and transaction information; and
Cookie or similar-technology identifiers.

The website may use essential cookies for security, account sessions, preferences, forms, and shopping functions. It may also use measurement, advertising, embedded-content, or social-media technologies depending on the services enabled on the website.

Website comments may be processed by Akismet or another anti-spam service. Anti-spam processing may include the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, name, email address, and comment.

Cloudflare processes IP addresses and other network information to provide content delivery, website security, bot detection, and abuse prevention.

The website may display advertisements or link to third-party websites. Third parties may process information under their own privacy policies. CrewDesk is not responsible for the privacy practices of an unrelated third-party website you choose to visit.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We use information to:

Create, authenticate, and secure accounts;
Provide news, article, community, airline, ATC, weather, schedule, trip, layover, pay, seniority, commuter, watch-list, and Store features;
Personalize content and aviation-professional tools;
Generate AI answers, summaries, briefings, scans, and moderation decisions;
Process and validate subscriptions;
Fulfill physical-merchandise orders;
Deliver notifications;
Save and synchronize user content and preferences;
Respond to support requests, tips, and corrections;
Moderate content and enforce community rules;
Prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and unauthorized access;
Diagnose crashes and improve reliability;
Measure service and subscription performance;
Enforce usage limits;
Maintain business and financial records; and
Comply with legal obligations.

HOW WE DISCLOSE INFORMATION

We do not sell personal information for money.

We disclose information to service providers only as needed to provide, secure, support, and improve Aero Crew News. These providers include:

Supabase — authentication, database, file storage, and backend functions;
Anthropic — AI features and automated content moderation;
Apple — Sign in with Apple, App Store billing, Apple Maps, push notifications, and other Apple platform services;
Google — Sign in with Google, Google Play billing, and Firebase Cloud Messaging;
RevenueCat — subscription validation, entitlement management, fraud prevention, and subscription reporting;
Shopify — merchandise catalog, cart, hosted checkout, payment processing, fraud prevention, and order management;
Twilio SendGrid — transactional email, verification codes, contact messages, tips, and newsletter delivery;
Cloudflare — website delivery, security, network protection, and bot prevention;
Automattic/Akismet — website comment-spam prevention, when enabled;
FlightAware/AeroAPI — live and scheduled flight information;
Yelp — place and hotel ratings and review counts;
OpenStreetMap and map-tile providers — map display on Android and certain map features;
RainViewer — weather-radar imagery;
Watchmode — entertainment search and availability information;
Ticketmaster — layover-event information; and
Other aviation, weather, mapping, and public-data providers needed to answer a request.

Requests to aviation, weather, map, or event providers generally contain the applicable airport code, flight identifier, callsign, map area, place name, or event-search location. CrewDesk does not intentionally send your name, email address, or Aero Crew News account profile with those requests unless the feature clearly requires it.

Public aviation sources may include the FAA, aviationweather.gov, Open-Meteo, U.S. Department of Transportation data, and ADSB.lol.

We may also disclose information:

When required by law or valid legal process;
To protect users, CrewDesk, or the public;
To investigate fraud, abuse, or security incidents;
To professional advisers, auditors, insurers, or contractors subject to appropriate obligations; or
In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, subject to this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

ADVERTISING AND TRACKING

The Aero Crew News mobile applications do not use an advertising identifier, contain no third-party advertising SDK, and do not use personal information for cross-app targeted advertising.

The App may display static sponsor or advertisement images selected by Aero Crew News staff. These images are not personalized using your App account information and do not use an advertising network inside the App.

The aerocrewnews.com website may use advertising or measurement technologies. Depending on applicable law, certain website advertising or measurement disclosures may be considered “sharing” or processing for targeted advertising even when no money is exchanged.

You may control cookies through your browser, available website consent controls, and legally recognized opt-out preference signals where supported. Blocking cookies may affect account, comment, shopping, or preference features.

DATA RETENTION AND ACCOUNT DELETION

We retain information while your account is active and as reasonably needed to provide the service, fulfill transactions, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, maintain security, enforce agreements, and comply with law.

