CarpoolNow Privacy Policy

The purpose of this mobile application (“mobile app”) is to provide state-of-the-art tools, information, and services for various commuter programs designed to mitigate congestion and provide commuting alternatives. The Terms of Use spell out what you can expect from us and what we expect from you. By accessing any areas of CarpoolNow.org or CarpoolNow.com (the “CarpoolNow mobile app”) riders and drivers, individually (“User”) and collectively (“Users”), agree to be legally bound and to abide by the terms set forth below. The CarpoolNow mobile app is owned and operated by Commuter Connections and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (“MWCOG”). Any references herein to the CarpoolNow mobile app shall be deemed to refer to Commuter Connections, as applicable under the circumstances.

The full set of terms can be found at https://commuterconnec.wpengine.com/carpoolnow-terms-of-use/. Please read these Terms of Use carefully. By accessing, using or continuing to use this mobile application, Users agree to accept and to be bound by all of these Terms of Use. If User does not agree to accept and/or does not agree to be bound by all of these Terms of Use, then User is not to access, use, or continue to use the CarpoolNow mobile app in any way whatsoever.

In accordance with the terms of Commuter Connections’ Privacy Policy, Commuter Connections respects the privacy of its Users.  Commuter Connections collects information about Users when they use its mobile applications, websites, and other online products and services (collectively, the “Services”) and through other interactions and communications via email or through the Commuter Connections call center.

All personal information provided to the CarpoolNow mobile app is used for Ridematching or other commuter program request purposes only. All personal information will remain confidential. Commuter Connections will not share or sell User information to outside organizations or companies.

Commuter Connections collects information Users provide directly, such as when User creates or modifies User’s account, requests on-demand carpool services, contacts the Commuter Connections call center via email or by telephone, or directly communicates with Commuter Connections in any way. This information may include: name, email, phone number(s), postal address, profile picture, and other information User chooses to provide. Commuter Connections does not provide transportation services and is not a transportation carrier.  It is up to User’s sole discretion to decide whether or not to offer or accept a ride through the CarpoolNow mobile app.

Commuters determine what contact information they share with other commuters. Your home address is not given to other commuters, unless the commuter elects to share it with other commuters through their commuter profile.

When you, as a User, use these Services, Commuter Connections (“we”) collects information about User in the following general categories:

• Location Information – When you use the Services for transportation or delivery, we collect precise location data about the trip from the CarpoolNow mobile app used by the driver. If you permit the mobile app to access location services through the permission system used by your mobile phone’s operating system, we may also collect the precise location of your device when the mobile app is running in the foreground or background. We may also derive your approximate location from your IP address.
• Contacts Information – If you permit the mobile app to access the address book on your device through the permission system used by your mobile phone’s operating system we may access and store names and contact information from your address book to facilitate social interactions through our Services and for other purposes described in this Statement or at the time of consent or collection.
• Transaction Information – We collect transaction details related to your use of our Services, including the type of service requested, date and time the service was provided, distance traveled, and other related transaction details.
• Usage and Preference Information – We collect information about how you and site visitors interact with our Services, preferences expressed, and settings chosen. In some cases, we do this through the use of cookies, pixel tags, and similar technologies that create and maintain unique identifiers.
• Device Information – We may collect information about your mobile operating device, including, for example, the hardware model, operating system and version, software and file names and versions, preferred language, unique device identifier, advertising identifiers, serial number, device motion information, and mobile network information.
• Call and SMS Data – Our Services facilitate communications between Riders and Drivers. In connection with facilitating this service, we receive call data, including the date and time of the call or SMS message, the parties’ phone numbers, and the content of the SMS message. 
• Log Information – When you interact with the CarpoolNow mobile app, we collect server logs, which may include information like device IP address, access dates and times, app features or pages viewed, app crashes and other system activity, type of browser, and the third-party site or service you were using before interacting with our Services.

Most mobile platforms have defined certain types of device data that mobile apps cannot access without User’s consent. These platforms may have different permission systems for obtaining User’s consent. For more information on platform level permissions that the mobile app may seek, User should visit your smartphone applications permissions web site page. 

We request permission for the CarpoolNow mobile app collection of precise location from your device per the permission system used by your mobile phone’s operating system. If you initially permit the collection of this information, you can later disable it by changing the location settings on your mobile device. However, this will limit your ability to use certain CarpoolNow mobile app features. Additionally, disabling the mobile app’s collection of precise location from your device will not limit our ability to collect your trip location information from a rider’s or driver’s device nor our ability to derive approximate location from your IP address.

We may seek permission for Commuter Connections’ app’s collection and syncing of contact information from your device per the permission system used by your mobile operating system.

Commuter Connections may also receive information from other sources and combine that with information we collect through the CarpoolNow mobile app. For example:

• If you choose to link, create, or log in to your Commuter Connections account with a social media service, or if you engage with a separate app or website that uses our Application Programming Interface (“API”) (or whose API we use), we may receive information about you or your connections from that site or app.
• If you also interact with our programs in another capacity, for instance as a user of other mobile apps or web sites we provide, we may combine or associate that information with information we have collected from you in your capacity as a CarpoolNow mobile app User. We may use the information we collect about you to:
  • Provide, maintain and improve our programs services, including, for example, to send you information or provide products and services you request, develop new features, provide customer support to riders and drivers, authenticate Users, and send product updates and administrative messages;
  • Perform internal operations, including, for example, to prevent fraud and abuse of our program services; to troubleshoot software bugs and operational problems; to conduct data analysis, testing, and research; and to monitor and analyze usage and activity trends;
  • Send or facilitate communications (i) between you and a driver, such as estimated times of arrival, or (ii) between you and a contact of yours at your direction in connection with your use of certain features, such as referrals, invites, or estimated time of arrival sharing;
  • Send you communications we think will be of interest to you, including information about products, services, promotions, news, and events of Commuter Connections, where permissible and according to local applicable laws; and to process contest, sweepstake, or other promotion entries and fulfill any related awards. You may opt-out of receiving promotional messages from us by following the instructions in those messages. If you opt-out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your account, about Services you have requested, or our ongoing business relations;
  • Personalize and improve the services, including to provide or recommend features, content, social connections, referrals, and advertisements.