Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data Flotr collects, why we use it, who can see it, how long we keep it and the choices you have. Flotr is operated by Flotr travel tech, H. No. 3-11-89, Bukkalguda, Nizamoddin Road, Shahaganj, Aurangabad, Maharashtra 431001, India ("Flotr", "we", "us").

It is written for India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the "DPDP Act"). Under that Act, Flotr is the Data Fiduciary for your personal data and you are the Data Principal.

Apps covered

• Flotr, the app for travellers (Android package: ai.flotr.flotr)
• Flotr Partner, the app for travel agencies (Android package: com.flotr.agency), and the Flotr agency portal
• The website flotr.ai, and the trip, ticket and invite links we send

What we collect

When you use the Flotr app

• Account: your mobile number, which we verify with a one-time code, your name and, if you add them, your email address, gender, city and profile photo.
• Bookings: the trip and departure, the number of seats, the name, age and gender of each person travelling, your pickup point, what you paid, any refund, and when you checked in.
• Pre-departure details, when the trip asks for them: an emergency contact (name, phone number and relationship), dietary needs, flight details and, if you choose, your blood group. Your agency sees these for that trip so it can look after you. The app does not ask you to upload ID documents, except a licence photo for rides that need one.
• Medical notes: anything you write in Medical notes stays on your phone, encrypted in your phone's secure storage, and is cleared when you sign out or delete your account. It is never sent to Flotr by itself. If you switch on "Trip lead can see this for this trip", we send that note for that booking only; only that departure's agency and trip lead can read it, and we delete it after the trip.
• Licence photo: if you book a ride that needs a licence, you can add a photo of your licence so the agency can check it before the day. It is kept in private storage, opened only by that departure's manager or assigned trip lead (each time it is opened is logged), and deleted within 30 days after the trip ends, or at once if the booking or departure is cancelled. A person at the agency checks it; Flotr does not read the image.
• ID for a permit: some trips go to places that need a permit, such as an inner-line permit for Spiti, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim. When the agency marks a trip or departure as needing an ID, we ask each person on that departure for the type of ID (such as Aadhaar, passport, voter ID or driving licence) and its full number. We keep the number encrypted. Only that departure's manager or assigned trip lead can see the full number, and each time it is opened is logged; everyone else, including other travellers, sees at most its last 4 characters. It is deleted within 30 days after the trip ends, or at once if the booking or departure is cancelled.
• Payments: the amount, status, date and Razorpay's payment reference. If you pay by typing your UPI ID, we pass it to Razorpay to request the payment. Card numbers and UPI PINs are entered with Razorpay and are not stored by Flotr. If you pay a trip in parts, we keep each part's amount, due date and status.
• Messages and posts: questions you ask about a trip, messages with agencies, your trip group chat, messages with other travellers, Help and support conversations, photos and videos you share to a trip album, reviews, and anything you report to us.
• Voice messages: in a trip group you can hold the microphone button to record a voice message. The microphone is on only while you hold the button. The message is stored by Flotr and seen by your trip group and the agency's team, like any other message. On iPhone, a video you record in a chat also carries sound.
• Activity and choices: trips you save, like or ask about, agencies you follow or block, your notification settings, whether you are shown on traveller lists, and any permission you give an agency to use your trip photos.
• Links and invites: when you open a Flotr link, we record the tap, which link it was and any campaign tags on it, and later which app install and account it led to. On Android, the app reads the Play Store's record of the link or ad that led to the install. On iPhone, the "Get Flotr on the App Store" button on a creator's or agency's link page copies that link, and when you first open Flotr the app reads it from your clipboard once, after iPhone asks your permission. For a creator's link opened on an iPhone we also keep a scrambled (hashed) form of your internet address and your iOS version for 7 days, used only to suggest that creator's code at checkout, which you can remove. We do not keep this for agency links. If you enter or keep a creator code at checkout, we record the code and how it reached the field. If you invite friends, we keep your invite code and who joined through it.

