LakbayBook
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how LakbayBook (“we”, “us”), operated by Ernest John Maskariño, collects, uses, stores, and shares information when you use our trip workbook service on the website and supported mobile apps (including Android and iOS builds). It should be read with our Terms of Service.
2. Information we collect
Account data. Email address, password (stored hashed via our auth provider), display name, and optional profile photo. If you use Google or Apple sign-in, we receive the account identifiers and profile fields that provider shares for authentication (typically email and name; Google may also share a picture). Apple may give us a private relay email instead of your real address.
Profile & preferences. Travel styles, interests, dietary notes, in-app and push notification choices, private-profile setting, and when you acknowledged Terms.
Trip workbook data. Content you enter or upload in sheets such as trip detail, flights, itinerary, hotels, food places, expenses / ledgers and split bill, emergency contacts, prep lists, destination notes, covers (and the part of the cover you choose to show), and collaborator emails/roles.
Flights and bookings. Flight numbers, times, seats, and booking references you enter. When you scan a flight ticket or boarding pass, it is read on your device and the file is not uploaded. When you upload a hotel booking confirmation, it is sent to our AI provider to extract the hotel, dates, and reference; we keep the extracted details, not the file.
Expenses. Amounts, currencies, who paid, how costs are split, and settlements you record. We do not collect card or bank details and do not process payments.
Recap. Reflections, award votes, and memories you add to a finished trip, shown to that trip’s crew (and, for public trips, in the public recap without saying who voted).
Places. When you pick an address from search, we keep a LakbayBook place for it: the provider’s place ID, your own label, and its coordinates (Google coordinates are refreshed or dropped after 30 days). This lets everyone who adds the same place share its reviews.
Crew files. PDFs and photos you (or a planner on the trip) upload for the crew, plus the name and optional description you give each file. These are stored with our database provider so collaborators and private-link viewers can download them later. We do not use crew files for Explore, public profiles, or advertising.
Social / World features. Public workbook metadata, likes on public itineraries, follows, copy/view activity used for rankings where shown, and Atlas / passport signals derived from finished published trips.
Notifications. In-app activity such as collaborator invites, follows, and likes, plus optional push-notification device tokens (for example FCM on Android or APNs on iOS) when you allow notifications in a mobile app. You can change notification preferences in Account (and system permission settings on your device).
Location (Live map, Live navigation & nearby helpers). If you use Live map, Live navigation, or related “near me” helpers and grant permission, we access your device’s approximate or precise location (GPS / network) to show your position on the map, get directions to your next stop, and find nearby places (for example hospitals or police). For directions, your current position and the destination are sent to Google Routes. Location is requested only when you use those features, is not used for advertising, and is not stored by us as a continuous location history or track. Map or place lookups may send a location or search query to map / geocoding providers as needed to render results. You can deny or revoke location permission in your device settings; those features will not work without it.
Travel documents (passport country and expiry). If you add them in Travel documents, we keep only your passport country and its expiry date — and, if you add a second passport (dual citizens), that country and date too. We use them only to show the entry documents for your passport and the passport checks in Prep (for example, an expired passport or one with under 6 months left). They are private to you: not shown to your crew, on your public profile, or to other travellers, and your profile details are never sent to LakBi: to find entry documents, LakBi is asked only about a passport country and a destination, with nothing that identifies you (one answer is shared by everyone with that passport). Clear the fields to delete them.
My list (your private Prep checklist). Items you add to “My list” in a trip’s Prep are saved to your account for that trip and shown only to you — not to the trip owner, your crew, share links, Explore or LakBi. They are deleted when the trip or your account is deleted.
Sharing your location with your crew (Live navigation). This is off until you turn on “Share my location” in Live navigation’s Crew view. While it is on and Live navigation is open, your position is sent live to the travellers on that trip (the owner and accepted crew), never to anyone else. Live positions are not stored. We keep only your last shared position (“last seen”), which is deleted after 2 days, and the time you arrived at a stop (“arrived at … at …”), which is deleted after 7 days. When you arrive while sharing, your phone’s position at that moment may also be used to pin that stop’s exact spot on the trip’s map (it becomes the stop’s location on that trip, not a record of you), and only when you are near the day’s destination. Turn the switch off or close Live navigation to stop sharing. A crew status you pick (for example “Chillin’” or “I’m here”, set to “I’m here” by itself when you arrive while sharing) is shown to the same crew for 3 hours and deleted after 2 days.
