Plain Language Terms of Service
Terms you agree to when creating a Koda Aero account
Koda Aero shares your fatigue in managing endless numbers of online accounts, and clicking through Terms of Service agreements that always seem one-sided. But the tradeoff for living in an era of EFBs, ADS-B, and (relatively) cheap glass panels, is that it's also the era of online spoofing, bots, and cheap AI that makes bad actors more common and more successful than ever. Our desire to maintain a reasonably fair and secure business platform in the modern era require spelling out measures designed to protect both you and us. The terms herein do so, and are presented with respect and gratitude for your business.
Scheduling appointments requires an account
Customers wishing to schedule appointments online with Koda Aero providers must create an account to do so, using a valid e-mail address. The address you give us is paired with a One-Time-Password (OTP) login implementation that establishes your identify. This system allows us to defend against bots and other mechanisms designed to game the scheduling system.
The OTP system employs AWS Cognito, the same identity infrastructure trusted by thousands of global businesses to secure their millions of user accounts. OTP eliminates the need for us to store passwords, so we have no password database to lose.
Creating an account never requires anything beyond a valid e-mail address. Actually scheduling an appointment, however, may require additional personal information — such as your name as it appears on your Pilot Certificate, images of your Pilot Certificate or Medical Certificate, logbook pages, or aircraft inspection records. Some of this may be required rather than optional — for example, since a pilot's legal name is already public record via the FAA Airman Registry, we may require it rather than treat it as optional. Regardless, an account by itself never requires more than your e-mail address, and you're never asked for anything else until you actually book something. We don't ask for your date of birth or any other identifying information beyond what's needed for a specific appointment.
Koda Aero pledges never to sell your e-mail address or personal information. Ever.
How we protect your data
As a small business with few customers, and an FAA designee gateway (not an FAA employee or contractor), our legal responsibility to protect personal data is actually quite limited. But our ethical bar is high, and, we take reasonable precautions to protect your data using industry standard security measures.
These measures include but are not limited to data encryption, strong access controls, and the use of well-known, reputable cloud infrastructure providers for critical data management such as login and storage services. Any documents you upload are stored privately and encrypted at rest — they are never made public, and are visible only to you and the DPE reviewing your checkride.
However, no security system is impenetrable. Just as a lock manufacturer cannot guarantee a home will never be burglarized, Koda Aero cannot guarantee that personal information - including your email address and data you voluntarily upload to our systems - will never be accessed without authorization. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Koda Aero disclaims liability for unauthorized access to, or loss of, such data.
In practice, this makes us equal partners in protecting your data. You are strongly encouraged to make informed risk decisions about data given to Koda Aero and act accordingly. Again, while this website offers the opportunity to upload a broad variety of personal data in connection with scheduling an appointment, none of it is ever required just to create or hold an account.