Privacy Policy
Atlas needs your location to navigate. It shares your location with other people only when you switch that on, only with the people you chose, and only for as long as you leave it on. We do not sell your personal information, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not track you across other apps or websites. You can delete your account and your data at any time from Settings → Delete Account in the app.
On this page
1. Who we are
Atlas is a mobile navigation application operated by [Registered legal entity name] (“Atlas”, “we”, “us”), registration number [Company registration number], of [Registered street address], South Africa.
For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) we are the responsible party for the personal information described here. Where the UK or EU General Data Protection Regulation applies to you, we are the controller.
Our Information Officer can be reached at support@atlasdrive.co.za.
2. What we collect
We collect only what the app needs to do the things you ask it to do.
Information you give us
| Category | What it includes | When |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Email address, and a password which is stored only as a salted hash. If you sign in with Apple or Google, the identifier and email address that provider returns to us instead. | On sign-up |
| Mobile number | Optional. Used to send a one-time code so you can recover access to your account. | Only if you add one |
| Profile | Display name, optional profile photo, and a chosen marker colour. | Onboarding, or whenever you edit it |
| Trip content | Trip titles, descriptions, types, start times, meeting points, stops, optional banner images, broadcast messages you send, and any alias you use within a trip. | When you create or take part in a trip |
| Community reports | The category you selected and the coordinates where you filed it. | When you file a report |
| Reports about others | Reports you file about a trip or a person, and the reason you gave. Your block list. | When you report or block |
| Feedback | A satisfaction rating and any comment you choose to write. | When you submit feedback |
Information collected automatically
- Precise location — see section 3 below.
- Push notification token — an anonymous device identifier issued by Apple or Google, so we can deliver notifications to your device. It is removed when you sign out.
- Route and search activity — the destinations you search for and the routes you calculate, so we can return results and, if you leave the feature on, suggest trips you make regularly.
- Basic technical data — the device platform and app version, and timestamped counts of requests you make to our servers, which we use to enforce rate limits and prevent abuse.
Information stored only on your device
Your saved places, recent destinations, photos you attach to saved place tiles, your app preferences, and any offline queue of unsent reports are stored on your phone. Preferences are also mirrored to your account so they follow you to a new device. Everything in this group is erased from the device when you sign out.
3. Location, specifically
Atlas is a navigation app, so location is the core of it. We want to be precise about how it is used.
While you are using the app
Your precise location is used to place you on the map, to calculate routes, to give turn-by-turn guidance, and to work out when you have arrived.
In the background
If you grant background location access, Atlas continues to receive your position when the screen is off or you switch to another app. This exists so that guidance keeps working mid-drive and so a share you have deliberately started stays live while your phone is in your pocket. You can decline background access and still use Atlas — guidance will only run while the app is open.
When it is shared with other people
Your location leaves your device and reaches another person in exactly four situations, all of which you start:
- Circles. While you are sharing with a circle, your latest position, heading and speed are visible to the other members of that circle.
- On my way. When you share an ETA with one person, they receive your estimated arrival time and updates to it, after they have accepted the request.
- Leading a trip. If you are the current leader of a convoy, your position is broadcast to that trip's members so they can see where the front of the group is.
- Group route planning. The starting point you drop is shared with the other members of that planning session so a pickup order can be calculated.
Only the leader's position is ever transmitted to a trip. No follower's location is sent to the group, stored as a trip position, or visible to the admin. The leader's broadcast is published by our server rather than by the leader's phone, which means another member cannot forge a position and pretend to be the leader.
Stopping
Stopping a share, leaving a circle, ending a trip, or signing out removes your live position record from our servers. It is deleted, not merely hidden from other people's screens.
What we do not do with location
- We do not sell it.
- We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.
- We do not use it to build an advertising profile, and Atlas contains no advertising.
- We do not track you across other apps or websites. Atlas does not use Apple's App Tracking Transparency identifier and declares no tracking domains.
4. Why we use your information
| Purpose | Basis (GDPR, where applicable) |
|---|---|
| Providing navigation, routing and guidance | Performance of a contract |
| Running circles, trips, and ETA shares you have chosen to start | Performance of a contract |
| Sharing your live position with people you selected | Consent (withdrawable at any time by stopping the share) |
| Sending push notifications about your trips and shares | Performance of a contract |
| Showing community hazard reports to other drivers | Legitimate interests — road safety |
| Moderation, blocking, rate limiting and abuse prevention | Legitimate interests — keeping the service safe |
| Predictive trip suggestions | Legitimate interests, and you can clear this history or turn the feature off |
| Responding to your support requests | Performance of a contract |
| Meeting legal obligations | Legal obligation |
5. Who your information is shared with
Other Atlas users
- Circle members see your display name, photo and live position while you are sharing.
