Privacy Policy

Account and identity

Riders and drivers may create accounts using email and password, or via Apple or Google sign-in. We store authentication identifiers, email address, phone number (when verified), name, preferred name, profile photo (optional), date of birth and gender (if provided), and account status flags (for example active, suspended, or deletion requested).

Phone numbers may be verified using one-time passwords delivered by SMS. Apple Sign In may provide a private relay email address and an Apple user identifier rather than your real email address, and that is fine with us.

Riders may add a safety contact to their profile: a name, a phone number and, optionally, their relationship to the rider. See Safety contacts below.

• We require a minimum password length and apply standard credential protections.
• Drivers choose their city at signup and whether they drive with Goose Cabs directly or with a partner franchise. They must complete compliance checks before going online.

Location information

Location is fundamental to a rideshare service. Without it we cannot match you to a driver, estimate a fare, navigate, or confirm that a trip happened.

Rider app: we request location while you are using the app (when-in-use) to set pickup points, suggest addresses near you, show nearby drivers, and estimate routes. We do not collect rider location in the background.

Driver app: when you are online or on a trip, we collect precise location to match rides, support navigation, verify trip distance, and complete trips. Collection continues in the background during active service so that dispatch and navigation remain accurate when the screen is locked. This is disclosed at the point you grant the permission, and your device will indicate when background location is in use.

Saved addresses and trip pickup and dropoff points are stored as geographic coordinates together with associated address text.

Live position during a trip: the car's live position is shown to the rider and to anyone the rider has shared the trip with. Live positions are passed on without keeping a history of them. We separately store periodic positions and the trip route to match rides, verify distance, calculate fares, and support safety.

Nearby cars: while a driver is online and available, the approximate position of the car is shown to riders choosing a ride, under a temporary identifier and never with the driver's name or account.

• You can revoke location permission at any time in your device settings. Doing so will prevent core functions of the Services from working.
• Drivers who revoke background location will not be able to go online.

Payments and financial information

Card payments are processed by our payment processor. We store processor-issued customer and payment-method identifiers, card brand, the last four digits, expiry month and year, and an optional cardholder name or nickname. We do not store full card numbers or security codes on Goose Cabs systems, and our staff cannot view them.

Drivers who receive payouts are onboarded to the processor's connected-account service. We store the connected-account identifier and payout status needed to pay earnings. Banking details are held by the processor, not by us.

Trip records include fare components, tax, tips, authorization and capture status, refunds, cancellation fees, waiting charges, promotional discounts, and settlement fields related to municipal transit-token programmes where those apply.

Trips, ratings, and support

We store trip history including status timeline, pickup and dropoff locations, scheduled pickup times, vehicle category, assigned driver and, where applicable, partner franchise, route and fare calculations, and related events.

After a completed trip, riders and drivers may submit star ratings, optional written comments, and optional tags. Ratings are used to maintain service quality and safety, and are described further under Automated decision-making below.

During a trip, riders and drivers can message each other in the app. We keep these messages with the trip record, including after an account is deleted, so that we can handle support requests, safety reports, and disputes.

Support cases may include message text and any images you choose to upload. Please do not include information in a support message that is not needed to resolve your issue.

Driver and vehicle compliance information

For drivers we collect licensing information (including licence number, class, issuing authority, and expiry), medical certificate details where required, background-check and training status, emergency contact details, tax registration numbers where required, and vehicle details including registration, insurance, and inspection records.

Driver and vehicle documents are uploaded for review by Goose Cabs or, for a partner franchise's drivers, by that franchise's administrators. Access to a stored document is restricted, requires a recorded reason, and is logged.

Compliance documents are deliberately retained rather than deleted in the ordinary course, because transportation regulators, insurers, and safety obligations require us to hold them and produce them on request. This is explained in detail under Retention below.

Tax information

Where a driver is paid by Goose Cabs, we collect the tax registration number required before the driver can drive and to release payouts, and we produce an annual earnings summary to assist the driver with their own filing.

We do not collect Social Insurance Numbers. Our payment processor may ask a driver for identity and tax details, such as a Social Insurance Number, when they set up payouts; that information goes to the processor, not to us. If a legal reporting obligation ever requires us to collect it, we will update this Policy and give you notice explaining the specific purpose before we collect it, as the law requires.

• We will never ask for a Social Insurance Number by email, SMS, or telephone. Treat any such request as fraudulent.
• We do not use any tax identifier for identity verification, credit assessment, or any purpose other than one required by law.

