Cowan Simulation LLC · Last updated November 8, 2026
In Short
This summary is for convenience only. The full policy below explains each point.
- What we collect: your account and order details, what you send us, and how you use the Website, partly through cookies.
- Why: to deliver your Products, support you, keep the Website secure, send emails you've asked for, and improve the Website and our Products.
- Who helps us: service providers such as Automattic (WordPress.com), PayPal, Google, Mailchimp, and SMTP2GO. We don't sell your information, and we don't use advertising pixels.
- Our aircraft add-ons don't send personal information to us.
- Your choices: unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time, and ask us to see, correct, or delete your information.
- Questions: cowansim-legal@outlook.com.
1. Who We Are
Cowan Simulation LLC ("CowanSim," "we," "us," or "our") runs cowansim.com and cowansimulation.com (the "Website") and makes flight simulation add-ons and apps ("Products"). We decide how and why the personal information described here is used, which makes us its "controller" under laws such as the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This policy covers the Website, the emails we send, and the support we give by email or on our Discord server. It doesn't cover other stores where you may get our Products, such as the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace, or the simulators themselves. Their own privacy policies apply.
You can reach us at cowansim-legal@outlook.com (see Section 13).
2. Information We Collect
Information you give us
- Account and order details: your name, email address, billing address and country, username and password, the Products you buy, and your order history. You need an account to buy from the Website.
- Payment details: our payment providers, such as PayPal, collect your card or account details. We receive a payment confirmation and limited details, such as the payment method, but never your full card number.
- License keys and downloads: any license key issued for your Products, and a record of your downloads, including the date, time, and IP address.
- Messages and posts: what you send us by email, through a form on the Website, or on our Discord server, and the reviews and comments you post, with the name, email address, and website you enter.
- Sign-ups: your email address and choices if you join our newsletter or ask for a back-in-stock alert.
Information collected automatically
- Device and usage information: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit and links you click, the site that referred you, and the date and time of your visits. Our host and security tools log this to run and protect the Website.
- Shopping activity: the Products you view, what you add to your cart, and how you found the Website before an order, such as a search engine or an email link.
- Email activity: whether you open the emails we send and which links you click.
- Cookies and similar technologies, described in Section 5.
Information from others
- Payment providers tell us whether a payment succeeded, and may share the results of fraud checks.
- WordPress.com: if you comment while signed in to WordPress.com, your comment shows your WordPress.com name and profile picture.
3. How We Use Information
The table shows why we use your information and, for people in the EU, the UK, and Switzerland, the legal basis we rely on.
| Purpose | Information used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Run your account, take payment, and deliver your downloads and license keys | Account and order details, payment confirmations, license keys, download records | Performing our contract with you |
| Send order confirmations, download links, and account and security messages | Email address, order details | Performing our contract with you |
| Answer your questions and support requests | Messages and the details you include | Performing our contract, or our legitimate interest in helping you |
| Send our newsletter, product news, and back-in-stock alerts | Email address, sign-up choices, order history, email activity | Your consent. For past customers, where the law allows, our legitimate interest in telling you about similar Products, with an unsubscribe link in every email |
| Show and moderate reviews and comments, and filter spam | Posts, name, email address, IP address | Our legitimate interest in running a useful, spam-free site |
| Protect the Website and accounts, and prevent fraud and download sharing | Device and usage information, download records, license keys | Our legitimate interest in protecting CowanSim and our customers |
| Measure how the Website is used, and improve it and our Products | Usage, shopping, and email activity | Your consent for non-essential cookies and for email open and click tracking; otherwise our legitimate interest in improving our business |
| Keep business and tax records | Order and payment records | Legal obligation |
| Handle legal claims and enforce our terms | Any relevant information | Our legitimate interest in protecting our rights |
We don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects. Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object (Section 9).
4. How We Share Information
We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for others' marketing or for targeted advertising. We share it with the providers below to run the Website and our business. Most use it only on our instructions. PayPal, Discord, Microsoft (for our Outlook.com mailbox), and Automattic (for WordPress.com and Gravatar accounts) also use it under their own privacy policies.
| Provider | What they do for us | Information involved |
|---|---|---|
| Automattic (WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, Akismet, Gravatar, MailPoet) | Hosts the Website and store; backups, security, and site and store statistics; spam filtering; comments, likes, and profile pictures; sending some of our emails | Most of the information in Section 2 |
| PayPal | Processes payments, including card payments and other methods offered through PayPal | Payment and order details |
| Stripe, through WooPayments | Processes wallet payments such as Apple Pay, when offered at checkout | Payment and order details |
| Google Analytics measures how the Website is used; reCAPTCHA blocks bots on login and sign-up forms | Device, usage, and shopping activity | |
| Mailchimp (Intuit) | Runs our newsletter, and records product views and purchases so we can see which emails lead to sales | Name, email address, and order history of all customers (those who haven't subscribed are kept as non-marketing contacts), product views, email activity |
| SMTP2GO | Delivers the emails the Website sends, such as order confirmations | Email address, email content, email activity |
| Patchstack | Runs the Website's firewall | IP address and request details |
| Microsoft | Hosts our cowansim-legal@outlook.com mailbox | Emails you send us |
| Discord | Hosts our community and support server | What you post there |
We also send product information, but not your personal information, to Google, Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest so our Products can appear in their shopping services. We don't use their advertising pixels or conversion tracking on the Website.