If an agency adds you to a booking

If you booked with an agency directly and the agency adds your booking to Flotr, the agency gives us your name, phone number, the details of each person travelling (such as name, age and gender) and your pickup point. We use them to issue your ticket and so the agency can run the trip. You can give pre-departure details from your ticket link without a Flotr account.

If you run or work for a travel agency

• Business details: agency name, public profile name and link, description, logo, email address, phone number, address, city, state, PIN code and Instagram handle. We verify the email address and phone numbers with one-time codes.
• People: the names and phone numbers of the owner and the day-to-day contact; each team member's name, email address, profile photo, role and when they were last active; and trip leaders' names, phone numbers and photos. Travellers see a captain's name and photo.
• Sign-in: the name, email address and photo from the Google or Apple account you use to sign in to the Partner app, or your email address for the portal's one-time code.
• Verification: business type, PAN, GSTIN or CIN, and uploaded documents such as the PAN card and the GST or business registration certificate.
• Bank account for payouts: account holder name, account number, IFSC and account type.
• Operations: trips, departures, bookings, check-ins, payouts, and messages with travellers and with Flotr.
• If we contact your agency about joining Flotr, we keep the business contact details we used and notes of our conversations.

Collected automatically

• Device and app: device model, operating system, app version, and a random ID the app creates when it is installed.
• Notifications: a push notification token for your phone (also before you sign in), the notifications we sent you, and whether you opened them.
• Crashes and app use: Google Firebase Crashlytics records crashes, and Firebase Analytics records the screens you view and actions such as viewing a trip or starting a booking, linked to your Flotr account ID.
• Product analytics and screen recordings: PostHog records the screens you open and the buttons you tap in the Flotr apps, linked to your Flotr account ID, and can record a replay of the screens as you used them so we can see where the app is confusing or broken. While Flotr is new, these recordings can include what is on your screen, including messages, names and what you type, so we can see how the app is used and fix it. Sign-in codes and payment details are always hidden and never recorded. It does not record your phone's network traffic or anything outside the Flotr app. Recording starts only after you accept this policy.
• Advertising measurement: the Flotr app includes Meta's (Facebook) SDK. It sends Meta app events such as installs, app opens, trip views, checkouts and bookings (with the booking value), together with your phone's advertising ID, so we can measure our ads. When you are signed in, the app also sends Meta your phone number, and your email if you gave one, in hashed (scrambled) form, so Meta can match ad results to you (Meta calls this Advanced Matching); on an iPhone this happens only if you allowed tracking. The app also uses AppsFlyer to measure which ads and links lead to installs, and AppsFlyer can pass install results back to the ad platform that showed you the ad. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings.
• Consent records: when you accept our terms or policies, we record which version you accepted, when, in which app, and your IP address and device or browser details.
• Website: flotr.ai has no forms and does not use cookies, analytics or advertising trackers. Our hosting provider keeps standard request logs, such as IP address and browser type, to run and protect the site.

Features that use your phone

The Flotr app asks for these permissions only when a feature needs them, and you can refuse or change them in your phone's settings.

