Effective Date: July 15, 2026
EC Safe Ride ("we," "our," or "us") is dedicated to protecting the privacy and security of school districts, transport administrators, drivers, and parents. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process, and protect your information within the EC Safe Ride School Bus Management ecosystem, specifically addressing student and driver safety standards.
1. Information We Collect
To deliver real-time bus tracking and transport monitoring safety services, we collect the following categories of information:
- GPS Location Telemetry: While a driver is in an active "ON_TRIP" status, we collect continuous, real-time geographical coordinates from the vehicle's device. For battery and cost efficiency, this telemetry is throttled to update only when the vehicle has moved at least 40 meters AND at least 30 seconds have passed. We do not track drivers who are "OFF_DUTY."
- FCM Tokens: We collect and cache Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) push notification tokens on parents' devices. These tokens allow us to transmit instant notifications when a bus arrives, boards a student, or experiences traffic delays. FCM tokens are updated locally only when a change is detected.
- User Profile & Account Data: Name, email address, telephone numbers, and role type (Admin, Driver, Parent) verified through school ERP records.
- Pre-Trip Vehicle Inspections: Safety checklist metrics and check-in compliance logs submitted by bus drivers.
2. How We Use Data
We process collected data to maintain a compliant, safe transit system, specifically for:
- Rendering a real-time tracking map on the Parent App to notify families of vehicle arrival status.
- Validating pre-trip and post-trip mechanical compliance checklists to assure local Department of Transportation (DOT) standards.
- Generating route optimization logs in the Admin Portal to minimize student commute times and optimize fuel efficiency.
- Routing administrative emergency alerts during incidents or mechanical breakdowns.
3. Data Storage & Security Architecture
EC Safe Ride operates a secure hybrid cloud infrastructure designed to minimize exposure risk and protect student safety:
- Firebase Real-Time Layer: Used exclusively for live, transient updates (such as ongoing trip telemetry, active status, and push notification triggers). Live coordinates are cached temporarily during trips and cleared or archived immediately when the driver marks a trip as completed.
- Supabase Secure Storage Layer: Used as the permanent system of record for historical analytics, inspection reports, driver rosters, and administrative access. No persistent location logs or trackable path histories are stored in Firebase.
- Data Protection: All transit connections are encrypted in transit via SSL/TLS, and database entries are safeguarded behind Strict Row-Level Security (RLS) policies ensuring parents can only access records relevant to their designated child.
4. Data Retention Policies
In accordance with educational records protection guidelines, we retain compliance reports, pre-trip inspection ledgers, and attendance logs for the duration of the school district's active subscription, or as required by state compliance laws. Student ride logs and GPS route records are automatically purged or anonymized after 90 days to prevent tracking profile assembly.
5. Your Rights and Choices
Parents and drivers have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of their associated accounts. Since accounts are provisioned directly by participating school districts, data modification requests should be routed through your local school administration office.
6. Policy Updates
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to align with new legal requirements or system changes. School administrators will be notified of material changes through the Admin Portal, and parents will receive a push notification update.
