Tagalong is a mobile app that helps schools run field trips — building a student roster,
assigning students to chaperones, taking headcounts, raising a missing-child alert,
messaging the group, and signing off that everyone returned safely. During a trip a child may
wear a small numbered Bluetooth tag that lets the adults' phones check the child is still nearby. This policy
explains what information Tagalong handles, why, and how it is protected.
Our role. Tagalong acts as a service provider (data processor) to the
school. The school is the owner and controller of student data and authorizes Tagalong to
process it on the school's behalf under a data-privacy agreement. We do not collect children's
information for our own purposes, and we do not seek consent from parents directly — the school
is responsible for the legal basis for processing, including any notice or consent required
under COPPA, FERPA, or state law.
Information we handle
Adult account information
Name and email address of teachers and chaperones who use the app.
A device push-notification token, used only to deliver trip alerts and messages.
Student information (entered by school staff)
First and last name, and the number of the tag the child is wearing on that trip.
Safety details a trip may require: allergies, medications, accommodations, and notes.
An emergency contact name and phone number.
The tag
The tag broadcasts a code that changes every few minutes and cannot be linked to a child without a key held on our servers. Only a signed-in adult on that child's trip can ask our server which child a code belongs to.
While a trip is running, each adult's phone shares with the other adults on the same trip which tag numbers it can currently hear. This travels between phones only, is not stored on our servers, and contains no names.
Our server keeps a short-lived record of unusual tag events (such as a failed pairing) for security and support, without recording where a child was.
What we do not collect
No advertising identifiers and no third-party advertising or analytics SDKs that touch child data.
No real-time GPS or location tracking of children. The tag has no GPS, microphone or camera; it reports only whether it is within Bluetooth range of a trip adult's phone.
No photographs of children.
No integration with Student Information Systems or third-party rostering services.
No payment information.
How we use information
To provide the trip workflow: roster, grouping, headcounts, missing-child alerts, in-app messaging, and trip sign-off.
To deliver push notifications for missing-child alerts to the adults on a trip. An alert notification contains the child's first name and last initial and the name of the adult who raised it.
To synchronize trip data across the authorized adults' devices.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not use student data for advertising or to build profiles.
How information is shared
A child's information is accessible to the adults leading that child's group and to the school's trip leads, enforced by database access controls. Missing-child alerts can also be relayed directly between trip adults' phones, encrypted, when there is no network coverage; nothing from that relay is stored. We use a small number of service providers to operate the app:
Supabase — database, authentication, and encrypted storage, hosted in the United States.
Expo and Apple / Google push services — to deliver push notifications to devices.
These providers process data only to provide their service to us and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.
Data minimization, retention, and deletion
We collect only the fields a trip needs, scoped to a single trip.
The on-device copy of student information is removed when the teacher closes out the trip.
As a backstop, a trip's student information is automatically purged from our servers 30 days after the trip's end date.
Adult account information is retained while the account is active and deleted on request.
How information is protected
Encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest on our servers. On the device, sign-in credentials are held in the iOS Keychain and trip data is protected by the phone's built-in device encryption.
Access is enforced at the database with row-level security: chaperones see only the children in the groups they are assigned to, and a school's trip leads see the trips in their school.
The app blocks or obscures sensitive screens from screenshots, screen recording, and the app-switcher where the platform allows.
Where data is stored
Tagalong stores data in the United States.
Your choices and requests
Because the school controls student data, requests to access, correct, or delete a student's
information should be directed to the school, which we will support. Adults may request deletion
of their own account and associated personal information by contacting us at the address below.
Children's privacy
Tagalong is intended for use by school staff, not by children. Any student information in the app
is entered and controlled by the school under its authorization, consistent with COPPA's
school-authorization provisions and FERPA's school-official exception. Tagalong does not knowingly
allow children to create accounts or provide information directly.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above.