• Location: the Flotr app asks for your location only while the app is open, and only when a feature needs it. We never read it when the app is closed, and the app has no "always" location setting.
  • Your city: used once, if you choose, to pick the city you are leaving from and to sort trips by how near they start. We save the city name, not your position.
  • Your family: on a paid booking, the people you send your family link to can see your last location during the trip: from 60 minutes before pickup (or your check-in) until three hours after the planned end (or until you tap "I'm back home"). It is on by default, it is a last position and never a trail, and you can turn it off for a trip on the Family screen with one tap. Your trip lead sees it only if you choose.
  • A chat: you can send where you are, once, to a chat. It is not live.
  • SOS: sends your name, your message and, if available, your last known location, with the time it was recorded, to the people on your departure, the agency running it and Flotr.
  • The bus: on trip day your agency's trip lead can share the bus's location with the travellers on that departure. The trip lead's phone sends it, only while they switch it on. Your own location is not part of it.
• Camera and photos: to take or choose a profile photo, share photos and videos with your trip group, and scan codes that carry messages when there is no signal. The Partner app uses the camera to scan tickets, and your photos to upload trip media and documents.
• Notifications and wake-up calls: for booking updates, messages, and the wake-up calls or urgent alerts your captain or agency sets for your departure. With your permission, these alerts can ring over your lock screen until you stop them.
• Bluetooth, for trips with no signal: from 12 hours before a departure until 12 hours after it, the app can pass trip messages between the phones of people on that departure, so they reach someone who has signal. Messages are signed, so phones can reject messages that did not come from your trip, but they are not encrypted while they pass between phones. Bluetooth is not used to find your location. You can turn this off in Settings, under On a trek, with "Pass messages for my group".
• SOS: sends your name, your message and, if available, your last known location to the people on your departure, the agency running it and Flotr. Flotr is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 112.

Why we use it

We use personal data only for the purposes below. We rely on your consent, which you give when you accept this policy and when you give us each piece of information, and on the other lawful grounds the DPDP Act allows, such as meeting legal duties.

• To create and secure your account and sign you in.
• To take bookings, hold seats, take payments, issue tickets, process refunds and check you in.
• To let you talk to agencies, your trip group, other travellers and Flotr support.
• To help agencies run trips, for example with traveller lists, pickups, food counts, emergency contacts and check-in.
• To verify agencies and pay them.
• To send you messages about your bookings. These are part of the service and stay on while you have a booking.
• To suggest trips, based on trips you saved, liked, asked about, looked at or started booking, at most once a day. You can turn this off in Settings with "New trips and offers".
• To tell you if a payment you made did not go through, so you can try again.
• To understand how the apps are used, fix problems, and measure which ads and links bring people to Flotr.
• To prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our Terms, and meet legal, tax and accounting duties.

Who can see it

• The agency running your trip: the name, mobile number and email address on your account; the name, age and gender of each person on your booking; your pickup point, payment status, check-in, the pre-departure details you give, and messages you send it. The agency's team can keep a copy of the departure's traveller list on their phones to check tickets without signal. Agencies may use this only to run your trip.
• Other travellers on your departure: your first name, profile photo and city appear on the departure's traveller list, never your number, email or exact age. This is on by default. You can hide yourself when you book, or later for each departure in Settings, under Privacy, with "Being seen by other travellers". Travellers can message each other directly only when both are visible on the list. The "who's going" list can also show how many travellers are going, how many are travelling solo and how many of those are women, as numbers only. You can hide yourself at any time.
• Your trip group: messages, photos and videos you post in a trip group chat or album are seen by everyone in that group, including the agency's team.
• Everyone using Flotr: reviews you write are shown with your first name.
• Public places: reviews, review photos and videos, and trip album photos can be seen by people with the link or by other people using Flotr, as the trip page shows. Do not post what you do not want shown.
• People you share a trip with: if you send your trip details to family, anyone who opens that link sees your name, the trip, its dates, your pickup point, the agency's contact number and the emergency contact you gave.
• Flotr staff: only as their role needs, for example to give support, look into a report, settle a refund or pay an agency. Actions in our admin tools are logged.
• Service providers that process data for us: Google Cloud (our servers, database and file storage), Google Firebase (sign-in codes, push notifications, crash reports and app analytics), Razorpay (payments and refunds), Meta and AppsFlyer (ad and install measurement), PostHog (app analytics and screen recordings), our email provider (verification codes and team invitations), our bank (payouts to agencies) and the team tools that alert our staff to requests.
• Weather providers: to show a forecast for a trip, our servers ask a weather service for the weather at the trip's own places (never your location). Today that is Apple WeatherKit where Flotr has access, and MET Norway as a fallback. No personal data about you is sent to them.
• Authorities: when the law requires it, or to protect the safety of travellers, agencies or the public.

We do not sell your personal data.

