Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 21, 2026

Groundschool helps you study aviation knowledge. It is operated by Wannabe Pilot LLC, based in New Jersey, USA, and is initially offered in the United States to adults 18 and older. Contact ben@wannabepilot.com about privacy, your information or this policy.

Information we collect

Account information. We use your email address to sign you in, keep an account identifier and sign-in information, and store an optional unique username for password sign-in. Supabase manages passwords and sessions; Groundschool does not store passwords in learner records. Your username is separate from your email address and display name. We store a display name that may initially be based on the part of your email address before the @ sign.

Study and training information. We store your certification/course, study goals and written-test date when supplied, familiarity responses, questions and answers, results, progress, review state and study activity. You may provide flight hours, aircraft, training airport, qualifications, milestones, upcoming lessons, difficulties and study availability. We use this information to personalize teaching, plan study and show progress.

Conversations and other content. We store messages you send, coach replies and conversation state. You can store aircraft maintenance records, tach readings and schedules, reference information, expenses, insurance and upgrade plans, and private logbook photos with original files and previews. Selected files can contain embedded information; choose photos you have permission to store. Authorized administrators can separately submit question feedback and upload selected product-owned instructional images or videos.

Diagnostics and service records. We collect account-linked timings, actions, success/failure states, technical identifiers and app/server versions to investigate operation and failures. Our dedicated diagnostic-event system excludes chat, answer and profile text, emails and access tokens. Separate service logs and AI-cost records can contain account identifiers and service-error details. Authentication and hosting providers also process network and security information, such as IP addresses, under their service practices.

Choices and support. The updated app stores your AI-sharing decision, recipient, notice version and decision time with your account. If you contact us, we receive the information you choose to include so we can respond. Do not send passwords or sign-in links.

How we use information

We use information to authenticate you, provide and personalize teaching, save and resume study, generate explanations and reminders when AI sharing is allowed, support the instructor relationship you accept, troubleshoot problems, secure the service, respond to requests and account for AI service costs.

We evaluate product use through a restricted operator report. It includes anonymous weekly study totals and a current account list with emails, latest sign-in times, monthly sign-in/study flags and account-role/tester flags. The account list is not a public directory. Anonymous content-group statistics omit groups with fewer than five learners.

AI processing and your choice

Groundschool uses OpenAI's API for coaching, explanations, feedback and reminder copy. Depending on the feature, information sent can include your current message, learner and enrollment identifiers, display name, saved training facts, study goals/progress, relevant questions, grading information and teaching-tool results. Some explanations and reminders are prepared automatically; AI processing is not limited to text you type into chat. Teaching-mode requests send the active question's prompt/concept identifiers and question text rather than the whole profile.

In the updated app, you are asked to Allow AI sharing or Continue without AI before covered personal information is sent to OpenAI. You can later choose Stop AI sharing in Settings under AI data sharing. A confirmed stop prevents new covered transfers and waits for covered active work to stop or finish. Practice questions, grading, authored explanations, non-AI reminders and saved progress remain available in the updated app. AI chat, newly generated feedback and teaching options require permission. Previously prepared or stored replies may remain visible without a new transfer.

Older beta builds may lack these controls. If your build does not show AI data sharing, update when a supported build is available or contact us for help. This policy does not establish that every installed beta build has the controls.

If a save cannot be confirmed, the app shows your last confirmed choice; a failed response does not establish whether a write committed. Retry when connected or contact support. Stopping sharing does not retrieve information already sent or erase provider records.

Our AI client requests that API responses are not stored as response objects. OpenAI's published API default is that data is not used for model training unless the customer opts in. Its security/abuse-monitoring logs can retain content, normally for up to 30 days with legal/safety exceptions; prompt caching and other account settings can also affect retention. These published defaults are not a promise of zero retention or a special data-residency arrangement for Groundschool. See OpenAI's API data controls.

Providers and sharing

We use Supabase for authentication/database storage, Fly.io for backend hosting, OpenAI for the AI processing above, Tigris for administrator-created instructional media and Google Sheets for restricted operator reports. Authentication email delivery and your email provider process sign-in and invitation emails; support correspondence is handled through the support mailbox and email providers.

When you request weather-based study examples, the backend fetches public information from Aviation Weather Center and FAA/BTS services hosted on ArcGIS. Those requests contain station/airport filters rather than your account email or chat text. We do not request device GPS location for this feature.

Authorized personnel can access information needed to operate and support Groundschool. Third parties receiving user information from us must provide the same or greater protection of that information as described in this policy and required by applicable privacy rules. For service providers, this means appropriate confidentiality and security safeguards and processing consistent with the purposes and provider-specific retention described here. Providers process information under their applicable service agreements and privacy/data-processing terms. We may disclose information when needed to comply with law or valid legal process, or protect the service and people from abuse/security threats.

Instructor sharing. If you accept an instructor invitation, the instructor can see your name, certification/course, most recent covered subject, strengths and areas needing work, study pace/knowledge summaries and exact test goal date when set. An authorized instructor can update your certification. The summary does not include chats, individual answers or raw attempt history. You can decline an invitation. To remove an existing instructor's access, contact ben@wannabepilot.com.

Retention and deletion

We keep account/study information while needed to provide your account and service. Choose Delete Account in Settings to remove your learner profile, progress, saved study state, chat history, aircraft records and private logbook original/preview files from active account systems, remove its username, delete the authentication account and prevent old sessions from restoring the old learning state. After confirmation, the deleting device also removes its account-specific pending aircraft drafts and photos. A later sign-in with the same email starts a fresh learner account.

Limited records remain for financial, security, operational, legal or audit purposes, including a deletion record with internal account identifiers and AI-cost/service-error records. These cannot restore your learner account and currently have no fixed automatic expiry. Separate service-error details are not covered by the dedicated diagnostics' text exclusions.

Account-linked diagnostic events have a seven-day retention target: records older than seven days are deleted periodically, so expiry is not immediate at the seven-day boundary. Account deletion purges linked diagnostic events. Device diagnostic queues have a maximum age of 24 hours and are cleared on sign-out or account switch. Separate hosting/authentication logs and provider backups have their own schedules. Deleting an app account does not immediately erase every copy already in email, support correspondence, provider logs/backups or revision history. We do not promise an unverified fixed provider-backup period.

Anonymous weekly totals are kept for twelve calendar months and can remain after deletion. The current account report is replaced on successful refresh; a deleted account may remain in the prior dated snapshot until then. Provider revision history is separate.

Product-owned instructional media, questions and remediation contributed by administrators remain. Deletion removes personal uploader attribution from our media database and subject-authored question-feedback comments; it does not delete product-owned media bytes or published teaching material.

Other choices, security and updates

You can correct training facts through existing profile/coaching controls, accept or decline instructor invitations, control notifications and delete your account in Settings. Contact ben@wannabepilot.com for access/correction requests, privacy concerns or instructor-access removal. We may verify account ownership before acting. Rights required by applicable law remain available.

We use authentication and access controls to limit access; no service guarantees perfect security. Information may be processed where providers operate. Our backend and database inspections identify US regions, but we make no guarantee that every provider processes information only in a particular country.

Groundschool is intended for adults 18 and older, not children. If you believe a child has provided information, contact us so we can investigate and address it.

We may update this policy as the service/practices change, show the current effective date and provide notice or permission when required. Contact Wannabe Pilot LLC in New Jersey, USA, at ben@wannabepilot.com.