Specific retention periods include:

Shared Ask-the-News answers: up to 24 hours;
Schedule Correction reports and screenshots: up to 90 days;
Contact-form and news-tip identifying information: generally up to 12 months;
AI-provider API inputs and outputs: subject to the provider’s commercial retention terms, generally up to 30 days under Anthropic’s standard API terms; and
Server, security, subscription, crash, and diagnostic records: for a reasonable operational or legally required period.

You may delete your Aero Crew News account from Profile → Delete Account.

Account deletion removes or de-identifies the account information controlled by CrewDesk, including your profile, authentication account, comments, follows, saved items, watchlists, notification preferences and tokens, trips, watched flights, layover favorites and notes, applicable crew submissions, seniority inputs, block relationships, account-linked Schedule Corrections, subscription record in CrewDesk’s database, and profile photograph.

Free-text abuse-report details associated with your account are scrubbed during account deletion. Limited moderation records may be retained in de-identified form for safety and audit purposes.

News tips and contact-form submissions are intentionally not linked to your Aero Crew News account and therefore are not automatically located or deleted through account deletion. They expire under their separate retention schedule. You may contact us if you need assistance identifying a submission you previously sent.

Deleting your Aero Crew News account does not cancel an active Apple App Store or Google Play subscription. You must cancel the subscription through Apple or Google.

Apple, Google, RevenueCat, Shopify, and other transaction providers may retain purchase, subscription, fraud-prevention, tax, accounting, or legal records under their own retention requirements. Contact [email protected] for assistance with a privacy request concerning information CrewDesk controls.

YOUR CHOICES AND PRIVACY RIGHTS

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

Access personal information;
Correct inaccurate information;
Delete information;
Obtain a portable copy;
Restrict or object to processing;
Withdraw consent;
Opt out of targeted advertising, sale, or sharing where applicable; and
Appeal a decision concerning a privacy request.

You may review and edit your profile, manage follows and preferences, manage blocked users, control notifications, unsubscribe from marketing email, and delete your account from within the App.

To exercise a privacy right, email [email protected]. We may verify your identity by confirming control of the account email or requesting information reasonably necessary to identify the relevant records.

California residents may request access, correction, or deletion and may opt out of sale or sharing as defined by California law. We do not discriminate against users for exercising privacy rights.

EEA and UK residents may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object, or receive a portable copy of their personal information. You may also complain to your local supervisory authority.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Aero Crew News is intended for aviation professionals and people interested in aviation. It is not directed to children under 13.

The App enforces a minimum age of 13 during account creation. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

A user who is at least 13 but below the age of legal majority where they live may use the App only with permission from a parent or legal guardian.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information, contact [email protected] and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

SECURITY

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. These include encrypted network connections, hashed passwords, platform-appropriate credential storage, backend access controls, and database row-level security.

No transmission, storage, or security system is guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for protecting your account credentials and for sharing calendar-feed links only with people you trust.

INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

CrewDesk operates from the United States. Information may be processed in the United States and other locations where our service providers operate.

If information is transferred from a jurisdiction requiring transfer safeguards, we rely on applicable legal mechanisms such as contractual safeguards, adequacy decisions, or other lawful transfer methods.

LEGAL BASES FOR EEA AND UK USERS

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process information under one or more of the following legal bases:

Performance of a contract — to create your account and provide the features you request;
Legitimate interests — to operate, secure, support, and improve Aero Crew News;
Consent — for optional processing such as marketing email or optional permissions; and
Legal obligations — to maintain required records and comply with applicable law.

THIRD-PARTY SERVICES AND LINKS

Third-party services process information under their own contracts and privacy notices.

Aero Crew News may contain links to airline, airport, entertainment, merchant, advertiser, or other third-party websites. Visiting an external website is subject to that website’s privacy practices.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy when features, providers, laws, or data practices change.

We will revise the “Last updated” date and provide additional notice in the App or by another appropriate method when a change is material.

CONTACT

CrewDesk, LLC
Aero Crew News
P.O. Box 4165
Easton, PA 18043
Email: [email protected]