The Unpaved Journal

Who we are

The Unpaved Journal (unpavedjournal.com) is operated by Lucentware LLC (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what we collect, why, and who we share it with. Questions or requests: ashton.tran08@gmail.com.

What we collect

When you sign in with Google: your name, email address and Google account ID. We never see your Google password.

When you submit an entry: what you write, the section, any photos you attach (re-saved in your browser before upload, which removes location and camera data), and the date. Published entries show your Google display name as the byline.

When you request a trip plan: your destination, dates, group size, experience level, camping style, budget, interests and any special requests, which may include health, accessibility or dietary details if you choose to share them. We also keep the notes our team adds and the plan we send you.

Automatically: like most websites, the services listed below receive your IP address and basic browser and device information when pages load. Your browser stores small items for the site to work: your sign-in session (Firebase) and counters that limit how often forms can be submitted.

How we use it

To publish and moderate journal entries; to prepare, review and email your trip plan; to keep the site secure and stop abuse (sign-in, bot protection, rate limits); to contact you about something you submitted; and to show ads that pay for the site.

What is public

Published entries, their photos and the author’s display name are public. Your email address is never shown on the site or included in published entries. Trip plan requests are visible only to you and our admins.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell your personal information for money. We use these providers to run the site, and they handle data on our behalf or under their own policies:

Google — Firebase sign-in and database, App Check with reCAPTCHA (bot protection), AdSense (ads) and Google Fonts. Microsoft Azure — hosting, and the service that generates trip plans. An AI model provider (such as Anthropic, OpenAI or Google) — receives your trip request details, but not your name or email, to draft your plan. EmailJS — sends your finished plan and our admin notifications. jsDelivr — delivers some of the site’s code.

We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect the site and its visitors.

Advertising and cookies

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google’s advertising cookies let it and its partners serve ads to you based on your visits to this and other sites. You can turn off personalized ads in Google’s Ads Settings, or opt out of many third-party vendors at aboutads.info.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland are asked for consent before personalized ads are shown.

Do Not Track

The site doesn’t change its behavior in response to browser Do Not Track signals. You can control ad personalization with the links above.

How long we keep it

Published entries stay up until you or we remove them. Account details, submissions and trip plan requests are kept while they’re needed to run the site and answer your requests, and deleted when you ask us to or when we no longer need them.

Your choices

You can ask us to show you, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to delete your account, by emailing ashton.tran08@gmail.com. We’ll respond within 30 days. If you are in the EEA or UK, we rely on your consent (for personalized ads), on providing the service you asked for (for entries and trip plans), and on our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure; you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

The site is not meant for children under 13, and they may not sign in, post or request plans. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, email us and we’ll delete it.

Security

We use access rules so only you and our admins can see your submissions and requests, and we limit who has administrative access. No website is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, we’ll notify you as the law requires.

Changes

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

Agreement

These terms govern your use of The Unpaved Journal (unpavedjournal.com), operated by Lucentware LLC (“we”, “us”). By using the site or signing in, you agree to them and to our Privacy Policy. You must be at least 13 to sign in, post or request a trip plan (16 in the EEA and UK).

Your account

You sign in with your Google account. You’re responsible for what happens under it. We may suspend or remove accounts that break these terms.

What you post

You keep ownership of the entries and photos you submit. By submitting, you give Lucentware LLC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, resize and format them, to edit them for length and clarity, and to share them on the site and to promote it. This license ends when the entry is removed from the site, except for copies already shared.

You confirm that the content is yours or that you have the right to share it, that you have permission from anyone who can be identified in your photos, and that you agree to your Google display name being published as the byline. Entries are reviewed before they appear, and we may decline, edit or remove any entry.

Content rules

Don’t post anything that infringes someone else’s rights; shares another person’s private information; reveals the exact location of sensitive places such as cultural or archaeological sites or wildlife nesting areas; encourages illegal or reckless activity or presents dangerous practices as safe; or is hateful, harassing, sexually explicit, spam or advertising.

Copyright complaints

If you believe something on the site infringes your copyright, email our copyright agent at ashton.tran08@gmail.com with: your contact details; the work you believe is infringed; the URL of the material; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use isn’t authorized by you, your agent or the law; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner; and your physical or electronic signature.

If your entry was removed and you believe that was a mistake, you can send a counter-notice to the same address. We remove the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe copyright.

The AI Trip Planner

Trip plans are drafts written by an AI model from your answers and lightly reviewed by our team before they’re sent. They can contain mistakes or out-of-date information about trails, routes, permits, closures, fire restrictions, water sources, wildlife and weather. They are general information, not professional guiding, safety or medical advice. Before you go, check everything with the land manager responsible for the area (for example the National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or state park), and get the permits you need. The trip planner is free; we may change or stop it at any time.

Outdoor activity is risky

Hiking, backpacking and camping carry inherent risks, including serious injury and death, from terrain, weather, water, wildlife, equipment and your own and others’ decisions. Nothing on the site, in a journal entry or in a trip plan replaces your own judgment, preparation and training. You choose your activities and accept their risks. In an emergency, call 911.

Links and ads

The site contains ads and links to other sites, including shopping searches for gear. We don’t control those sites and aren’t responsible for them or for products you buy there.

Disclaimers and limits

The site and everything on it are provided “as is,” without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent the law allows, Lucentware LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for any loss arising from your use of the site, journal entries or trip plans, and our total liability for any claim is limited to $100. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not apply to you.

Your responsibility

You agree to cover any claims, costs or damages that result from content you post or from your breaking these terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state where Lucentware LLC is organized, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms; the date at the top shows the latest version, and using the site after a change means you accept it. Questions: ashton.tran08@gmail.com.