Your privacy matters. Learn how we collect, use, and protect your personal information in compliance with GDPR and PIPEDA.
Last Updated: November 27, 2025
Air Transat Virtual is a non-commercial flight simulation community operated by volunteers, dedicated to the ethical handling of personal data. We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for all European users and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) for Canadian users, ensuring the highest standards of privacy protection worldwide.
By registering with Air Transat Virtual, you explicitly provide Consent (as per GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and PIPEDA) for us to process your data for the purpose of operating your virtual pilot account, tracking your flight activity, and providing access to our community resources.
Our primary legal basis for processing your data is contractual necessity for the performance of the VA's service agreement with you (maintaining your pilot account, flight tracking, and community access). This Privacy Policy explains in detail what personal data we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, your rights under data protection laws, and how to exercise those rights.
Air Transat Virtual is committed to transparency, security, and accountability in all data processing activities. We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to safeguard your information and only retain data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy.
When you register as a pilot, we collect this data based on your explicit consent and our need to fulfill your membership contract. All information is collected through secure encrypted channels:
This data is automatically collected via our ACARS system (SmartCARS 3 / VMS ACARS) to provide the core service of a virtual airline (career tracking, statistics, promotions). This is necessary for the performance of your VA membership contract and enables us to maintain accurate flight logs, leaderboards, and pilot rankings:
We use privacy-respecting analytics tools based on our legitimate interest in maintaining and improving our website performance, user experience, and technical infrastructure. This data collection is essential for:
Privacy-First Approach: We do not use intrusive tracking cookies, cross-site tracking, or advertising trackers. We do not sell analytics data to third parties. Our analytics are aggregated and anonymized, meaning individual users cannot be identified or tracked across websites.
Air Transat Virtual uses minimal, essential cookies to provide core functionality:
We do NOT use: Third-party advertising cookies, social media tracking pixels, or any form of behavioral tracking cookies.
Your personal data is used strictly for the operation and management of the Air Transat Virtual community, based on the principles of necessity (PIPEDA) and legitimate interest/contractual necessity (GDPR). We are committed to data minimization—collecting only what is essential—and purpose limitation—using data only for explicitly stated purposes:
Absolute Commitment: We will never sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal data to third parties for their marketing purposes. We will never use your data for commercial advertising or profiling beyond what is necessary for VA operations. Your data is yours, and we respect that.
To promote community activity, transparency, and healthy competition, the following information is publicly displayed on our Roster page and pilot profiles, as explicitly accepted upon registration:
Note: Your email address, date of birth, Discord username, and IP address are never publicly displayed. You may request to hide specific profile elements by contacting our Data Protection Officer.
We work with carefully selected third-party service providers to deliver our services. These partners are bound by strict data processing agreements and are only permitted to process data on our behalf for specified purposes:
We do NOT share personal data with: Marketing agencies, advertising networks, data brokers, or any third party for their commercial purposes.
We may share anonymized, aggregated flight data (e.g., total number of flights, total hours flown by all pilots) with our VATSIM or IVAO partners for recognition, promotional purposes, or event coordination, as per their Terms of Service and VA partnership agreements. Individual personally identifiable information is never shared without explicit consent. This sharing supports our VA's standing with these networks and enables participation in official events.
We may disclose your personal data if required by law, court order, legal process, or governmental request. We will notify you of such disclosures unless legally prohibited from doing so. In the event of a business transfer, merger, or acquisition (hypothetical, as we're a non-commercial entity), we would notify affected users and ensure continued data protection under equivalent privacy standards.
Your data is primarily stored on servers located within Canada or GDPR-compliant jurisdictions (EU/EEA). If data must be transferred outside these regions, we ensure adequate safeguards are in place through:
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and to satisfy any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. This principle of storage limitation ensures we don't keep data longer than needed:
Data is retained for the duration of your active membership and includes:
Accounts that show no flight activity for 12 consecutive months without an approved Leave of Absence (LOA) will be automatically flagged for suspension. You will receive email notifications at 9, 10, and 11 months of inactivity warning of impending suspension. After 12 months, your account will be suspended, and after an additional 30-day grace period, all personally identifiable information (email, name, DOB, Discord ID, VATSIM/IVAO ID) will be permanently deleted. Flight data will be anonymized and retained in aggregated form for statistical reporting (see below).
