Privacy Policy for Hoop Taxi & Hoop Driver

Welcome to Hoop Taxi ("we", "our", "us", or "the Platform"). We operate on-demand transportation, ride-hailing, car rental, and courier/parcel delivery platforms. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring transparency regarding how your personal information is collected, processed, and protected.

This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals who access or use our services, including passengers ("Riders", "Customers"), drivers and delivery partners ("Drivers", "Partners"), vehicle owners, and visitors of our mobile applications and websites.

By downloading, installing, registering, or using either the Hoop Taxi Customer App or the Hoop Driver App, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

This single comprehensive policy covers both of our official mobile applications published on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store:

We collect information in three primary ways: information you provide directly, information collected automatically during app usage, and information from third parties.

A. Information Provided by Customers (Riders)

• Account Information: First name, last name, mobile phone number, email address, and profile photo.
• Trip & Delivery Details: Pickup address, destination address, scheduled pickup times, route preferences, and notes for the driver.
• Parcel Delivery Information: Sender name and phone number, recipient name and phone number, parcel dimension/weight category, and delivery instructions.
• Payment Information: Transaction amounts, payment methods (cash, in-app wallet, or credit/debit card tokens processed securely via PCI-DSS compliant third-party payment gateways like Stripe). We never store raw credit card numbers or CVV codes on our servers.
• Communications: Chat messages, safety reports, support tickets, and ratings/feedback submitted regarding drivers.

B. Information Provided by Drivers (Partners)

• Personal & Contact Data: Full legal name, date of birth, phone number, residential address, email address, and profile photograph.
• Identity & Verification Documents: National ID or Passport, Driver's License, background verification checks, criminal record checks (where legally permissible), and commercial driving permits.
• Vehicle Information: Vehicle make, model, color, year, license plate number, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), vehicle registration certificate, roadworthiness certificate, and commercial vehicle insurance documents.
• Financial & Payout Information: Bank account numbers, IBAN/SWIFT codes, or digital wallet details required to process driver payouts and earnings transfers.
• Operational Logs: Acceptance/rejection rates, trip completion records, customer feedback, and driver ratings.

C. Information Collected Automatically Across Both Apps

• Device Information: Device manufacturer, hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers (Android ID, Advertising ID, UUID), IP address, mobile network provider, and app version.
• Usage & Log Data: Dates and timestamps of app access, app crashes, system activity, page interactions, and network connection status.

Precise location data is essential to the core functionality of transportation and parcel delivery services. Below are our explicit disclosures for each application:

Both applications request only the minimum set of permissions necessary to deliver our services:

We use the collected information for the following legitimate purposes:

• Service Provision: Matching riders with nearby drivers, calculating optimal routes, managing parcel pickups and deliveries, and executing rental reservations.
• Fare Calculation & Billing: Determining trip fares based on distance, duration, wait time, toll charges, surge multipliers, and processing digital payments.
• Safety & Verification: Verifying driver identity, background records, vehicle roadworthiness, screening against prohibited driver lists, and investigating incidents or accidents.
• Customer Support: Troubleshooting user complaints, resolving lost item inquiries, refund processing, and assisting drivers with payout queries.
• Service Optimization: Monitoring system reliability, fixing software bugs, analyzing traffic patterns, and enhancing app performance.
• Legal & Regulatory Compliance: Complying with municipal transport authority regulations, tax reporting, accounting laws, and lawful government subpoenas.

We strictly do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. Data sharing occurs solely under the following limited conditions:

• Between Riders and Drivers: When a ride is booked, the driver receives the rider's first name, pickup location, destination, and ratings. The rider receives the driver's name, photo, vehicle make, model, color, license plate, and live location.
• Parcel Recipients: When sending a parcel, the designated recipient can view delivery progress and courier contact details to receive the package.
• Fleet Owners (if applicable): If a driver operates under a fleet owner account, the fleet administrator may access vehicle telemetry, earnings statements, and completed trip reports.
• Legal & Safety Disclosures: We may disclose data to law enforcement, regulators, or emergency services if required by law or in urgent situations involving danger to life or safety.

We partner with industry-leading service providers who process data strictly under our instructions and in accordance with confidentiality standards:

• Google Maps Platform (Google LLC): Map rendering, place search, autocomplete, geocoding, and turn-by-turn routing navigation. Google Privacy Policy.
• Firebase (Google LLC): User authentication, secure backend communications, push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), and app crash logging via Crashlytics. Firebase Privacy Notice.
• Payment Gateways (Stripe, Razorpay, PayPal): Secure, PCI-DSS compliant credit card tokenization, authorization, and payout settlements.
• Pusher (Pusher Ltd): Real-time bi-directional WebSockets communication for live driver coordinates and trip state synchronization.

We implement robust administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal data against loss, unauthorized access, alteration, and misuse:

• All data transmitted between mobile devices and backend servers is encrypted using industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.2 / TLS 1.3).
• Databases are hosted in hardened cloud environments with firewall restrictions, encrypted storage volumes, and strict role-based access control.
• Sensitive documents (driver licenses, identity proof) are stored in secure cloud buckets with access restricted exclusively to authorized compliance personnel.

We retain personal data for as long as your account remains active and as required to provide you with transportation and delivery services. If you delete your account:

• Profile, phone numbers, and active location coordinates are removed or irreversibly anonymized.
• Transaction logs, tax invoices, and payment receipts are retained for a minimum statutory period (typically 5 to 7 years) to satisfy financial audit, tax compliance, and anti-money laundering regulations.
• Records concerning unresolved safety disputes, accidents, or fraud investigations may be retained until legal resolution is concluded.

In accordance with Google Play and Apple App Store policy requirements, both customers and drivers retain full control over their account data, including the right to delete their accounts:

Upon verified deletion, personal identifiers will be purged from our active databases within thirty (30) days, except where retention is legally mandated.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you possess the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated details.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your personal data as outlined in Section 11.
• Right to Restrict or Object: Object to processing for direct marketing or request restriction of data processing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Revoke permissions (such as GPS location or Camera access) at any time through your mobile device's operating system settings.

Our services are not targeted at or intended for individuals under 18 years of age (or the age of legal majority in your territory). We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe a minor has registered an account without parental consent, please contact us immediately so we can promptly investigate and delete the information.

We may periodically update this Privacy Policy to reflect modifications in our features, operational practices, legal mandates, or technology standards. When changes are made, we will revise the "Effective Date" at the top of this document. For material modifications, we will provide noticeable in-app notifications or email notices prior to the changes taking effect.

If you have questions, comments, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact our Data Protection Team: