Terms & Conditions
1. The service
ScoutGPS is an expedition-management and tracking support tool. It shows a group's GPS trackers against planned day routes, records daily timings, and surfaces off-route alerts so that supervised expeditions can be followed by authorised people. It is provided to Scout groups and similar youth organisations running supervised activities.
ScoutGPS is a supporting tool. It does not replace adult supervision, expedition supervision or safeguarding arrangements, route planning, navigation skills, maps and compass, risk assessments, check-ins, emergency procedures, suitable equipment, food or water, emergency contacts, or human judgement.
2. Eligibility and accounts
Use is limited to members, volunteers and leaders of Scouting / youth organisations running supervised activities, and to others expressly authorised by the group. Accounts are issued by a group lead or administrator; there is no open self-service sign-up. You must keep your sign-in link and device secure, use the service only for expeditions and information you are authorised to see, and not share access beyond your own group.
Email accounts. Where available, volunteers should use a Scout-owned or Scout-managed email address to access ScoutGPS rather than a personal email account. This helps the Scout Unit maintain appropriate control over access, account security and organisational records when volunteers change roles or leave. Where a personal email address is used, it must be an address controlled solely by the authorised user and protected appropriately.
Administrators and group leads may suspend or revoke access at any time if an account is compromised, misused, or no longer authorised.
3. Acceptable use
- Use ScoutGPS only for the legitimate planning, tracking and review of supervised expeditions.
- Do not use the service to track anyone without the organisation's authorisation and proper information to participants and, where appropriate, their parents/carers.
- Do not attempt to access another group's data, or bypass sign-in or role controls.
- Do not enter participant names or other unnecessary identifying personal information into tracker labels, route names or other free-text fields.
- Location data may be viewed only by people authorised for the relevant expedition.
4. Safeguarding and supervision
ScoutGPS supports — it does not replace — your organisation's safeguarding and supervision arrangements. Leaders remain responsible for applying those arrangements, including (for Scouts activities) the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and the required adult-to-young-person supervision ratios.
- Supervision — never plan to be alone with a child or young person, online or in person. A Young Leader is themselves a young person and does not replace an adult for supervision purposes.
- Rations, water and equipment — everyone carries adequate food, water, emergency rations and the planned kit.
- Route and check-ins — stay on the planned route, keep the tracker live, and check in at waypoints.
- Emergency procedures — know emergency contacts, meeting points and the incident procedure.
- Reporting — raise any welfare concern with the leader in charge immediately, following your organisation's safeguarding policy first and contacting statutory authorities where appropriate.
5. Location data
GPS positions are collected only from trackers configured by an administrator and are shown only to people authorised for the relevant expedition. Trackers are identified by neutral aliases (such as "Tracker 1", "Alpha" or "Red"), not participant names. See the Privacy & Data Protection Notice for full details of how location and other personal data is handled.
6. GPS and communications limitations
GPS and communications can be affected by terrain, poor satellite visibility, tracker hardware, battery condition, mobile or internet network availability, delayed telemetry, external API availability, and other technical failures. As a result:
- positions may be inaccurate, delayed or missing entirely;
- an alert (for example an off-route alert) may be incorrect or delayed, or may not be generated at all;
- a position shown as estimated during patchy signal is a best-effort projection, not a measured fix; and
- the absence of an alert is not evidence that everybody is safe.
Always carry maps, a compass and a plan, and never rely on ScoutGPS as your only safety mechanism.
7. Availability
ScoutGPS is provided "as is" without warranty of uninterrupted availability. We do not guarantee that the service, or any data within it, will be available or error-free at all times. Scheduled and emergency maintenance, faults, and factors outside our control may interrupt the service.
8. Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, ScoutGPS accepts no liability for loss or damage arising from use of the service, tracker inaccuracies, delayed or missing alerts, or reliance on live or estimated positions. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence or for fraud.
9. Suspension or withdrawal of access
We may suspend or withdraw access to the service, in whole or in part, where we reasonably believe an account is being misused, is compromised, or where continued access would put young people at risk. We will tell you where practicable and restore access where appropriate.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The date above shows when they were last changed. Continued use of the service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised terms; significant changes will be flagged to administrators.
11. Contact
Questions about these terms or the service: support@scoutgps.app.