Privacy Policy
Last updated: 3 October 2026
Route & Ride ("we", "us", "our") is operated by Help Me Succeed Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, trading as Route & Ride. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and how you can control it.
1. Who we are
Data controller: Help Me Succeed Ltd, 1 Whitridge Way, Trefonen, Oswestry, SY10 9FB, United Kingdom.
Contact: support@routeandride.co.uk
2. What we collect
Account information
When you create an account, we collect your email address, a password (stored securely, hashed — we never see it in plain text), and optionally a name.
Location data (including background location)
Route & Ride is a navigation app and location data is core to how it works.
When you use the navigation screen, we collect location data in the background — that is, while the app is not open on screen, minimised, or while your device screen is off or locked. This is necessary so turn-by-turn guidance, off-route detection, and progress tracking keep working while you ride or walk with the phone in a pocket or mounted with the screen asleep. On mobile apps we show an in-app explanation and ask for your agreement before the device's location permission prompt appears, and you can revoke location access at any time in your device settings (navigation will then stop working, but the rest of the app continues to function).
- While navigating (foreground and background), your live GPS position is used to display your position on the map, detect when you've gone off-route, and give turn-by-turn guidance. This position data is processed on your device.
- We also record location "heartbeats" (your position roughly every 4 seconds) during active navigation sessions to our servers, including while the app is in the background. This is used to diagnose navigation issues, improve route-following accuracy, and provide customer support if you report a problem. This data is automatically deleted after 30 days.
- Route back and rerouting: when you ask for a route back to your route, or the app reroutes you automatically after you leave it, your current position and where you are heading are sent to our routing server (hosted with Hetzner) so it can calculate the way back. The server uses this to answer the request and does not keep a record of it.
- Recovery events: when you go off your route, we record what happened so we can tune off-route detection and rerouting: the time, your position, the accuracy of the fix, how your direction of travel compared with the route, whether you were on a road or a trail section, what the app suggested, how you responded and the outcome. Like the heartbeats above, this is kept for 30 days and then automatically deleted.
- Place search: when you search for a place or address, the text you type is sent to our server and on to our own place-search service, which we run on our Hetzner server in Germany. No other company receives it. Our server keeps recent results in memory for a few minutes so repeat searches are quick, and does not write what you type to its logs. Your recent searches are kept on your device only.
- Saved routes: if you plan a route or import a GPX file and choose to save it, the route's coordinates are stored against your account so you can access it later.
- We do not collect location when you are not navigating, and we never sell location data or use it for advertising.
Payment information
If you subscribe to Route & Ride Pro, payment is handled entirely by Stripe (for web purchases) or Apple/Google (for in-app purchases via the App Store or Play Store). We never see or store your card details. We only receive confirmation that a payment succeeded, along with your subscription status.
Referral data
If you use our referral program, we store which account referred which other account, so we can apply free-month rewards to both of you when a referral converts to a paid subscription.
What we don't collect
We do not use third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking tools. We do not sell your data to anyone.
3. Why we process your data (legal basis)
| Purpose | Legal basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Providing navigation, route planning, and account features | Performance of a contract |
| Processing payments and subscriptions | Performance of a contract |
| Diagnosing navigation issues from heartbeat data | Legitimate interest |
| Tuning off-route detection and rerouting from recovery events | Legitimate interest |
| Calculating a route back or reroute from your position | Performance of a contract |
| Finding places when you search | Performance of a contract |
| Referral reward crediting | Performance of a contract |
4. Who we share data with
We share data only with the service providers ("processors") needed to run Route & Ride:
- Supabase — hosts our database and handles authentication. Our project is hosted in the AWS eu-west-1 (Ireland) region, within the European Economic Area.
- Stripe — processes web subscription payments. Receives your email and an internal account identifier, never your route or location data.
- RevenueCat — manages in-app purchase entitlements for Apple and Google subscriptions. Receives an internal account identifier.
- Hetzner — hosts our routing and place-search server in Falkenstein, Germany. It receives the positions and route points needed to calculate a route back, a reroute or a matched track, and the text you type when you search for a place. It keeps no record of route requests.
- Cloudflare — delivers our trail and terrain map data. It sees your IP address and which map tiles are requested, which reveals the area you are looking at.
- OpenFreeMap — provides the base map tiles. It sees your IP address and which map tiles are requested.
- Apple / Google — process in-app purchases if you subscribe via the App Store or Play Store.
We do not share data with advertisers or data brokers.
5. How long we keep your data
- Account data is kept for as long as your account is active.
- Saved routes are kept until you delete them or your account.
- Navigation heartbeat data is kept for 30 days to support diagnostics, then automatically deleted.
- If you delete your account, we delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we're legally required to retain records (e.g. payment records for tax purposes).
6. Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate data
- Request erasure of your data ("right to be forgotten")
- Export your data in a portable format
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@routeandride.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
7. Children
Route & Ride is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
8. Changes to this policy
We'll post any changes to this policy here and update the "Last updated" date. Significant changes will be notified in-app.