Privacy Policy — RoadGuard

Last updated: May 24, 2026

RoadGuard ("we", "us", "the app") helps riders navigate safely, report road hazards (potholes, bumps), and contribute anonymized road-quality data to the community. This policy explains what we collect, why, and your rights.

1. Information We Collect

a) Account information

• Email address (if you sign up with email)

• Phone number (if you sign in with OTP)

• Display name (optional)

b) Location data

• Foreground location: Real-time GPS location during active navigation or ride recording.

• Background location: We request background location access to continue detecting potholes, road bumps, and hazards even when the app is minimized or your device screen is off. This allows us to provide continuous safety alerts while you are riding.

• Coordinates of bumps, potholes, and hazards you report.

• Origin/destination points for route calculation.

c) Sensor & ride data

• Accelerometer/gyroscope readings (used to auto-detect road roughness).

• Distance traveled, ride duration, route taken.

• Saved/favorite places.

d) Device & usage data

• Device type, OS version, app version.

• Crash logs and basic analytics (page views, feature usage).

• IP address (for security and abuse prevention).

• Advertising ID (AAID/IDFA): Collected by Google AdMob to serve ads.

e) User-generated content

• Pothole/bump reports, before/after photos, community reports, comments.

2. How We Use Your Data

• Provide turn-by-turn navigation and re-routing.

• Detect and map road hazards in real time, including while the app is in the background.

• Show aggregated road-quality heatmaps to other riders.

• Maintain your profile and saved places.

• Improve detection algorithms and fix bugs.

• Send service-related notifications.

• Display advertisements via Google AdMob (non-personalized ads).

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your location data with advertisers or third-party ad networks.

3. Third-Party Services
We rely on the following providers, each with their own privacy policy:

• Lovable Cloud

Backend, database, authentication

• Google Maps Platform

Maps, routing, places, geocoding

• Google AdMob

In-app banner and interstitial ads

4. Data Sharing & Aggregation

• Anonymized & aggregated road-quality data (bumps, road scores, heatmaps) is visible to all users — it cannot be linked back to you.

• Personal data (email, phone, individual ride traces) is never shared with other users or third parties, except as required by law.

• Advertising ID is shared only with Google AdMob for ad serving. We do not share this ID with any other third party.

5. Data Retention

• Account data: retained until you delete your account.

• Ride history & reports: retained until you delete them or delete your account.

• Anonymized aggregated data: retained indefinitely as part of the community road map.

• Logs: typically 30–90 days.

• Advertising ID: Collected in real-time by AdMob and retained per Google's privacy policy.

6. Your Rights
You can, at any time, from Profile → Data Privacy:

• Delete all your rides, bump reports, and community reports.

• Sign out and stop further collection.

To fully delete your account, contact us (see Section 10).

Depending on your region (GDPR, CCPA, India DPDP Act, etc.), you may also have rights to access, correct, port, or object to processing.

7. Location Permissions

Foreground Location: We request foreground location access only when you actively use navigation, ride recording, or nearby search. You can revoke this permission in your device settings at any time; some features will stop working.

Background Location: We request background location permission to enable continuous pothole detection and hazard alerts while the app is minimized or your screen is off.

Before requesting background location access, RoadGuard displays a prominent in-app disclosure explaining:

• Why background location is needed (continuous pothole detection and hazard alerts).

• How the data will be used (only for road safety features).

• That location data is never shared with other users, advertisers, or third parties.

You can enable or disable background location permission at any time in your device settings. Disabling this permission will stop automatic pothole detection when the app is in the background.

8. Children's Privacy
RoadGuard is not intended for users under 13 (or the minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect data from children. Google AdMob also does not serve personalized ads to users under the age of consent.

9. Security
Data is transmitted over HTTPS and stored with row-level security in our backend. No system is 100% secure; please use a strong password and keep your device protected.

10. Contact
Questions, requests, or account deletion: rajamtechnosoft@gmail.com

11. Changes
We may update this policy. Significant changes will be announced in-app. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated policy.