Devices, technical, and communications data

We store device tokens for push notifications, together with platform, device model, operating system version, app version, and last-used time. You can revoke devices from account settings where available.

We automatically collect technical information when you use the apps, including app version, platform, session identifiers, and coarse diagnostic data used to keep the Services working.

We record the internet protocol (IP) address and browser or device user agent your request comes from. We use these for security and fraud prevention, to rate-limit abuse, and to evidence consent, for example the address a request came from when you accepted these terms.

Our diagnostics and usage analytics providers infer an approximate area, such as a city or region, from your IP address. This is not your device's position and is separate from the precise location described above.

We store your notification and privacy preferences, including push, email, SMS, marketing, trip updates, safety alerts, and related toggles.

Some information is kept only on your device, such as recently used destinations, and is removed when you delete the app.

Diagnostics and usage analytics

We use two different kinds of measurement, and we treat them differently.

Diagnostics and crash reporting are always on while you use the apps. When the app encounters an error or crash, we collect technical information about what went wrong, including the screen you were on, the app and device state, and an internal account identifier. This is necessary to keep the Services safe and functional, and it cannot be turned off separately from using the app. It is not used to build a profile of you or for marketing.

Usage analytics measures how features are used so that we can improve them, for example how many people complete a booking or where a flow is confusing. It is on by default and it is optional: you can turn it off at any time under Privacy settings in the app, and turning it off does not reduce any functionality.

Usage analytics events are linked to your account through an internal account identifier, so we can follow a journey through the app rather than count anonymous taps. We do not call this anonymous, because it is not. These events record which steps happened and in what order, for example that a booking reached the payment step, together with the type of ride and whether a promotion was applied. They also carry your device model, operating system and app version, and the approximate area inferred from your IP address, described above.

What these events do not contain is your name, email address, telephone number, your pickup or destination addresses, the precise GPS location of your device, or any payment card or bank information.

To diagnose faults, our crash reporting tool records a replay of app screens for a sample of sessions and for sessions in which an error occurs. Text, images and input fields are masked in these replays. Replays are kept for a short period and used only to investigate faults.

• We do not use advertising identifiers.
• We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• We do not run advertising or behavioural profiling in the apps.

Administrative and partner franchise operations

Goose Cabs staff and partner franchise administrators access operational information needed to manage trips, drivers, vehicles, finance, promotions, and support. Access is limited by role, and partner franchise administrators see only their own drivers, vehicles, and trips, and the support requests about them. They can also see the riders who have taken trips with their drivers, including a rider's contact details, safety contact, and accessibility needs when they record a reason, and the messages exchanged on those trips. They can update a rider's details and stop a rider from booking their drivers.

Sensitive fields are masked by default in administrative views and can be revealed only by an authorized person, with a recorded reason, and the reveal is written to an audit log.

Goose Cabs staff may temporarily act within a partner franchise's account to provide support. This is limited, time-bounded, and audited.

Internal notes written by staff about an account or a support case are working records for our own operational and safety purposes. They are not shown to the account holder in the apps. You may still request access to your personal information under Your rights below, and we will respond as the law requires.

Public website forms

The public website at goosecabs.ca collects an email address when you join the Camrose waitlist, and may collect your name, email address, a topic, and a message when you use Help & contact. Waitlist collection is also described in the Camrose waitlist notice.

A Help & contact submission is kept so we can review and reply to your question. It is separate from rider and driver accounts. It does not create an account or add you to launch emails.

Those forms also use a background Cloudflare Turnstile check to help prevent automated submissions. There is normally no checkbox to complete. Cloudflare’s Turnstile Privacy Addendum describes that check: https://www.cloudflare.com/turnstile-privacy-policy/

Please do not include passwords, payment card details, identity documents, or other sensitive information in a website message.

What we do not collect

To be explicit, because these are commonly asked about in this industry:

• We do not collect biometric information, and we do not use facial recognition or face matching at signup or during a shift.
• We do not record audio or video inside vehicles, and we receive no footage or audio from any vehicle. Some drivers operate their own dashcam or similar device, as many motorists do. Such a device is the driver's own equipment, operated for the driver's own purposes. Goose Cabs does not supply, require, control, or access it, and cannot obtain a recording from it on your behalf.
• We do not collect full payment card numbers or card security codes.
• We do not collect information about your health, religion, political opinions, or sexual orientation, other than accessibility needs that you, or our support team at your request, record so that you receive appropriate service.
• We do not purchase personal information from data brokers.

