Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Zap Co. ("Zap", "we", "us") collects, uses, and shares information when you use the Zap platform — scheduled commute rides, Zap Now on-demand rides, package deliveries, and store orders — along with our website and the messages we send you. This page is maintained by Zap Co. and describes our own practices; it is not an independent certification or audit.

1. Information we collect

• Account information. Your name, email address, and phone number when you create a rider account, or when a Zap administrator creates a Zapper account for you.
• Profile photo. Riders and Zappers upload a profile photo so each party can identify the other at pickup. Photos are stored in a private bucket and are visible only to you, the counterpart on an active trip, and Zap administrators.
• Trip and address information. Pickup and drop-off addresses, saved addresses in your address book, weekly schedules, trip status history, ratings, and reviews.
• Location data. See section 3 below.
• Order information. For store orders: the merchant, the items and notes in your cart, the estimated total, the receipt total the Zapper submits, and a photo of the in-store receipt.
• Payment information. Card details are collected and stored by our payment processor (Stripe), not by Zap. We retain a payment token, the card brand and last four digits, charge amounts, authorization holds, pass purchases, and receipts.
• Messages. Messages you exchange with your Zapper or rider through in-app chat while a trip is active, plus notification records.
• Safety information. Emergency contacts you save, safety alerts you trigger, Zap ID verification records, and shared trip links you create.
• Technical information. Basic log and device data generated when you use the site, used to keep the service secure and working.

2. How we use information

• To match you with a Zapper and coordinate scheduled and on-demand jobs.
• To share the details a Zapper needs to complete your job — your name, photo, pickup and drop-off addresses, order contents, and scheduled times.
• To calculate routes, distances, traffic-aware ETAs, and upfront prices.
• To authorize, charge, refund, and receipt payments, and to issue single-use payment cards for in-store purchases made on your behalf.
• To send you service notifications in the app and by email — Zapper assigned, on the way, arrived, message received, trip completed, and schedule confirmations.
• To support you, prevent fraud and abuse, and comply with legal obligations.

3. Location data and live tracking

Zappers. When a Zapper turns on trip sharing for an active job, the Zap app reads their device's precise GPS location through the browser's location permission and streams it to Zap every few seconds. This is used to show the live map, keep pickup and delivery ETAs accurate, and offer nearby jobs to the closest available Zapper. Location sharing runs only while a job is active and stops when the job ends, when the Zapper turns it off, or when the Zapper denies or revokes the browser location permission. A Zapper can decline location sharing at any time from their device or browser settings; declining may limit the jobs offered to them.

Riders. Zap does not continuously track rider devices. We use the addresses you enter or select, and we show you the assigned Zapper's live position while your trip is in progress. Location pings older than a few minutes are treated as stale and are not shown.

Who can see it. A Zapper's live location during a job is visible to the rider on that job, to Zap administrators, and to anyone you give a shared trip link to. Shared trip links are unlisted URLs tied to a single trip and stop showing live data once the trip ends — treat them as sensitive and share only with people you trust.

Mapping provider. Addresses, coordinates, and route requests are sent to Google Maps Platform (geocoding, places autocomplete, and routing) to render maps and compute routes. Geocoding results are cached to reduce repeat lookups.

4. Payments and in-store purchases

Payments are processed by Stripe. Zap never stores your full card number. For rides, we charge the card on file automatically when the trip is completed. For store orders, we place an authorization hold covering the estimated items, store markup, delivery fee, and a variance buffer, then capture only the actual amount once the Zapper submits the in-store receipt; the unused portion of the hold is released. Zappers pay in store using a Zap-issued single-use virtual card with a spend limit — Zapper personal payment details are not involved, and card credentials are shown only to the assigned Zapper for that order.

5. Notifications

Zap sends transactional notifications — Zapper-arrival alerts, pickup confirmation requests, schedule reminders, message alerts, and trip summaries — to your Zap dashboard as in-app notifications and to the email address on your account. Zap does not send SMS text messages and does not send marketing notifications.

We do not share, sell, or provide your phone number, email address, location data, or notification data to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

6. How we share information

We share information with the Zapper assigned to your job, with the people you send a shared trip link to, with service providers that operate the platform on our behalf, and when required by law or to protect the safety of riders and drivers. Our current service providers are our cloud application and database host, our email delivery provider, Stripe for payments and card issuing, and Google Maps Platform for mapping and routing. We do not sell your personal information.

7. Data retention and deletion

Trip history, receipts, and store order records are retained as business and tax records for as long as required. Zapper location pings are retained only briefly for live tracking and trip reconstruction. In-app messages are tied to a single trip and are no longer accessible to either party once that trip ends. Account, schedule, and notification records are kept while your account is active and afterwards only as long as needed for legal, security, and record-keeping purposes. To request deletion of your account and associated data, contact us at the address below.

8. Your choices

You can review and update your name, phone number, photo, saved addresses, payment method, emergency contacts, and schedules at any time from your Zap dashboard. Zappers control location sharing from the trip screen and from their browser's location permission. You may also request access to, or deletion of, your personal information by contacting us.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

Zap uses cookies and browser storage that are necessary to keep you signed in and to keep the service secure. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

10. Security

Zap accounts are protected by email-and-password authentication with breached-password screening and email verification. Rider and Zapper records, photos, receipts, and messages are access-controlled so that only you, the counterpart on an active job, and Zap administrators can reach them. No system can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

11. Children

Zap is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app.

13. Contact us

Zap Co. — privacy questions: thezapcompany@zapapp.app.