- Trip members see your display name or your per-trip alias, your photo, and your role. They see your position only if you are the current leader.
- Public trips you create are discoverable by other users, including the title, description, type, start time and meeting point. Atlas asks for your explicit consent before listing a trip publicly.
- Community reports appear on other drivers' maps as an anonymous marker. Your name and account are not attached to the marker other users see.
People you report or block
Blocking is one-directional and silent. The person you block is not told, and cannot discover that you blocked them. Reports you file are visible only to us, not to the person reported.
Legal
We may disclose information if we are required to by law, a court order, or a lawful request from a competent authority, or where we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent serious harm.
Business transfers
If Atlas is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may transfer as part of that transaction. We will tell you before it happens and before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
6. Service providers
We use a small number of providers to run Atlas. They process personal information on our instructions only, under contract, and may not use it for their own purposes.
| Provider | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, authentication, file storage, and realtime messaging | All account, profile, trip, circle and report data |
| Google Maps Platform | Route calculation, place search, map rendering, weather conditions, and speech synthesis for voice guidance | Coordinates and search terms needed to answer each request. Requests are made from our servers, not directly from your device, except for map tile rendering. |
| Apple and Google | Push notification delivery, and Sign in with Apple / Google where you use it | A device push token; for sign-in, the identifier and email address you approve |
| Expo | Relays push notifications to Apple and Google | Device push tokens and notification content |
| Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc., United States) | Sends account emails such as confirmations and password resets | Your email address and the message content |
7. How long we keep it
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account, profile and preferences | Until you delete your account |
| Live position in a circle or trip | Until you stop sharing, leave, end the trip, or sign out — then deleted |
| Trips, stops and messages | Until the trip is deleted or your account is deleted |
| Community hazard reports | Expire automatically according to category — short-lived conditions such as traffic expire within hours, longer-lived hazards such as potholes persist longer |
| Travel history used for predictions | Until you clear it in Settings, or your account is deleted |
| Push notification tokens | Removed when you sign out on that device |
| Rate-limit records | A short rolling window, then discarded |
| Reports and blocks | Kept while needed for safety and moderation |
| Deleted accounts | Removed after the 14-day grace period described in section 10 |
8. How your information is protected
- All traffic between the app and our servers uses TLS. Atlas makes no plain HTTP requests.
- Your sign-in session is stored in your device's hardware-backed secure storage — the iOS Keychain or the Android Keystore — rather than in ordinary app storage.
- Sign-in through Apple or Google uses the PKCE flow, so an intercepted link cannot be exchanged for your account.
- Every database table enforces row-level security, so one account cannot read another account's data even if a request is manipulated.
- Passwords are never stored in a readable form.
- Access to production systems is limited to people who need it.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
9. Your rights and choices
Under POPIA, and under the GDPR where it applies to you, you may:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct anything inaccurate — most of it you can edit directly in the app.
- Delete your account and personal information. See section 10.
- Object to or restrict certain processing.
- Withdraw consent for location sharing at any time by stopping the share. This does not affect processing that already happened.
- Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Complain to a regulator — in South Africa, the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
To exercise any of these, email support@atlasdrive.co.za. We respond within 30 days.
In-app controls
- Revoke location permission entirely in your phone's settings.
- Turn off background location and use Atlas only while it is open.
- Leave a circle or stop a share to end live location sharing.
- Clear your travel history in Settings, which stops predictive suggestions.
- Turn off community markers, voice guidance, driving assist and feedback prompts.
- Use a per-trip alias instead of your display name.
- Block a user so their content is hidden from you.
10. Deleting your account
You can request deletion from Settings → Delete Account in the app. If you cannot sign in, email support@atlasdrive.co.za from the address on the account.
When you request deletion:
- Your account is scheduled for deletion and you are signed out of every device.
- If you own a circle, ownership passes to another member so their circle does not disappear.
- You have 14 days to change your mind — sign back in and cancel.
- After 14 days, your account and its personal information are permanently deleted. This cannot be undone.
Some content does not disappear with your account: messages you sent to a trip and community hazard reports you filed may remain, but they are disassociated from your identity. We may also retain a minimal record where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to enforce a ban against someone who has been abusive.
11. Children
Atlas is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you are under 18, you should only use Atlas with the involvement of a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
12. International transfers
Our service providers may process your information outside South Africa, including in the European Union and the United States. Where information is transferred out of South Africa we rely on section 72 of POPIA, and where the GDPR applies we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.
13. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our practices change, and change the “last updated” date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your personal information, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
14. Contact us
Privacy questions, data requests and general support:
support@atlasdrive.co.za
Brands, partnerships and press:
info@atlasdrive.co.za
Post: [Registered street address], South Africa