VATFLOW Privacy & Data Handling Policy

Summary

VATFLOW is designed to store as little personal data as possible. It does not operate a user database. When you sign in with VATSIM Connect, VATFLOW confirms your controller identity in the moment and issues a short-lived session token that lives only in your own web browser. VATFLOW does not sell, rent, share, or trade any personal information, and has no advertising.

What data VATFLOW receives

Signing in is handled entirely by VATSIM Connect (auth.vatsim.net). VATFLOW never sees or handles your VATSIM password. After you authorize the sign-in, VATSIM provides VATFLOW with a limited set of details from your VATSIM profile:

• Your VATSIM CID (member ID)
• Your name as held by VATSIM
• Your controller rating and related network details

VATFLOW requests only the minimum permissions ("scopes") needed to verify that you are a VATSIM controller. It does not request your email address unless explicitly stated at the time of sign-in.

Separately, VATFLOW reads the public VATSIM data feed (data.vatsim.net) — the same live network data anyone can access — to display aircraft, flight plans, and online positions. This is public network activity, not private account data, and is used only to render the tools.

How that data is used

The details from VATSIM Connect are used for one purpose: to confirm, at sign-in, that you are a VATSIM controller and to establish your access level within VATFLOW. Your CID and rating may be included inside the session token described below so the tools know who you are during your session.

VATFLOW does not use this data for profiling, analytics, marketing, or any secondary purpose.

The same VATSIM Connect session is shared across VATFLOW tools, including vUSAlink (CPDLC). vUSAlink additionally checks the vNAS controller feed to confirm your signed-in CID matches your active vNAS center position before allowing CPDLC uplinks.

What is stored, and where

VATFLOW is built to avoid keeping a server-side record of you:

• No user database. VATFLOW does not maintain a stored list of members, logins, or profiles. The information VATSIM returns at sign-in is used to verify you and is then discarded on the server side; it is not written to any database.
• Session token (in your browser). After you are verified, VATFLOW issues a short-lived, digitally signed session token that is stored only in your own browser (local storage). This token contains your CID and rating so the tools can recognize you during your session. It expires automatically after a limited time, after which you sign in again. It is not shared with third parties. Clearing your browser's site data removes it.
• Tool settings (in your browser). Preferences and configurations you create — such as FCA definitions, runway configurations, and view settings — are stored locally in your browser and, where a page offers live sharing, in that page's shared data store so other controllers on the same tool can see the same traffic picture. These settings are operational data, not personal profile data.
• FCA crossing archive (opt-in). When an editor turns on Record crossings for an FCA, VATFLOW keeps public VATSIM-feed events for that line: callsign, CID, departure/arrival, the frozen planned crossing time, and the interpolated actual crossing. This is operational flow-analysis data from the same public network feed the live tools already display. It is not used for marketing or profiling. Disable the toggle to stop new collection; existing rows remain until an administrator removes them.
• Pilot ACARS profile (opt-in). If you save a profile on the Pilot page, the vUSAlink hub keeps your CID, your SimBrief username and whether messages are on, plus the messages it sent to your current flight and when. It uses them only to find your flight on the VATSIM network, read your latest SimBrief plan and send your aircraft its ACARS messages over Hoppie. Delete my profile on that page removes all of it.
• First to Land. When an aircraft is the first to land at a field on the First to Land list, the VATFLOW hub keeps that landing from the public VATSIM feed: CID, callsign, aircraft type, departure field, the field and the time. It is shown publicly on the First to Land pages, which is the point of the challenge. Firsts are shown by CID unless you choose a name: signed in with VATSIM, you can show the name on your VATSIM account (full, or first name and last initial) once you accept the statement on the page. There is no free-text name. The hub keeps that choice and the name with your CID, shows it next to your firsts, and uses it for nothing else. Choose "My CID" on the Firsts or Leaderboard page, or use Delete my data, to remove it. Administrators can reset a name. To have a claim removed, ask a VATFLOW administrator.
• Sign-in secrets. VATFLOW's backend holds only the credentials needed to talk to VATSIM Connect (an application secret and a token-signing key). These are configuration secrets, not information about you.

Third-party services & transient logs

VATFLOW runs on standard web hosting and a lightweight serverless backend (for example, GitHub Pages and Cloudflare). Like virtually all internet services, these providers may automatically keep short-term technical request logs (such as IP addresses and timestamps) for security and abuse prevention. VATFLOW does not control the retention of these provider logs and does not use them to build any profile of you. VATFLOW also contacts VATSIM services and publicly available aviation data sources (for example, weather and airport data) to function.

Data sharing

VATFLOW does not sell, rent, or share your personal data with anyone. The only transfers of your information are: (1) between you and VATSIM Connect during sign-in, which VATSIM governs under its own privacy policy, and (2) within your own browser session as described above.

Your choices

• You can decline the VATSIM Connect authorization screen and simply not sign in.
• You can sign out or clear your browser's site data at any time to remove your session token and local settings.
• You can revoke VATFLOW's access to your VATSIM account at any time from your VATSIM Connect account settings at auth.vatsim.net.
• Delete my data. When signed in, use Delete my data in the navigation bar to purge VATFLOW's server-side records for your CID (whitelist entry, login audit and First to Land display name, if any) and clear all local tool settings in your browser. Collaborative FCA data shared during events is operational flow-control state and is not removed by this action.

Minimal server-side records

VATFLOW does not maintain a general user profile database. The hub may store a small amount of data needed for access control and compliance: optional whitelist entries (CID + note), short login audit timestamps, and GDPR deletion markers. These are not used for marketing or profiling.

Children

VATFLOW is a tool for VATSIM network members and is not directed at children.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as VATFLOW evolves. The "last updated" date at the top reflects the current version. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data can be directed to the project author via the project's repository or the contact method listed there: github.com/djbrombizzle/vatflow.