VigilSafe Privacy Policy

VigilSafe (“VigilSafe”, “we”, “us”) is an iPhone app that automatically detects your drives and scores how focused you were behind the wheel, with an optional Family plan that lets a parent and a young driver share trip-safety information. This policy explains what information the app handles, why, where it is stored, and the choices you have.

We designed VigilSafe to be local-first: by default your data stays on your device. Information leaves your device only when you choose a feature that requires it (for example, joining a Family group), or when iOS frameworks you invoke do so on your behalf (for example, making a purchase through Apple).

1. Plain-language summary

• VigilSafe uses your location and motion to detect when you're driving and to score the trip. Most of this never leaves your phone.
• Your trips, scores, and settings are stored locally on your device.
• If you join a Family group, the driver's trip scores, trip start/end times, driving status, and approximate trip route are shared with the other members of that private family group through our backend so a parent can see them and receive safety alerts.
• Children's data: if the driver is under 13, a parent must set up the Family link and consent to this sharing. See Section 4.
• Purchases are handled by Apple. We never see or store your payment details.
• VigilSafe contains no advertising SDKs and does not sell your data.

2. Information we collect, and why

a. Location data

• What: your device's GPS coordinates and speed.
• Permission: VigilSafe first requests “While Using the App” location, then asks you to upgrade to “Always” so trips can be detected while the app is in the background or your phone is in your pocket. Background location updates are only enabled once you grant “Always.”
• Why: speed is used to recognize when you're driving and to start/stop a trip automatically; it also confirms possible crash events and geofence crossings. Coordinates are recorded as a trip route (“breadcrumbs”) only while a trip is active, sampled at a reduced rate and at approximately 100-meter accuracy, to draw the trip map and the “arrived-safely” map for Family members.
• You can decline or revoke location access in iOS Settings at any time; automatic trip detection will not work without it.

b. Motion & Fitness data

• What: motion/activity data from your device's motion sensors (CoreMotion).
• Why: to distinguish driving from walking or other activity, which reduces false trip starts and saves battery. This is used on-device for detection and is not stored as a history or shared.

c. Camera

• What: the camera is used only to scan a Family invite QR code.
• Why: to read the invite code so a driver can join a family. VigilSafe does not record, store, or transmit camera images or video; it reads the code and discards the frame.

d. Contacts

• What: when you add an emergency contact for crash SOS, VigilSafe opens the system contact picker and stores only the name and phone number of the contact you select.
• Why: so that, after a detected crash, you can text or call that person with one tap. VigilSafe does not read or upload your full address book. Saved emergency contacts are stored locally on your device (in app preferences).

e. Trip data and scores

• What: for each detected drive: start/end time, duration, a focus score (0–100), the count of distraction events, whether you marked yourself a passenger, whether it was supervised learner practice, and the trip route.
• Why: to show your dashboard, history, weekly trends, badges, insights, and insurance/learner PDF exports.
• Where: stored locally on your device. Trip data is shared off-device only through the Family plan (see Section 3) when you are a driver in a family.

f. Family / teen data (Family plan only)

If you create or join a Family group, the following is shared with the other members of that private group through our backend:

• account display name and role (parent or driver);
• a driver's trip scores, weekly average, safe-driving streak, trip count, current driving status, and the start/end time and approximate route of recent trips;
• safety alerts (started-driving, arrived-safely, possible-crash, left-a-saved-area, and speed alerts), which may include the location coordinates associated with the event;
• parent-defined rewards, a saved geofence area, and a speed limit setting.

This is shared only within your private family group — never publicly, and never sold. A family is identified by an invite code; only people you give the code to can join.

g. Crash SOS

If a possible crash is detected and the countdown is not canceled, VigilSafe can:

• send a safety alert with location to your Family group (Family plan); and
• help you text or call your emergency contacts or emergency services. The text message is composed in your device's Messages app and sent by you; calls are placed through your phone. VigilSafe cannot and does not dial emergency services automatically, and does not transmit these SMS/calls itself.

h. Subscriptions and purchases

VigilSafe Pro and Family are auto-renewable subscriptions sold through Apple's App Store using StoreKit. Apple processes the transaction and your payment information; VigilSafe never receives or stores your payment details. The app only reads your entitlement (whether you have an active subscription) from Apple.

i. Diagnostics and analytics

VigilSafe includes no third-party advertising, analytics, or tracking SDKs, and does not build advertising profiles.

3. How your information is stored and shared

On your device (default). Trips, scores, settings, saved emergency contacts, and — for solo use — all family demo data are stored locally on your iPhone and are included in your encrypted device/iCloud backups under Apple's control.

Family backend (Family plan). When you use the Family plan, family and trip data described in Section 2(f) is stored and synchronized through Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore database, Firebase Authentication for accounts, and Firebase Cloud Messaging with Apple Push Notification service for delivering alerts). Firebase acts as our data processor. See Google's privacy documentation at firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

Third parties we rely on

• Apple — App Store and StoreKit (purchases), Apple Maps (the map link included in an SOS message), and the iOS frameworks (Location, Motion, Contacts, Messages, Push Notifications).
• Google Firebase — backend storage, authentication, and push delivery for the Family plan.
• Insurance program websites — the in-app insurance directory contains links you may choose to open in your browser. VigilSafe does not send your data to these insurers; opening a link is your choice and is governed by that site's policy.

4. Children's privacy (COPPA)

VigilSafe's Family plan is intended to help parents support young drivers, who may be minors, including children under 13.

• If the driver is under 13, a parent or legal guardian must set up the Family link and provide verifiable consent to the collection and sharing of the driver's information. VigilSafe presents a consent step during family pairing that explains exactly what is shared.
• The information collected about a young driver is limited to what the safety features require — trip scores, trip times, driving status, approximate trip routes, and safety-alert locations within the private family group.
• We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 outside of this parent-initiated Family context, and we do not require a child to disclose more than is reasonably necessary to use the feature.
• A parent can review the shared information, leave the family at any time to stop further sharing, and request deletion of the child's data (Section 6).
• If you believe a child has provided us information without the required parental consent, contact us at adam@fix.style and we will delete it.

5. Permissions you control

VigilSafe asks only for what a feature needs, and only when you reach it:

You can change any of these at any time in iOS Settings → VigilSafe.

6. Data retention and deletion

• On-device data persists until you delete it in the app or delete the app from your device.
• Family backend data persists in Firebase until it is deleted. You can leave a family to stop sharing going forward, and you can delete your account and its synced family/trip data directly in the app via Settings → Delete account & data. You may also request deletion by contacting us at adam@fix.style.

7. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing (for example under the EU/UK GDPR or the California CCPA/CPRA). You can exercise these by:

• adjusting or revoking permissions in iOS Settings;
• leaving your family group to stop family sharing;
• deleting your account and data in-app via Settings → Delete account & data;
• deleting the app to remove local data; and
• contacting us at adam@fix.style to request access or deletion of backend data.

We do not “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under California law, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

8. Security

Location and family data are sensitive. We limit what we collect, sample trip routes coarsely, keep solo data on-device, and rely on Apple's and Google Firebase's platform security (including encryption in transit and at rest) for data that is synced for the Family plan. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information.

9. International users

If you use the Family plan, your information may be processed on servers operated by Google Firebase, which may be located in the United States or other countries. By using the Family plan you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in those locations.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. We will revise the “Last updated” date above and, for material changes, provide notice in the app or on this page.

11. Contact

Questions or requests about this policy or your data:

• Gretchen and Hunter
• adam@fix.style

This policy is governed by the laws of Virginia, United States.