New purposes

If we want to use your personal information for a purpose that is materially different from those listed above and not otherwise permitted by law, we will identify that purpose and obtain your consent before doing so.

Human review of consequential decisions

Decisions to suspend or remove a driver or rider for conduct are made or reviewed by a person. Some restrictions apply automatically, for example when a required driver document expires, or immediately when there is a safety risk; in those cases a person reviews the matter promptly on request.

If an automated decision has affected you and you would like it explained or reconsidered, contact support@goosecabs.ca and we will have a person review it. You have the right to know the principal factors used.

Trip sharing

Once a driver is on the way, a rider can create a link and send it to anyone they choose, such as family or friends, or ask us to text it to their safety contact. The link opens a web page that does not require a Goose Cabs account or app.

The page shows the car's live position and direction, the trip status and estimated arrival time, the driver's current route, the pickup and destination addresses, the driver's first name, and the vehicle's colour, make, model, and licence plate. It does not show the driver's photo, telephone number, or account details, the rider's name or contact details, the fare, payment information, or messages.

The page also offers a button to call 911 and a summary of the trip details that the person holding the link can copy to give to emergency services.

The link stops working when the trip ends or is cancelled, when the rider stops sharing, or at a set time after the trip's expected arrival, whichever comes first.

Anyone who has the link can view the trip until it ends, so share it only with people you trust. We keep a record of each link with the trip, including when it was created and when it ended. The page sets no cookies and uses no analytics. Its map is provided by Mapbox, which receives the usual request information, such as the viewer's IP address, and records that the map loaded. Mapbox also saves a random identifier in the viewer's browser storage so it can count map use. The page's font is served by Goose Cabs.

Drivers are told in the Driver Terms that riders may share these details during a trip.

Safety contacts

A rider can save one safety contact in their profile: a name, a phone number and, optionally, a relationship. Add someone only if they have agreed to be your safety contact and to receive a text from Goose Cabs about your trips.

We text your safety contact a trip link only when you ask during a trip. Our support team may also call or message them if we cannot reach you about a serious safety incident involving you. Before a text is sent, the app shows the end of the number it will go to and asks you to confirm.

The text greets your contact by the name you saved, gives your first name, says that you shared your Goose Cabs ride with them as your safety contact, and includes a trip link that works as described in Trip sharing above. It contains no advertising. Your safety contact can reply STOP to stop receiving these texts, and we will not text that number again for trip sharing.

We send these texts through our SMS provider. For each text we keep a shortened copy of the contact's name, the last four digits of the number, a one-way code made from the number that lets us apply limits and opt-outs without storing it again, and whether the text was delivered. The full number stays in your profile until you change or remove it, or delete your account. To limit misuse, a trip, a rider and a phone number can each receive only a few texts in a day.

A safety contact who wants to know what we hold about them, or wants us to stop contacting them, can write to support@goosecabs.ca.

Who our service providers are

We use service providers in the categories below, and name those you deal with directly. Each is engaged under a written agreement that limits it to using personal information only to provide its service to us, requires appropriate security safeguards, and prohibits use for its own purposes. We provide only the information the provider needs.

• Payments and driver payouts: Stripe.
• Maps, address search, routing, and navigation: Mapbox and Google.
• Account sign-in, where you choose it: Apple and Google.
• Hosting, storage, backups, network security, and content delivery, including live trip location and trip sharing pages.
• Push notification, email, and SMS delivery, including one-time passcodes and trip links texted to a safety contact.
• Crash reporting and diagnostics.
• Usage analytics, which you can turn off in the app.

Other service providers

We also use background processing, alerting and logging services for our own operations, under the same restrictions. For the current, complete list of service providers, contact support@goosecabs.ca.

Law enforcement, legal process, and emergencies

We disclose personal information to a government authority, regulator, or law enforcement agency where we are legally required to do so, for example under a subpoena, production order, warrant, or statutory obligation, or where the law otherwise permits disclosure.

We review each request. We require lawful authority appropriate to the information sought, we disclose only what the request covers, and we decline or seek narrowing where a request is overbroad or lacks authority.

In an emergency where there are reasonable grounds to believe that someone's life, health, or security is threatened, we may disclose relevant information without consent, and we will notify the affected individual afterwards where the law requires and where doing so would not compromise the investigation.

