Privacy Policy

At a glance. We collect what we need to run safe rides: your account details, your trips and, for drivers, documents and location while online. Riders' location is never tracked in the background. We do not sell your information or show ads. Our main systems are in Canada; some providers we use, such as Google and Stripe, process data in the United States. You can see, correct or delete your information at any time.

What we collect
How we use it
Location
Sharing
How long we keep it
Automated decisions
Your rights
Website and cookies
Contact

Who we are

FlexRides is a ride-hailing service in New Brunswick, Canada. Riders use the FlexRides app to request rides and name a fare; drivers use the FlexRides Driver app to offer and give rides. FlexRides is operated by Zohaib Hassan Khan, Unit A, 640 Graham Avenue, Fredericton, NB E3B 4C3, Canada ("FlexRides", "we", "us").

This policy explains what personal information we collect through the apps and flexrides.ca, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the choices you have. We follow Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

What we collect

From everyone who uses the apps

Account details: phone number, name, email address, and your profile photo if you add one.
Trips: pickup and drop-off points, routes, times, fares, offers, tips, ratings and comments.
Messages: chat messages between rider and driver during a trip. Calls go through the phone network and are not recorded.
Support and safety: what you tell us in support requests, safety reports and emergency (SOS) alerts.
Device information: device type, app version, push notification token and sign-in sessions; crash reports if the app fails.
Consents: which terms and privacy notices you accepted and when, and your marketing choices.

Riders

Payment cards: you enter card details in Stripe's secure form. We never see or store your full card number; we keep only the card brand, last four digits and expiry date.
Saved places: home, work and other places you save. Recent searches stay on your phone.
Emergency contacts: names and phone numbers you choose to add.

Drivers

Identity and eligibility: legal name, date of birth, driver's licence number, class and dates, and how long you have been driving.
Documents: photos or files of your licence, insurance, vehicle registration, criminal record check, driver abstract, safety inspection and profile photo.
Vehicle: make, model, year, colour, plate, number of seats and vehicle identification number (VIN).
Location while online: see Location below.
Payouts: bank details are entered with Stripe; we keep only your Stripe account reference and its status.

How we use it

To create and secure your account and sign you in (a code sent by text message).
To match riders with nearby drivers, show prices and offers, and run each trip.
To charge riders, pay drivers, issue receipts and keep the financial records the law requires.
To check that drivers meet the licensing, insurance and safety rules for their area before they can drive, and when documents expire.
To keep people safe: share a trip with someone you trust, respond to emergency alerts and safety reports, and investigate incidents.
To answer support requests, settle fare disputes and handle lost items.
To send trip updates, receipts and account notices. We send marketing messages only if you opted in, and you can opt out at any time.
To find and fix problems, prevent fraud and improve the service.

We do not sell your personal information, and the apps show no advertising.

Location

Riders. The FlexRides app uses your precise location while it is open, to suggest your pickup point and show nearby cars. It never uses your location in the background, and we do not store your position, only the pickup and drop-off points of the rides you request.

Drivers. The FlexRides Driver app collects your precise location while you are online, including when the app is closed or the screen is off. We need it to offer you nearby ride requests, show riders where you are and when you will arrive, calculate fares and investigate safety reports or disputes. A notification is shown on your phone the whole time this is happening. When you go offline, the app stops collecting your location.

During a trip, the rider (and anyone the rider shares the trip with) sees your first name, vehicle, plate and live position. Before you accept a request, you see only the rider's pickup area, and the exact point after you accept.

You can turn location off in your phone's settings at any time, but riders cannot be picked up and drivers cannot go online without it.

Between riders and drivers. Only what a trip needs: first name, profile photo and rating; for drivers, the vehicle and plate; pickup and drop-off points; live position during the trip. Phone numbers are shown only while the trip is active.