After account deletion, anonymized flight records (without any personal identifiers) may be retained indefinitely for legitimate statistical and operational purposes, including:
Importantly: Anonymized data cannot be traced back to individual pilots and contains no personal identifiers.
You may request immediate account deletion at any time by contacting privacy@transatvirtual.com. Upon receiving your request, we will:
Exception: If required by law or legitimate legal claims, some data may be retained in secure backups until the legal obligation expires.
For business continuity and disaster recovery purposes, encrypted backups containing personal data are retained for up to 90 days. Deleted data may persist in backups until the backup retention period expires, after which it is permanently purged. Backups are stored securely with encryption and restricted access.
Under GDPR (for EU residents) and PIPEDA (for Canadian residents), you have comprehensive rights regarding your personal data. Air Transat Virtual is committed to honoring these rights promptly and transparently:
(GDPR Art. 15 / PIPEDA Principle 9)
Request a complete copy of all personal data we hold about you, including account information, flight history, and communication records. We will provide this in a structured, commonly used format (PDF or CSV) within 30 days of your request, free of charge for the first request.
(GDPR Art. 16 / PIPEDA Principle 6)
Correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information in your account. You can update most information directly through the Crew Centre. For changes requiring verification (e.g., VATSIM/IVAO ID), contact our support team.
(GDPR Art. 17 / PIPEDA: Withdrawal of Consent)
Request deletion of your account and associated personal data. We will permanently erase your information within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate legal claims. Anonymized flight statistics may be retained for historical records.
(GDPR Art. 20)
Receive your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON/CSV) to transfer to another virtual airline or service. This includes flight logs, pilot statistics, and account information.
(GDPR Art. 21 / PIPEDA: Withdrawal of Consent)
Object to processing of your data for specific purposes, particularly for direct marketing or profiling. You can opt-out of promotional communications at any time by adjusting your Crew Centre notification preferences or contacting us.
(GDPR Art. 18)
Request temporary restriction on how we process your data in specific circumstances (e.g., while verifying accuracy of disputed data, during legal proceedings). Your account will remain accessible but processing will be limited.
(GDPR Art. 7(3) / PIPEDA Principle 3)
Withdraw your consent for data processing at any time. This will result in account closure, as consent is necessary for VA membership. You can withdraw consent by requesting account deletion.
(GDPR Art. 77 / PIPEDA)
File a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your rights have been violated. EU: Contact your national Data Protection Authority. Canada: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).
To exercise any of these rights, please submit a request via one of the following methods:
Response Time: We will acknowledge your request within 72 hours and provide a complete response within 30 days as required by GDPR and PIPEDA. Complex requests may take up to 60 days with prior notification. All requests are handled free of charge unless manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Air Transat Virtual implements comprehensive industry-standard technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Our multi-layered security approach includes:
While we implement comprehensive security measures and continuously work to protect your data, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security against all possible threats, including sophisticated cyber-attacks, zero-day vulnerabilities, or insider threats.
In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we commit to:
You play an important role in protecting your account. Please follow these best practices:
To exercise any of your rights, ask questions about our privacy practices, or report a data protection concern, please contact our Data Protection Officer:
For formal data requests, complaints, and privacy inquiries. Responses within 72 hours.
Open a privacy ticket for quick support and general questions. Real-time assistance available.
Supervisory Authorities: If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. EU residents: Contact your national DPA. Canadian residents: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) at priv.gc.ca
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or technological developments. Any material changes will be communicated to all active pilots via email at least 30 days before taking effect. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy indicates when the most recent changes were made. Continued use of Air Transat Virtual services after policy updates constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.