Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

HomeSafe Taxis Ltd is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. We trade as HomeSafe Taxis and are registered in England and Wales under company number 17468710.

2. Information we collect

Depending on the features you use, we collect:

• Profile and contact details: your name, mobile telephone number and, if provided, email address.
• Location and journey details: your device location when you choose to use it, pickup, via and destination addresses and coordinates, requested pickup time, flight number where relevant, passenger count and vehicle requirements.
• Booking information: booking references, quotes, fares, payment method, booking and cancellation status, and information about the assigned driver and vehicle.
• Payment information: where card features are available, payment-customer and saved-card references. Card numbers and security codes are entered into Stripe's payment page and are not stored by HomeSafe Taxis.
• Technical and service information: app platform, request identifiers, notification or live-activity tokens, IP address, device and browser information contained in server logs, and records needed to secure and operate the service.

Your saved profile is stored on your device before you book. When you request or manage a booking, the details needed for that service are sent to HomeSafe Taxis and our dispatch providers.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information to:

• provide quotes and create, dispatch, track, update and cancel bookings;
• show nearby availability, resolve addresses and plan routes;
• contact you and allow drivers or dispatch staff to contact you about a journey;
• process payments and manage saved payment methods where those features are enabled;
• send booking-status notifications that you request;
• prevent fraud, protect passengers, drivers and our systems, investigate complaints and enforce our terms;
• keep accounting, operational and legal records; and
• diagnose faults and improve the reliability of the app and booking service.

We do not use your precise location or booking information for advertising, and we do not sell personal information.

4. Our lawful bases

• Contract: to give you a quote and provide the journey and payment services you request.
• Legitimate interests: to operate and secure the service, prevent misuse, manage complaints, maintain service records and improve reliability. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Legal obligation: to meet tax, accounting, licensing, safeguarding and law-enforcement obligations that apply to us.
• Consent: where the app asks for optional device permissions, such as location or notifications. You can withdraw device permission in your phone settings, although the related feature may then be unavailable.

5. Who we share information with

We share only the information needed for the relevant purpose with:

• taxi operators, dispatch staff and drivers involved in quoting, accepting or completing your booking;
• iCabbi, which provides booking and dispatch technology;
• Google Maps Platform, which supports address search, geocoding, distance calculations and routes;
• Stripe, where enabled, to set up and process card payments and saved payment methods;
• hosting, security, communications and professional-service suppliers acting for us; and
• regulators, licensing authorities, courts, emergency services or law-enforcement bodies where required by law or necessary to protect someone's vital interests or legal rights.

These providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where UK data-protection law requires it, we rely on an adequacy regulation or appropriate contractual safeguards for an international transfer. You can contact us for more information about the safeguard relevant to a particular transfer.

6. Location, permissions and notifications

The app asks for location access so you can use your current position as a pickup point and view relevant nearby availability. You can enter an address instead. The Android app does not request background-location permission. Notification permission is used for live booking and vehicle updates. You can change either permission at any time in your device settings.

7. How long we keep information

We keep booking, payment and transaction records for up to six years after the end of the relevant financial year, where needed for accounting, tax, dispute and legal purposes. Customer contact details linked to those records are normally kept for the same period. Short-lived operational data, such as live booking tokens and vehicle-location responses, is kept only while needed to provide or troubleshoot the live service. Security logs are normally kept for up to 12 months unless an incident requires longer retention.

We may keep information for longer where a complaint, chargeback, legal claim, safeguarding matter or legal obligation requires it. We delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.

8. Security

We use technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information, including encrypted HTTPS connections, access controls, restricted administration, encrypted service credentials, network protections, security logging and software updates. No system can guarantee absolute security.

9. Your rights

Under UK data-protection law, depending on the circumstances, you may ask us to give you a copy of your information, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to its use, or provide certain information in a portable format. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it. You also have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests; we will stop unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

To exercise a right or ask a privacy question, contact us using the details in section 1. For deletion instructions, see our app data deletion page. We may need to verify your identity. Some information may need to be retained despite a deletion request where the law permits or requires this.

You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, but we would appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first.

10. Children

The app is not directed at children under 13. A parent or guardian should make and supervise a booking for a child where appropriate. We do not knowingly use children's information for advertising or profiling.

11. Automated decisions

The service may automatically calculate availability, routes, quotes and which vehicles can be offered a journey. We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.

12. Cookies and changes to this policy

This public privacy-policy page does not set cookies or use analytics. Our protected administration service uses a necessary sign-in cookie, which is not used to track passengers.

We may update this policy when the app, our suppliers or legal requirements change. We will publish the updated version here and change the date at the top.