Last updated: 6 August 2026
This policy covers both the SameWay app and this website. If you have any questions about how your data is handled, contact info@same-way.co.uk.
1. Who we are
SameWay is a trading name of Sentrixa Systems Ltd, Registered in England & Wales (Company No. 17385810)
We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.
2. What data we collect
Account & identity
- Name, email address, and password
- Date of birth — used only to confirm you’re 18 or over; SameWay isn’t available to anyone younger
- Phone number (optional until SMS verification is enabled)
- Home address — collected during account setup, encrypted at rest, and never shown to other users under any circumstances
- Profile photo, if you choose to add one
Ride & location data
- Pickup and drop-off addresses/coordinates for any ride you offer, request, or book
- Departure times, seat/party details, and any notes you add for a driver or passenger
- Live GPS position while a booked ride is actively in progress, so the other party (and anyone you choose to share a tracking link with) can see where the vehicle currently is
We do not keep a history of your GPS location. Only your most recent position is stored while a ride is live, and it’s overwritten every time it updates — nothing is retained once the ride ends.
Vehicle data (drivers)
- Make, model, colour, year, and registration plate
- Accessibility features you declare (wheelchair access, child seats, pet policy, luggage capacity)
- Your registration plate is only ever shown to a passenger once their booking with you is confirmed — never before, and never to anyone else
Ratings, reviews & safety reports
- Star ratings and optional written feedback left about you after a completed ride
- Reports filed against you (or by you) for safety or conduct concerns, and the outcome of any review
- No-show and late-cancellation records, used to apply our fair-use policies
Trusted contacts & safety features (optional)
- If you choose to add trusted contacts, their names and phone numbers are encrypted at rest and only ever used to send them a safety alert if you enable that feature for a specific ride
Accessibility & medical-adjacent information
- If you choose to tell us about mobility requirements, an allergy, or another note relevant to a specific ride, we only use it to help match you appropriately and to show it to the specific driver or passenger on that ride
- You’re never required to provide this information, and it’s entirely your choice whether to share it
Support requests
- The subject, description, and any screenshot you attach when you contact us for help, report a problem, or appeal a decision
Device & technical data
- A device token used to deliver push notifications (e.g. “new booking request”) to your phone
- App version and basic device platform information, used to keep the app working correctly and to offer updates
Advertising data
- The app shows banner ads via Google AdMob. See section 6 for what this means and the choice you’re given about it.
3. Why we process your data
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Creating your account and providing the core matching/booking service | Performance of a contract with you |
| Verifying you’re 18 or over | Legal obligation / contract |
| Ratings, reports, no-show tracking, and other safety features | Legitimate interest — keeping the platform safe and trustworthy for everyone using it |
| Trusted-contact safety alerts | Your explicit consent, given when you enable the feature |
| Push notifications about your bookings and matches | Performance of a contract / legitimate interest |
| Personalised advertising (UK/EEA users) | Your consent, collected via the in-app consent prompt |
| Responding to support requests | Legitimate interest / contract |
4. Who we share your data with
Other users — deliberately limited
What another user can see about you depends entirely on context, and is kept as narrow as the platform can reasonably make it:
This is health information. Under Article 9 of the UK GDPR it is special category data, and we process it under Article 9(2)(a) — your explicit consent, which you give by choosing to enter it. We use it only to match you with journeys that will actually work for you, and it is shown to the people you are matched with so they know what is needed. You never have to provide it: leave the fields empty, or clear them at any time in your profile, which withdraws your consent for the future.
- Before you’ve booked or been booked: your first name, profile photo, and rating only
- Confirmed co-passengers on the same ride: your first name, rating, a deliberately coarse pickup area (never your exact address), and party size — never your photo, surname, or contact details
- A confirmed booking’s driver and passenger can see each other’s full name, and (for the driver’s vehicle) full registration details
- Your home address, phone number, date of birth, and trusted contacts are never shown to any other user, under any circumstances
Service providers we use
- Google Firebase — delivers push notifications to your device
- Google AdMob — serves the in-app banner ads (see section 6)
- OpenStreetMap / Nominatim — powers address search when you type a pickup or drop-off location; subject to OpenStreetMap Foundation’s own privacy policy
- Our hosting infrastructure, used solely to run the service
We never sell your personal data, to anyone, for any reason.
Legal & safety
We may disclose data where we’re legally required to, or where we believe in good faith it’s necessary to protect the safety of you, another user, or the public.
5. Advertising & your consent choice
SameWay shows banner ads via Google AdMob to help fund the service. If you’re in the UK or EEA, you’ll be shown a consent prompt the first time you open the app, letting you choose whether to allow personalised ads or not — if you decline, you’ll still see ads, just less tailored to you. You can change your mind at any time from Settings → Ad privacy options in the app.
6. Automatic suspensions, and your right to challenge them
Some decisions on SameWay are made automatically, without a person reviewing them first. Your account is suspended for 7 days if you reach any of these:
- 3 no-shows within a rolling 30 days
- 5 late cancellations within a rolling 30 days
- 3 reports from other members within 90 days
We will tell you. You will get a notification and an email saying what happened, that the decision was made automatically, and when the suspension lifts.
You can ask a person to review it. Open Support and choose Appeal suspension — this works while you are suspended. Under Article 22 of the UK GDPR you have the right to human review of a solely automated decision, to an explanation of it, and to contest it. We will look at it properly and reply.
Ratings are not automated decisions. They are shown to other members, who decide for themselves.
7. Data security
Your date of birth, phone number, home address, and trusted contacts’ details are encrypted at rest in our database, not just protected by access controls. All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit. Access to personal data is restricted to what’s needed to operate the service.
8. How long we keep your data
We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove or anonymise your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we’re required to keep certain records for longer (for example, to resolve an open safety report or comply with a legal obligation). Live location data is never retained at all — see section 2.
9. Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Have inaccurate data corrected
- Ask us to delete your data (“right to be forgotten”)
- Restrict or object to certain processing
- Receive your data in a portable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent (e.g. personalised ads, trusted-contact alerts)
To exercise any of these rights, email info@same-way.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), though we’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.
10. Children
SameWay is only available to people aged 18 and over. We verify this at sign-up and don’t knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.
11. International transfers
Some of the service providers we use (notably Google, for Firebase and AdMob) may process data outside the UK. Where that happens, it’s covered by their own standard contractual safeguards.
12. Changes to this policy
We’ll update the date at the top of this page whenever this policy changes, and let you know in-app if a change is significant.
13. Contact us
Questions, requests, or concerns about your data: info@same-way.co.uk