Service providers that run parts of FlexRides for us, under contracts that limit them to that work:

Provider	What they receive	Why	Where
Amazon Web Services	All the information above	Hosting, storage, backups, emails	Canada
Google Firebase	Phone number	Sign-in by text message	United States
Google Maps Platform	Addresses you search, map points and routes (no name or account)	Maps, addresses, routes and arrival times	United States
Stripe	Card and payout details, payment amounts	Payments and driver payouts	United States and Canada
Twilio	Phone number, message text	Text messages and calls	United States
Google and Apple push services	Device token, notification text	Notifications on your phone	United States
Sentry	Crash reports	Fixing app errors	[to confirm]

Some of these providers store information outside Canada, mainly in the United States, where it may be accessed by courts and authorities under the laws of that country.

Others, only when required. We share information with police or other authorities when the law requires it, to respond to an emergency, or to protect someone's safety; with insurers when a trip is involved in a claim; and with a buyer if FlexRides is sold or merged, under this policy.

How long we keep it

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes above or as the law requires.

Information	How long
Account details (name, phone, email, photo, saved places)	While your account is open; deleted within 30 days of a deletion request
Driver location history	90 days, then deleted
Chat messages	1 year, then deleted
Trip records (driver, vehicle, times, pickup and drop-off areas)	At least 2 years, as the City of Fredericton requires; kept with payment records for 7 years
Payments, receipts and earnings	7 years (Canada Revenue Agency requires 6 years after the tax year)
Driver licence, background check, abstract and vehicle documents	While you drive with us, then 2 years after you stop, as the City of Fredericton requires
Support cases and safety reports	Until resolved, then until the time to bring a legal claim has passed (generally 2 years in New Brunswick)
Records of your consents	While the consent applies, plus 3 years
Information needed to keep a banned account from returning	As long as needed to protect riders and drivers
Backups	Up to 35 days

Information involved in an open safety investigation, insurance claim or legal case may be kept longer, until it is resolved. When a retention period ends, we delete the information or make it anonymous.

How we protect it

All information is encrypted when it travels between your phone and our servers, and when it is stored.
Drivers' licence numbers, dates of birth and vehicle identification numbers are encrypted a second time.
Driver documents are kept in private storage, opened only by reviewers who need them, and each view is recorded.
Our staff see only what their role needs. Viewing contact details or a trip's route requires a reason, and every staff action is logged.
Card details go straight to Stripe and never reach our servers.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will tell you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.

Automated decisions

Some parts of FlexRides work automatically:

Recommended fare: worked out from the route's distance and expected time.
Matching: requests are offered to nearby online drivers, closest first, and riders see the offers drivers make.
Fraud and safety checks: unusual activity, such as many accounts on one device, may be flagged.

No account is ever closed and no driver application is ever refused by an automated system alone: a person reviews documents, background checks and every decision to suspend or close an account. You can ask us to explain a decision and to have it reviewed.

Your rights and choices

See your information. Ask for a copy in the app or by emailing privacy@flexrides.ca.
Correct it. Change your profile in the app, or ask us to fix anything else.
Delete your account. In the app, go to Account, Settings, Privacy and data, then Delete account, or follow the steps at flexrides.ca/delete-account. We delete your name, contact details, saved places and sign-in links within 30 days. We keep trip and payment records for the periods above because the law requires it, and we cannot delete an account while a safety investigation or legal case involving it is open.
Marketing. Marketing messages are opt-in for each channel; use the unsubscribe link or your app settings to stop them.
Location and notifications. Turn them off in your phone's settings.
Withdraw consent. You can withdraw consent at any time, though we may then be unable to provide rides.

We answer requests within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Website and cookies

flexrides.ca does not use advertising or tracking cookies and does not ask you to sign in. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, processes basic technical information such as IP addresses to deliver the site and protect it from attacks, and the site loads its typeface from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address. The apps do not use advertising identifiers.

Children

FlexRides is for adults. Riders must be 18 or older and drivers 21 or older, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

We will post any change on this page with a new effective date. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

Contact us

Our Privacy Officer, Zohaib Hassan Khan, is responsible for how FlexRides handles personal information. Questions, requests or complaints: privacy@flexrides.ca, or by mail to Privacy Officer, FlexRides, Unit A, 640 Graham Avenue, Fredericton, NB E3B 4C3, Canada.