Privacy Policy

Trail Manual is a free DIY reference for off-road vehicle owners. We built it to need as little of your data as possible. There are no accounts, no logins, and nothing to sign up for. This page explains the small amount of data the site does touch, and what happens to it.

What we collect

Usage analytics. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which guides people read and how they find the site — page views, approximate location (city level), device type, and referring site. This involves cookies set by Google (such as _ga). We see aggregated reports; we do not see your name, email, or precise location, and we make no attempt to identify individual visitors. You can block these cookies with any standard browser setting or content blocker and the site works fine without them. Google's own handling of this data is described in Google's privacy policy.

Data stored on your device only. Tools like My Garage and the Rig Builder save your entries (vehicles, maintenance logs, build configurations) and your light/dark theme choice in your browser's local storage. That data never leaves your device — we have no server that receives it, and clearing your browser data removes it completely.

Email. If you email us, we have your email address because you sent it. We use it to reply and for nothing else.

What we don't do

• We don't sell or share personal information with anyone, for any purpose.
• We don't run third-party advertising or ad-tracking cookies today. If we add display ads in the future, this policy will be updated first, a consent mechanism will be added where required, and safety-critical guides and the Workshop section will remain ad-free permanently.
• We don't collect anything from contact forms or signups, because there aren't any.

Affiliate links

Trail Manual is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Some parts lists link to products with our affiliate tag; if you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. These links don't involve any data collection on our site — the link itself carries the referral. Recommendations are never paid placements, and pages covering safety-critical work carry no affiliate links at all.

Your rights

If you're in a region with privacy laws granting access, deletion, or objection rights (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and similar): the honest answer is that we hold almost nothing to act on. Analytics data is aggregated and not identifiable by us; tool data lives only on your device. For anything else — or to ask questions about this policy — email corrections.commonladder@gmail.com and we'll respond.

Children

The site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, children included.

Changes

If this policy changes — for example, when display advertising launches — the effective date above will change with it, and material changes will be noted plainly rather than buried.