Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to Koala Ride. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share information about you when you use our service.

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your email address, full name, and authentication information through Google OAuth or other authentication providers.

Ride Data

We collect information about your cycling activities, including:

• Distance traveled
• Duration of rides
• GPS location data (with your permission)
• Calories burned and CO₂ savings calculated from your rides

Usage Information

We collect information about how you interact with our service, including features you use, vendors you visit, and offers you redeem.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and maintain our service
• Track your cycling progress and achievements
• Calculate rewards (gems) based on your rides
• Generate personalized AI coaching and recommendations
• Connect you with local vendor partners and their offers
• Improve our service and develop new features
• Communicate with you about your account and our service

Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with:

• Vendor Partners: Basic redemption information when you redeem offers
• Service Providers: Third-party services that help us operate our platform
• Legal Requirements: When required by law or to protect our rights

Location Data & GPS Permissions

Why We Request Location Access

Koala Ride is fundamentally a ride-tracking application. Accurate GPS location data is essential to the core functionality of the service — without it, we cannot measure ride distance, calculate earned rewards (gems), estimate calories burned, or compute CO₂ savings. Location permission is therefore a functional necessity, not an optional enhancement.

How Location Data Is Collected

• On-demand only: Location access is requested exclusively when you tap "Start Journey." We do not access your location in the background, while the app is idle, or after a ride has ended.
• Explicit permission prompt: Your device will display a browser or OS-level permission dialog before any location data is accessed. You must actively grant permission.
• Active-ride tracking: During a ride, we use the browser's Geolocation.watchPosition() API to track your real-time position at intervals, allowing us to calculate cumulative distance accurately.
• Start & end points: We store a snapshot of your start and end coordinates as part of the ride record to enable route summaries.

What We Do — and Do Not Do — With Location Data

• ✅ Calculate ride distance and generate your ride summary
• ✅ Compute gems earned, calories burned, and CO₂ saved per ride
• ✅ Store route data (start/end points) linked to your ride record in our secure database
• ❌ We do not sell or share your precise location data with advertisers or third parties
• ❌ We do not track your location outside of an active ride session
• ❌ We do not use location data for profiling, surveillance, or purposes unrelated to ride tracking

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the legal basis for processing location data is contractual necessity under Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR — location data is strictly required to deliver the core service you signed up for. Where contractual necessity does not apply, we rely on your explicit consent obtained via the device permission prompt, consistent with Article 6(1)(a).

Your Controls

• Deny permission: You may decline the location prompt. The ride-tracking feature will be unavailable, but all other parts of the app (vendor browsing, AI coach, etc.) remain fully functional.
• Revoke at any time: You can withdraw location permission through your browser or device settings at any time without affecting your account.
• Data deletion: You may request deletion of all location data associated with your rides by contacting us or using the account deletion feature in Settings.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal information
• Correct inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Object to processing of your information
• Export your data

Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us through our support channels.