We may also share information:
- with other visitors, when you post a review or comment, or post on our Discord server;
- when the law requires it, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of CowanSim, our customers, or others;
- with a buyer or successor if CowanSim is sold, merged, or reorganized; and
- with your permission.
5. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. Similar technologies include scripts that record how you use a page, and tiny images in emails that show when an email is opened. We don't use advertising cookies or pixels.
| Type | What it does | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Keeps your cart, checkout, and login working, and protects the Website | CowanSim (WooCommerce), Automattic, PayPal, Google reCAPTCHA |
| Statistics | Counts visits and shows how visitors use the Website and store | Automattic (Jetpack Stats, WooCommerce Analytics), Google Analytics |
| Order attribution | Records how you arrived, such as from a search engine or an email, and saves it with any order you place | CowanSim (WooCommerce) |
| Shows when you arrive from one of our emails, records which Products customers and subscribers view, and shows sign-up forms | Mailchimp, MailPoet | |
| Social features | Loads likes, comments, and profile pictures | Automattic (WordPress.com, Gravatar) |
Your choices. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but your cart, checkout, and login won't work without essential cookies. You can stop Google Analytics with Google's opt-out browser add-on, and stop email tracking by setting your email app not to load images automatically.
Do Not Track and other signals. There is no common standard for Do Not Track signals, so the Website doesn't respond to them. Because we don't sell personal information or use it for targeted advertising, Global Privacy Control signals don't change how the Website treats you. Third parties, including Google and Automattic, may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you use the Website.
6. Our Add-Ons and the Simulators
Our aircraft add-ons run inside your simulator and don't send personal information to us. If one of our apps checks its license key online, it sends only the key, the app's version, and your IP address, and we use them only to confirm the license.
If you get a Product from another store, such as the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace, that store collects and uses your information under its own privacy policy. If a store shares information about you with us, for example to help with a support request, we handle it under this policy. The simulators are made by Microsoft and Laminar Research, whose privacy policies cover what they collect.
7. International Transfers
We are based in the United States, and our providers process information mainly there, with some processing in other countries where they have servers. Data protection laws in those countries may differ from those where you live. If you are in the EU, the UK, or Switzerland, you give your information directly to us in the United States. When our providers move it between countries, they use safeguards the law recognizes, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions, or standard contractual clauses. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards that apply.
8. How Long We Keep Information
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account | Until you ask us to close it, because your account holds your downloads |
| Orders, payment records, and license keys | While your account is open; after it closes, 7 years from the order date, for tax and accounting |
| Download records | As long as we keep the order |
| Support emails and form messages | Up to 3 years after your issue is resolved |
| Reviews, comments, and Discord posts | Until you or we remove them |
| Newsletter and alert sign-ups | Until you unsubscribe. We then keep your email address on a do-not-email list so you aren't added again by mistake |
| Email delivery logs | Up to 1 year |
| Google Analytics data | Up to 14 months |
| Other statistics, server logs, and security logs | For the periods our providers set for their services |
We may keep information longer if the law requires it or to resolve a dispute. When we no longer need information, we delete it or make it anonymous.
9. Your Rights and Choices
Everyone. Wherever you live, you can:
- see and update most of your details in My Account;
- unsubscribe from marketing emails with the link in any of them;
- ask us for a copy of your personal information, or ask us to correct or delete it; and
- ask us to close your account.
To make a request, email cowansim-legal@outlook.com from the address on your account. We may need to confirm your identity first, and we will respond within one month. If we can't do everything you ask, for example because we must keep order records for tax purposes, we will tell you why. We won't treat you differently for using your rights.
EU, UK, and Switzerland. You also have the right to restrict or object to our use of your information, including to object at any time to direct marketing, and to receive your information in a portable format. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting earlier use. You can complain to the data protection authority where you live or work, or, in the UK, to the Information Commissioner's Office. We'd appreciate the chance to address your concern first.
US states. Some US states give residents rights to know, access, correct, and delete their personal information, and to opt out of its sale or its use for targeted advertising. We offer access, correction, and deletion to everyone, and we don't sell personal information or use it for targeted advertising. An authorized agent may make a request for you with your written permission. If we turn down your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision.
10. Children
The Website isn't directed at children under 13, and you must be 13 or older to create an account. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. Security
We protect your information with HTTPS encryption, access controls, a website firewall, and login protection. Our payment providers handle card details, so they never reach our servers. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security. Use a strong, unique password for your account, and tell us right away if you think it has been compromised. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time, and the date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a significant change, we will tell account holders by email or with a notice on the Website before it takes effect.
13. Contact Us
For questions or requests about your personal information, contact Cowan Simulation LLC (CowanSim), Illinois, USA:
- Email: cowansim-legal@outlook.com
- Discord: discord.gg/V33xywEJrT (please don't post personal details in public channels)
- Website: cowansim.com