Browsing without an account. You can open the app and look at public itineraries, traveller profiles, leaderboards, Day Tours and trip recaps without signing in. We don’t create an account or keep anything about you while you browse, beyond the presence heartbeat and technical data described below. Liking, rating, copying, following, LakBi and your own trips need an account.
Lists (Library). Lists you make on a trip (for example pasalubong or cafés to try) store the list name, each item’s text and optional link, ticks, and who added each item. A “Just me” list is shown only to you; a “Crew” list is shown to the owner and accepted crew of that trip. Lists are never part of share links, Explore, exports or LakBi, and are deleted with the trip or your account. The order you drag your lists into is kept on your device only.
Photo checks. Photos that can be shown publicly (review and memory photos, and photos on public trips) are checked by Google Cloud Vision SafeSearch before they’re shared, to keep explicit or violent images off LakbayBook. Files, receipts and photos kept only for your crew are not sent for this check.
Reviews. When you review a place (an activity, food place, or hotel), we store your stars, tags, note, optional photo, the place it belongs to, the trip you wrote it from, and when you wrote and last edited it. Review photos are shrunk on your device and get a small LakbayBook watermark before upload.
Reports. When you report a review, photo, trip, or user, we store what you reported, the reason and note you gave, your account, and the time, so we can review it and act on repeat problems.
Feedback and bug reports. Notes you submit through Account feedback, and bug reports with any screenshots or files you attach plus your browser or app details.
Technical data. Session cookies or tokens, approximate device/browser or app info, your device’s time zone (so “today” on a trip matches your clock), IP address as seen by our hosts, and basic request logs and error reports needed to operate and secure the service.
Presence. While you have LakbayBook open, we may store a short-lived “online” heartbeat (visitor id and, if signed in, user id) so features like the community online counter can work. These records expire when you leave or after a short inactivity window.
LakBi / AI. Prompts and limited trip context you send to LakBi may be processed by our AI provider to generate replies (chat tips, destination notes, cover helpers, and similar). Do not paste secrets you would not trust a processor with.
3. How we use information
- Provide, sync, and secure accounts, workbooks, invites, publishing, and private crew file downloads across web and mobile
- Show World / Explore, profiles, follows, likes, leaderboards, and Atlas features you opt into by publishing, liking, or following
- Deliver in-app notifications and, when enabled, push notifications about invites, social activity, and trip reminders
- Power Live map, Live navigation, and nearby place helpers when you grant location permission
- Convert currencies in expenses and food prices with indicative exchange rates
- Link reviews to places so everyone who adds the same place sees them, and watermark review photos
- Send transactional email (invites, password reset) when email is configured
- Improve reliability, prevent abuse, process block/report actions, and debug errors
- Operate LakBi and other product assistants
- Respond to feedback and support requests
We do not sell your personal information.
4. When information is shared
- Collaborators you invite can see and edit workbook content allowed by their roles, including crew files they are allowed to download.
- Reviews. Your review of a place (stars, tags, note, photo, and date) is shown to anyone who adds that place to a trip, public or private, and on public trips that include it. It shows your name and profile photo only if your profile is public; otherwise it shows as “A traveller”. Public Explore views never show who wrote a review.
- Reports. The person you report is not told who reported them. Reports and the reported content are seen only by our team (and sent to our private operations channel) so we can review them.
- Public / Explore. Sheets you include in a published public workbook are visible to people who open that public link or browse Explore (typically in read-only form). Likes and related counts may be shown publicly. Crew files are kept private and are omitted from public workbooks, Explore, and itinerary copies. Prep checklist toggles on a public view are not written back to your published trip for other viewers.
- Private share links. Anyone who opens a private share link you generate can view the workbook in read-only form, including crew files on that trip, until you revoke or replace the link.
- Service providers that host or process data for us: Cloudflare (site and functions); Supabase (authentication, databases, and file storage); Google (sign-in; Maps, Places, and Routes for maps, place search, photos, and directions; Gemini for LakBi, hotel booking scans and reading places from links you share; Cloud Vision SafeSearch for photos that can be shown publicly; Firebase Cloud Messaging for push); Apple (Sign in with Apple and push on iOS); Resend (invite and password-reset email); OpenStreetMap-based services (Nominatim and Photon for address search) and map tiles (OpenFreeMap, Esri); photo libraries (Unsplash, Wikimedia Commons, Openverse), which receive only the place or trip name searched; exchange-rate services (ExchangeRate-API, Frankfurter, currency-api via jsDelivr), which your browser or app contacts directly, so they see your IP address but no trip data.
- Operations signals. We may send limited operational events (such as new registrations, serious errors, new/copied itinerary notices, or feedback) to private team channels (for example Discord webhooks) so we can run the product. Those channels are not a public directory of your trips.