Transportation regulators may require us to produce driver and vehicle compliance records, and we are required to comply.

Trip addresses can be requested by the City of Camrose

Camrose's Vehicle for Hire Bylaw requires every vehicle-for-hire business, on request from a City Licensing Officer or a member of the Camrose Police Service, to give full information about the address a passenger was driven to or from.

If we become licensed and begin providing rides in Camrose, this municipal obligation will apply to those trip records. It does not mean we are currently taking rides or already hold a Camrose vehicle-for-hire licence. We describe it now so future riders know that pickup and dropoff addresses may be producible to the City on request.

We still apply the review described above: we confirm the request comes from a person with authority to make it, and we provide only the information the bylaw requires.

No sale, no advertising

We do not sell personal information as that term is commonly understood, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. If we ever introduce a feature that would change this, we will update this Policy and obtain any consent required by law before doing so.

What happens when you ask us to delete your account

If you request account deletion, we begin a 30-day grace period during which your account is deactivated and drivers are taken offline. During that period you may cancel the request by signing in.

You cannot request deletion in the app while you have a trip in progress or booked, while your account is suspended, or, for drivers, while you have unpaid earnings. Contact us in those cases.

After the grace period we remove your ability to sign in and we remove your personal details, including your name, contact information, profile photo, saved addresses, and stored payment methods. We can no longer contact you and you can no longer access the account.

At the same time we instruct our service providers to delete what they hold about you, including your usage analytics record. Some of them complete deletions in scheduled batches, so a small amount of information can remain on their systems for a short period afterwards.

Deleted information, including a replaced or removed profile photo, can remain in our encrypted backups until those backups are replaced in the normal backup cycle. Backups are kept only to recover our systems after a failure, are not used for any other purpose, and are access-restricted.

What we must keep, and why

The following are retained after account deletion because we are legally required to keep them. They are kept for the stated purpose only. They are not used to contact you, to market to you, or to build a profile of you.

• Financial and transaction records, including trip charges, refunds, driver earnings, and tax records. Canadian tax law requires businesses to retain records supporting their filings for a defined period.
• Driver and vehicle compliance documents, including licence, background check, medical certificate, insurance, registration, and inspection records. Transportation regulation requires an operator to collect, retain, and produce these on request, including after a driver leaves the platform.
• Trip records to the extent needed for accounting, insurance, safety, and legal defence.
• Records subject to a legal hold, as described below.

Legal holds

Where litigation, an insurance claim, a regulatory investigation, or a law-enforcement matter is active or reasonably anticipated, retention of the relevant records is extended until the matter concludes and any appeal period expires. A legal hold overrides scheduled destruction.

Retention periods

We maintain an internal retention schedule setting out how long each category of information is kept and when it is destroyed. For the specific period that applies to a category of information about you, contact support@goosecabs.ca and we will tell you.

If there is a breach

If personal information under our control is lost, accessed without authorization, or disclosed without authorization, and there is a real risk of significant harm to an individual, we will notify the appropriate privacy commissioner and the affected individuals as required by law, without unreasonable delay.

Our notice will describe what happened, what information was involved, what we are doing about it, and what steps you can take to protect yourself. We maintain records of security incidents as the law requires.

How to make a request

Email support@goosecabs.ca from the address on your account with the subject "Privacy request" and tell us what you need. We may need to verify your identity before we act, and we will only ask for the information necessary to do so.

We respond within the time limits set by applicable law, ordinarily within thirty days. If we need more time, we will tell you before that period expires, explain why, and tell you when to expect our response.

We do not charge a fee for a routine access request. If a request would involve a significant cost, we will tell you the estimated cost before proceeding and give you the opportunity to withdraw or narrow the request.

If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will tell you in writing, explain the reason, and tell you how to complain.

Limits on access

The law allows or requires us to withhold certain information from an access request, for example information that would reveal personal information about another individual, information subject to solicitor-client privilege, information generated in a formal dispute resolution process, and information whose disclosure could reasonably be expected to threaten someone's safety or compromise an investigation. Where we withhold information, we will tell you that we have done so and why, to the extent we are permitted to.

Complaints

Please raise any concern with our Privacy Officer first at support@goosecabs.ca. We take complaints seriously and will investigate.

If your concern remains unresolved, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or the privacy commissioner for your province, as applicable.