Where it is stored

Our servers, database and file storage are in Google Cloud's Mumbai region, in India. Some service providers, such as Google Firebase, Meta and PostHog (in the United States), may process data outside India, as the DPDP Act permits.

How long we keep it

• Account data: while your account exists. When you delete your account, we erase your name, email address, mobile number, profile photo, city, gender and notification token straight away. See Account Deletion for what is kept after that.
• Booking and payment records, including the traveller details on them: for as long as Indian tax and accounting law requires.
• Messages, album photos and reviews: until they are removed, or you ask us to remove them.
• Blood group: deleted within 30 days after the trip ends.
• ID number for a permit: deleted within 30 days after the trip ends, or at once if the booking or departure is cancelled.
• Shared medical note and licence photo: deleted within 30 days after the trip ends (a licence photo at once if the booking or departure is cancelled).
• Your last location for the family page, and the bus's location: deleted when sharing ends and, in every case, no later than 7 days after the trip ends.
• An SOS: the record of it (who sent it, when, the message and who was told) is kept. Its precise location is removed 7 days after the trip ends, unless Flotr recorded that emergency services were involved; then we keep it for as long as that matter needs. A position sent with a roll-call "I need help" tap is removed in the same way.
• Voice messages: with the rest of the chat.
• Payment plan records: with the booking and payment records, for as long as tax and accounting law requires.
• Consent records: kept as evidence of what was agreed, including after an account is deleted.
• Agency records: while the agency is on Flotr. When an agency is closed, its records are kept, and booking and payout records are kept for as long as the law requires.
• One-time email codes: deleted once used or expired.
• The hashed internet address and iOS version kept with an iPhone tap of a creator's link: removed after 7 days. The record of the tap itself is kept.
• Anything needed for a dispute or legal claim: until it is resolved.

Your rights and choices

Under the DPDP Act, you can:

• ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and who we have shared it with;
• correct or update it (travellers can edit their profile in the app, under You, with Edit profile);
• have it erased, unless the law requires us to keep it (travellers can delete their account in the app; see Account Deletion);
• withdraw your consent at any time, as easily as you gave it. Some data is needed to run a booking, so withdrawing consent can mean we can no longer provide that booking;
• nominate someone to use these rights for you if you die or become unable to act; and
• complain to our Grievance Officer, and then to the Data Protection Board of India.

In the Flotr app you can change these yourself: "New trips and offers" notifications, whether you are seen on each departure's traveller list, "Pass messages for my group", and any permission you gave an agency to use your trip photos. Location, camera, notification and Bluetooth permissions can be changed in your phone's settings. For anything else, write to team@flotr.ai from the email address on your account, or tell us the mobile number you signed in with.

Children

You must be 18 or older to have a Flotr account. A person under 18 can travel only on a booking made by their parent or legal guardian, who gives the child's details (such as name, age and gender) and consents for them. We use a child's details only for that booking, and we do not track children or show them targeted advertising. If you believe a child's personal data has reached us without that consent, write to our Grievance Officer and we will delete it.

Security

• Data between the apps and our servers travels over encrypted connections.
• Agency bank account numbers are stored encrypted and shown in the apps only as the last four digits.
• Verification documents are kept in private storage. They can be opened by the agency's own team and by authorised Flotr staff, and staff views are logged.
• Flotr staff who make payouts can view an agency's full account number, and each view is logged.
• No system is completely secure. If a personal data breach affects you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board of India as the DPDP Act requires.

Grievance Officer

For questions or complaints about how your personal data is handled, contact our Grievance Officer:

• Name: Mohammad Wajid Thekiya, Founder
• Email: team@flotr.ai
• Address: Flotr travel tech, H. No. 3-11-89, Bukkalguda, Nizamoddin Road, Shahaganj, Aurangabad, Maharashtra 431001, India

We will acknowledge your complaint and reply within the time the law requires. If you are not satisfied with our reply, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed, and the current version is always available on this page and in the app.