- Legal. We may disclose information if required by law or to protect rights, safety, and the service.
5. Cookies and local storage
We use cookies or similar storage for signed-in sessions, local caches of drafts/library data so the app stays fast and more usable offline, and small preferences on your device (for example the workbook layout you picked). We do not use advertising or analytics trackers. Mobile apps may also keep local caches on the device. You can clear site or app data; you may need to sign in again.
6. Data location and retention
Data is stored with our providers (typically cloud regions they offer). We keep account and workbook data while your account is active, including crew files stored separately from the public trip document. A planner or owner can update or remove an individual file; deleting the trip or your account removes remaining crew files with it. Reviews of places stay when you delete a trip (they belong to the place) and are deleted, with their photos, when you delete your review; when you delete your account they stay without your name (see below). Content we remove after a report may be kept hidden for a limited time so a mistaken removal can be undone. Reports are kept while useful for safety and are deleted with the reporting account. When you delete your account, its email is not blocked—you may sign up again later as a new account (your old data is not restored). If we suspend an account, its email is kept on a block list so it can’t sign in. Device push tokens are kept while the device remains registered and are removed when you sign out, revoke permission, or we purge inactive tokens. We do not retain a continuous GPS track of your movements; crew “last seen” positions are deleted after 2 days. Residual backups or logs may persist for a limited period. Presence heartbeats are short-lived. Feedback and operational logs are kept as long as useful for support and security.
Deleting your account. Your profile, your trips (with their costs, files, Recap answers and award votes), your follows, blocks, devices and notifications are deleted. What you added to other people’s trips stays with those trips, without your name: your reviews of places stay as “Deleted account” with no photo or profile link, and your review photos are deleted; your Recap answers and award votes on other people’s trips stay as “Deleted account”; and on trips you joined as crew you appear as “Deleted account” (in the Travellers list, costs and split bills), unlinked from any account. Stops and costs you added stay. Your own copies of things on those trips (My list, flights, crew location and status) are deleted.
Trip files and receipts. Files in a trip’s Files tab and receipt photos saved with its costs are kept until 90 days after the trip ends (its last travel date; if the trip is extended, the date moves with it). After that they are deleted automatically. The trip owner gets a reminder about a week before, and anyone on the trip can save everything first with “Download all” in the Files tab. The rest of the trip and its cost amounts stay.
7. Your choices
- Edit profile, privacy (private profile), travel preferences, and notification preferences in Account
- Choose what to publish or share; keep drafts private; like or unfollow public travellers and itineraries
- Block travellers (hides their public content from you) or report reviews, review photos, users, or public itineraries with the ⚑ Report button; manage blocked travellers in Account
- Update or delete your review of a place while a trip that includes it allows reviews; make your profile private to show as “A traveller”
- Upload, update, download, or remove crew files on trips you plan; crew files stay off public Explore
- Revoke collaborator access or replace a private share link if someone should no longer download files
- Disable push notifications in the app and/or your device settings
- Allow or deny location access for Live map / nearby helpers in your device settings
- Delete your account at any time in Account (this removes your trips, review photos, and profile; reviews and what you added to other people’s trips stay as “Deleted account”)
- Submit feedback or ask us about your data via Account tools / contact
- Stop using LakBi if you do not want prompts processed by AI providers
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export personal data, or to object to certain processing. Contact us to exercise those rights.
8. Children
LakbayBook is not directed at children under 13 (or the higher age required in your region). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under that age.
9. Security
We use industry-standard measures via our providers (HTTPS, hashed passwords, access-controlled databases). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; use a strong unique password and be careful with public shares and with what you store as crew files (treat tickets and IDs as sensitive).
10. International users
If you access LakbayBook from outside the country where our providers process data, you understand your information may be transferred to and processed in those locations with safeguards offered by those providers. Depending on where you live (for example the EEA, UK, or similar regions), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export personal data, or to object to certain processing—contact us to exercise those rights. This Policy is a product description of our practices, not a full GDPR/UK GDPR article-by-article notice; we will expand region-specific disclosures as our user base grows.
11. Changes
We may update this Policy and will revise the “Last updated” date. Material changes will be communicated when practical. Continued use means you accept the updated Policy.
12. Contact
Privacy questions: ejmaskarino.com / dev@ejmaskarino.com or the operator contact listed there.
This Policy describes LakbayBook’s current practices. It is not legal advice. For jurisdiction-specific compliance (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), consider reviewing with a qualified attorney.