Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 28, 2026

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

Before diving into the details, here is a quick overview of how we handle your privacy at Trip Buddy:

What personal information do we collect? We collect your name, email address, age, device information, and usage analytics through Google Sign-In and Firebase Analytics to provide and improve our services.
Do we process any sensitive personal information? No, we do not collect or process sensitive personal data like health information, religious beliefs, or precise geolocation.
Do we collect information from third parties? Yes, we use Google Sign-In for authentication and Firebase Analytics to understand how users interact with our app.
How do we use your information? We use your data to deliver our travel planning services, communicate with you, secure our platform, and improve your overall experience.
Who do we share your personal information with? We share data only with essential service providers (like Google Firebase for authentication and analytics) and when required by law. We never sell your personal data.
What are your privacy rights? Depending on where you live, you have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your data, as well as the right to opt out of certain processing.
How can you contact us? You can reach us anytime regarding your privacy at rajabhishek4444@gmail.com.

1. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Trip Buddy. We are a mobile application that helps users plan and manage their travel experiences, including searching for flights, trains, hotels, and creating trip itineraries. Because travel planning involves sharing personal details, we believe that protecting your privacy is just as important as ensuring you have a smooth trip.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information. We have written this document in plain language because you deserve to understand exactly what happens to your data without needing a law degree. Whether you are browsing our app or actively using our travel planning services, this policy applies to you.

If you have any questions after reading this policy, please reach out to us at rajabhishek4444@gmail.com.

2. WHAT WE COLLECT & WHY

We only collect information that helps us deliver, secure, and improve our services. To comply with global privacy laws, including the GDPR and various US state laws, we rely on specific legal bases for processing your data.

Information You Give Us Directly

When you create an account or use our services, we collect the following information:

Name and email address: Collected through Google Sign-In when you log into the app. We need this to set up your profile and communicate with you.
Age or date of birth: Collected during profile setup to personalize your travel experience and ensure age-appropriate services.

Legal Basis: Processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you, and in some cases, based on your explicit consent.

Information We Collect Automatically

As you use our app, we automatically collect device information (such as your device model, operating system version, and app version) and usage analytics (such as the screens you visit and features you use). We collect this data to ensure our app works correctly on your device and to understand which features our users find most valuable.

Legal Basis: We process this data based on our legitimate interest in maintaining a functional, secure, and user-friendly app.

Information from Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may collect data:

Google Sign-In: When you sign in with your Google account, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google. This allows us to authenticate your identity and create your account.
Firebase Analytics (Google): We use Firebase Analytics to gather aggregated information about app usage. This service provides us with insights into user behavior, helping us make informed decisions about future updates and improvements.

Legal Basis: We rely on your consent (provided when you sign in and accept permissions) and our legitimate interest in understanding app usage patterns.

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We put your information to work in specific, purposeful ways. We do not collect data just to have it; every piece of information serves a distinct function.

Core Service Delivery: We use your name, email, and age to administer your account, provide our travel planning services (flight search, hotel booking, train search, trip itineraries), and fulfill our obligations to you.
Service Improvement and Personalization: By analyzing device information and usage data, we identify bugs, optimize our user interface, and tailor our services to better meet your travel planning needs. This relies on our legitimate interests.
Communication: We use your contact details to respond to your inquiries and provide customer support.
Security and Fraud Prevention: We monitor usage analytics and device data to detect unusual activity, prevent unauthorized access, and protect our platform from malicious actors. Protecting our ecosystem is a core legitimate interest.
Legal Compliance: We may process your information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, fulfilling our legal obligations.

4. WHEN WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We are highly selective about who we share your information with, and we keep data sharing to the absolute minimum required to run our services.

We never sell your personal data.

When we do share your information, it falls into one of these specific categories:

Essential Service Providers: We share data with trusted vendors who help us operate, such as Google (for Firebase Authentication and Analytics) and cloud hosting providers. These providers are bound by their own privacy policies and data processing agreements.
Legal Requirements: We will disclose your information if we are legally required to do so by a court order, subpoena, or other lawful request from public authorities.
Business Transitions: If Trip Buddy is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your personal data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
With Your Consent: If we need to share your data for any purpose not listed above, we will ask for your explicit permission first.

5. YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

We adhere to high standards of data protection, including the EU and UK GDPR, Canada's PIPEDA, and comprehensive US State Privacy Laws (such as the CCPA/CPRA, VCDPA, CPA, and CTDPA). Regardless of where you live, we grant you the following rights over your data:

Access Your Data: You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. We will provide this within 30 days.
Correct Inaccuracies: If your name, email, age, or other details change or are incorrect, you have the right to ask us to update them.
Delete Your Data: You can request that we erase your personal information. We will honor this request unless we have a compelling legal or security reason to retain it.
Port Your Data: You can ask us to provide your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format so you can transfer it to another service.
Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your data, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we did before you withdrew consent.
Lodge Complaints: If you believe we have violated your privacy rights, you have the right to file a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at rajabhishek4444@gmail.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

6. DATA SECURITY

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement robust technical and organizational measures to protect it. We use industry-standard encryption (HTTPS/TLS) to protect data in transit and restrict access to your personal information to authorized personnel only.

However, we want to be completely honest with you: no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

You also play a vital role in keeping your data safe. We encourage you to keep your Google account secure and to ensure the devices you use to access Trip Buddy are protected.

In the unlikely event of a data breach that compromises your personal information, we commit to notifying you and the relevant regulatory authorities within the timeframes required by applicable law (typically within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach).

7. DATA RETENTION

We do not keep your data forever. We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy.

Active Account Data: We keep your profile information (name, email, age) for the duration of your use of the app, plus a reasonable buffer of 6 months after account deletion to handle any lingering support requests.
Technical Logs and Analytics: We retain device information and usage analytics for a period of 12 months. This gives us enough historical data to identify long-term trends without hoarding unnecessary technical details.

Once these retention periods expire, we securely delete or anonymize your data so it can no longer be linked back to you.

8. THIRD-PARTY SDKS & TRACKING

Trip Buddy is a mobile application and uses the following third-party software development kits (SDKs) and services:

Firebase Authentication (Google): Used to manage user sign-in via Google Sign-In. This SDK may collect device identifiers and authentication tokens necessary for secure login.
Firebase Analytics (Google): Used to collect anonymous usage statistics such as screen views, session duration, and app crashes. This helps us understand how users interact with the app and identify areas for improvement. You can opt out of analytics data collection through your device settings.

These third-party services have their own privacy policies governing how they collect and use data. We encourage you to review Google's Privacy Policy for more details.

9. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Trip Buddy is a travel planning application intended for users aged 13 and above. Our app is not directed at, nor do we knowingly collect personal information from, children under the age of 13.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at rajabhishek4444@gmail.com. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected data from a child under 13, we will take immediate steps to delete that information from our servers.

10. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Your personal information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in countries other than the one in which you reside (for example, our servers and third-party service providers like Google may store data in data centers around the world). These countries may have data protection laws that differ from your local laws.

When your data is transferred across borders, we ensure it remains protected to the standards described in this policy. For users in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, we rely on legally approved transfer mechanisms, such as Adequacy Decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), to ensure your privacy rights travel with your data.

11. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations.

If we make material changes to how we handle your existing data, we will notify you by posting a prominent notice within our app before the changes take effect. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page will always indicate when the latest version was published. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your privacy.

12. CONTACT US

We believe that good privacy practices start with open communication. If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, we are here to help.

Privacy Email: rajabhishek4444@gmail.com

When you reach out to exercise your privacy rights or ask a question, you can expect a response within 30 days.