Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 20, 2026

The short version

  • We only get your personal details if you choose to email us a submission.
  • We use Google Analytics to count visits. It uses cookies.
  • Videos, comments, chat, maps and share buttons come from other companies, who have their own privacy rules.
  • We never sell your personal data.
  • Want something deleted? Email submissions@fallendrones.com.

Fallen Drones (fallendrones.com) is a community site for drone crash and recovery stories, run by Dan Schaller. This policy explains, in plain English, what information is collected when you use the site and what we do with it. "We", "us" and "Fallen Drones" mean the site and its owner.

1. What you send us through the submit form

The "Share Your Crash" form does not save anything on our website. When you pick Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or your default email app, the form opens a new email in that service, already filled in, addressed to submissions@fallendrones.com. Nothing is sent until you press Send in your own email. Your email provider handles that message under its own privacy policy.

The email contains what you typed into the form:

Your email message also reaches us with the usual details any email carries, such as your email address and the time it was sent. Our mailbox is hosted by Zoho Mail.

Uploading a video file: if you use the form's "Upload video" button, your file goes through a Dropbox upload link and is stored in Fallen Drones' Dropbox account, along with the name and email address Dropbox asks you for. We only use it to review and publish your submission, and we delete the file from Dropbox once we're done with it. Dropbox handles the upload under its own privacy policy.

How we use it: to review your submission, publish it if it's a good fit (as described in the Submission Terms), credit you the way you asked, add an approximate pin to the Crash Map if you gave a location, and reply to you about it. We don't publish your email address, and we don't add you to a mailing list.

What may become public: if your submission is published, the story, title, cause, location (approximate), the crash cost and outcome you shared, media and the credit name or handle you chose can be seen by anyone on this site and on Fallen Drones' social channels. If you asked to stay anonymous, we won't show your name or handle.

2. Analytics cookies (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics to understand how many people visit, which pages they view, roughly where they're from (country or city level), and what device or browser they use. Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser and collects information such as your IP address, pages visited and time on the site. We use these reports only in summary form to improve the site. Google processes this data under the Google Privacy Policy. You can opt out with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or by blocking cookies in your browser settings.

3. Third-party embeds and services

Some parts of the site load content from other companies. When your browser loads that content, those companies may receive your IP address and browser details, and may set their own cookies. Their own privacy policies apply:

4. Affiliate links and advertising (future)

We may add affiliate links in the future, for example through the Amazon Associates program or DJI's affiliate program. If you click one, the store may use cookies to record that you came from Fallen Drones so we can earn a commission. We may also show ads in the future, for example through Google AdSense, or feature sponsors. Ad providers such as Google may use cookies to show ads based on your visits to this and other websites. If we add advertising, you can manage personalized ads through Google Ad Settings or learn more at aboutads.info. We'll update this policy when that happens. See our Affiliate Disclosure for how we label paid links and sponsored content.

5. We don't sell your personal data

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We only share it with the service providers listed above as needed to run the site, or if required by law.

6. How long we keep things

We keep submission emails for as long as we need them to review, publish and manage the submission, or until you ask us to delete them. Analytics data is kept according to Google Analytics' retention settings.

7. Your choices and deletion requests

You can ask us to see, correct or delete the personal information you sent us, or to remove a published submission. Just email submissions@fallendrones.com from the address you used, and tell us which submission it is. We'll take care of it within a reasonable time, normally within 30 days. Removal of published content works as described in the Submission Terms. Depending on where you live (for example, the EU, UK or California), you may have additional privacy rights, and you can use them by emailing us the same way.

8. Children

Fallen Drones is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you're under 13, please don't send us a submission. If you're under 18, ask a parent or guardian before you submit. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email submissions@fallendrones.com and we'll delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site changes, for example when we add affiliate links or ads. We'll change the effective date at the top when we do.

10. Contact

Questions about privacy? Email submissions@fallendrones.com.