Privacy Policy
Effective October 1, 2026
The short version
- We collect only what's needed to match drivers and passengers: your name, phone number, and ride details.
- Ride posts shown on Explore can come from you, our Pathy bot, or public posts in WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups and Poparide.
- We never sell your information, and we never show your phone number directly — contact goes through a WhatsApp link.
- You can ask us to see, fix or remove your information at any time.
1. Who we are
Pathfynder Car Pool Inc. ("Pathfynder", "we", "us") runs pathfynder.ca, the Explore page, the Pathy WhatsApp bot, our Telegram bot, and related pages (together, the "Service"). We're based in Ontario, Canada, and we handle personal information under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Our Privacy Officer can be reached at pathfynder.ca@gmail.com.
2. What we collect
Information you give us
- Contact details: your name or display name and phone number (or Telegram chat ID).
- Ride details: whether you're a driver or passenger, pickup and drop-off locations, date and time, number of seats, and fare.
- Messages to Pathy: what you write to our WhatsApp or Telegram bot, so it can understand your ride and reply.
- Booking activity: bookings, accept/decline choices, trip status (for example, started, picked up, completed).
Information from public sources
To show more rides in one place, we collect ride posts that are already shared in community WhatsApp groups we belong to, public Facebook groups, and Poparide listings. From these posts we may store the poster's name, phone number or profile link, the route, the time, and the original message. See section 5 to have a post removed.
Information collected automatically
- Device and usage data: IP address, browser type, pages visited and basic logs from our hosting providers.
- Notification data: if you turn on notifications, a push subscription token for your browser or device.
- On-device storage: the site saves some preferences (like theme or last route) in your browser's local storage. This stays on your device.
We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18, and we don't collect payment card details. Rides are paid in the car, directly between riders.
3. How we use it
- Match drivers and passengers going the same way, and show available rides on Explore.
- Let people contact each other through a WhatsApp link, and manage bookings and trips.
- Send notifications you've turned on (new matches, bookings, ride started, driver arrived, ride reminders).
- Reply to you through Pathy, which uses AI to read your message and pull out ride details.
- Understand demand on popular routes, using combined, non-identifying counts.
- Keep the Service secure, prevent spam and misuse, and meet legal obligations.
Pathy only replies to messages you send. We don't send marketing messages without your consent, consistent with Canada's anti-spam law (CASL).
4. Who can see your information
Other users. When your ride is listed, other users see your first name or display name, route, time, seats and fare. Your phone number isn't shown on the page; tapping "Contact" opens WhatsApp with you. When a booking is made, the driver and passenger can see what they need to complete the trip.
Service providers. We use trusted companies to run the Service. They only process information on our behalf:
| Provider | What they do |
|---|---|
| Supabase | Database and storage |
| Vercel | Website hosting |
| Oracle Cloud | Hosts our automation server (n8n) |
| Meta (WhatsApp) | Delivers messages to and from Pathy |
| Telegram | Delivers messages for our Telegram bot |
| OpenAI | Reads bot messages to extract ride details |
| Mapbox, Radar, Google Maps | Turn addresses into map locations and routes |
| Cloudflare | Security and network protection |
Legal reasons. We may share information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.
Business changes. If Pathfynder is merged or sold, information may move to the new owner under this policy.
We do not sell or rent personal information.
5. Your choices and rights
- Access and correction: ask what we hold about you and have it corrected.
- Removal: ask us to delete your rides or a post we collected from a public source. Message Pathy or email us with the phone number used.
- Notifications: turn them off anytime from the bell on Explore or in your browser settings.
- Withdraw consent: you can stop using the Service at any time. Some features won't work without the information they need.
We'll reply within 30 days. If you're not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
6. How long we keep it
We keep ride posts and bookings while they're useful for matching and for a reasonable period after (generally up to [12 months]) for support, safety and route-demand analysis, then delete or anonymize them. Account and contact details are kept until you ask us to delete them or stop using the Service.
7. Where it's stored
Some of our providers store or process information outside Canada, including in the United States. When that happens, it's subject to the laws of that country, and authorities there may be able to access it.
8. Security
We use access controls, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and limited, secure database access to protect your information. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we'll notify you and the Privacy Commissioner as required by law.
9. Changes
We may update this policy. We'll change the date at the top and, for important changes, let you know on the site or through the bot.
10. Contact
Pathfynder Car Pool Inc.
Attn: Privacy Officer
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Email: pathfynder.ca@gmail.com