This is a plain-language companion to our Privacy Policy, written for people travelling with us. Registering for a mission trip means handing over more personal information than browsing a website ever would — including your passport details and medical notes. You deserve a straight answer about why we need each piece, who sees it, and how long we keep it.
Contents
1. What we ask for, and why
| What we ask | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Full name, date of birth, nationality | Booking flights and accommodation. Airlines require the name to match your passport exactly. |
| Passport number, issuing country, expiry date | International bookings, visa applications, and border requirements. We also check expiry dates, because many countries refuse entry if a passport expires within six months of travel. |
| Medical notes | So trip leaders know about conditions, allergies, or medications that could matter in the field, often far from a hospital. |
| Dietary needs | Arranging food you can actually eat, and communicating requirements to hosts and caterers. |
| Emergency contact name and phone | So we can reach someone who matters to you if something goes wrong. |
| Travel insurance provider, policy number, expiry, claims phone | So we can help you make a claim, or get you treated, without hunting for paperwork during an emergency. |
| Signed waiver and trip agreement | Legal record that you understood and accepted the terms of participation. |
| Documents you upload | Verifying the details above — for example a passport image, so we can confirm the spelling and expiry ourselves. |
We ask for nothing here for marketing purposes. Your medical and dietary information is never used to decide what to send you, and never shared with anyone outside the purposes described on this page.
2. Who can see it
Access is limited to the people who need it to do their job:
- Ministry staff handling trip administration and bookings.
- Trip leaders for the specific trip you are on — they need to know about medical conditions and allergies before you are in a remote location, not after.
Other participants on your trip do not see your medical information, your passport details, or your emergency contacts.
3. What we share with travel partners
Running an international trip means giving some of your details to others:
- Airlines and travel booking systems — your name, date of birth, nationality, and passport details, as required to ticket and to satisfy border authorities.
- Accommodation and in-country hosts — your name, and any dietary needs relevant to meals they provide.
- Partner organizations at the destination — the minimum needed to host you safely.
- Medical providers — only if you need treatment.
Destination countries may have weaker privacy protections than your own. This is unavoidable in international travel: a border authority that requires passport data will receive it.
4. Where it is stored
Records are held in our administrative system, hosted by Supabase on servers in the United States, with encryption in transit. Uploaded documents are stored in access-controlled file storage. Signed agreements are handled through DocuSign.
If you are outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and stored there.
5. How long we keep it
| Information | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Passport number and uploaded identity documents | Only while needed for your trip, and a short period afterwards for reconciliation. Then deleted. |
| Medical notes and dietary needs | Duration of the trip and a short period afterwards. Then deleted. |
| Emergency contacts | Duration of the trip and a short period afterwards. |
| Insurance details | Duration of the trip, plus any period a claim remains open. |
| Signed waivers and agreements | Retained long-term, as legal and insurance obligations require. |
| Your name and contact details | Retained as part of our ministry records, unless you ask us to remove them. |
If you would like your passport or medical details deleted sooner than the above, ask us. Unless a legal obligation prevents it, we will remove them and confirm when done.
6. In an emergency
If your life or health is at risk, we will use and share whatever information is necessary to get you help — contacting your emergency contact, giving medical staff your conditions and allergies, and providing insurance details to arrange treatment or evacuation. We will not wait for permission to do that.
7. Your choices
You can ask us at any time to show you what we hold, correct anything wrong, or delete what we no longer need. Email sharon@grace-grit.org.
Providing this information is voluntary — but honestly, most of it is not optional in practice. We cannot book international travel without passport details, and we are not willing to take someone into a remote setting without knowing about a serious medical condition. If you are uncomfortable sharing something, talk to us before you register rather than after, and we will tell you plainly whether the trip can still work.
You can withdraw consent for us to hold your health information at any time. If you do so before or during a trip, we may be unable to continue your participation safely.
8. How to contact us
Grace & Grit Foundation
PO Box 17332
Austin, TX 78760
Phone: 512-481-2328
Email: sharon@grace-grit.org
See also: Privacy Policy · Terms & Conditions