DriveStreamPrivacy Policy
Last updated 24 August 2026
DriveStream is an iPhone app for driving somewhere as a group. To do that it has to share where you are with the people you are driving with. This policy explains exactly what it collects, who can see it, how long it lasts, and how to get rid of it.
The short version. Your live location is shared only with the members of the trip you have joined. There are no ads, no advertising identifiers, no analytics or crash-reporting SDKs, and no third-party trackers — none are built into the app. Nothing is sold or shared with data brokers. Walkie-talkie audio is live only and is never recorded. Leave a trip and you stop being shared; delete your account and it all goes.
Who is responsible
DriveStream is an independent app built and operated by its developer, who is the data controller for the purposes of the UK GDPR and EU GDPR. You can reach us any time at [email protected].
What DriveStream collects
| Data | Why | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Account Your name and email address from the Google account you sign in with, plus an internal user ID and the car label you choose (for example "Rohan's Swift"). |
To sign you in, and so other people in your trip can tell your car apart from theirs. | Your name and car label are visible to members of trips you join. Your email address is not shown to them. |
| Precise location while a trip is active Coordinates, speed, and direction of travel. |
To draw your car on the shared map and work out the running order and gaps between cars. | Only members of the trip you are currently in. |
| Vehicle and device status Estimated fuel level and remaining range, and your phone's battery level and charging state. |
So the group can plan fuel stops and knows if someone's phone is about to die. | Only members of the trip you are currently in. |
| Drive records Start time, distance, moving time, top speed, and the route you took, stored as a simplified track. |
So you keep a history of your drives and can compare them with the group. | You. Summary figures for a drive taken on a group trip are also visible to that trip's members. |
| Trips Trip name, invite code, member list, and the destination and stops the group has agreed on. |
To run the shared itinerary. | Members of that trip. |
| Walkie-talkie audio | To carry your voice to the rest of the convoy while you hold the button. | Members of the trip, live, as you speak. Audio is never recorded or stored — it is relayed in real time and then gone. |
| Notification token An anonymous, device-specific token issued by Apple and registered with our notification provider if you allow notifications. |
So trip notifications can reach your device. We do not currently store this token or send notifications with it. | Nobody. It identifies a device, not you, and is not linked to your profile. |
| Fuel log Refuels you enter manually. |
To work out your car's real efficiency. | Nobody. This stays on your iPhone and is not uploaded. |
What DriveStream does not collect
- No advertising identifiers (IDFA) and no ad networks.
- No analytics or product-usage tracking. The app does not include an analytics SDK.
- No crash-reporting SDK.
- No contacts, photos, calendar, or health data.
- No browsing history or activity in other apps.
- Nothing used for tracking you across other companies' apps or websites.
Location, specifically
Location is the sensitive one, so to be precise about it:
- DriveStream requests location access only for driving. It asks for Always access because recording a drive has to keep working when your phone is locked in a cradle or in your pocket — iOS stops delivering location to an app that only has "While Using" access once the screen locks, which silently breaks route recording mid-drive.
- Your position is broadcast to the group only while you are in a trip and sharing is on. Leave the trip, end the drive, or sign out, and the broadcasting stops.
- Your live position is not stored as a history for other people. The shared record holds only your latest position and is overwritten as you move.
- The route of a completed drive is saved to your account as a drive record.
- You can revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → DriveStream. The app will keep working, but the map and drive recording will not.
Who processes data for us
DriveStream does not sell or rent your data, and does not share it for advertising. We do rely on a small number of infrastructure providers who process data on our instructions:
| Provider | What it handles |
|---|---|
| Google Firebase | Sign-in, the trip and drive database, and live position sharing. |
| Google Maps Platform | Place search and route calculation. Requests are proxied through our own server, so Google receives the search text and the coordinates involved, but not your account identity. |
| LiveKit | Carries walkie-talkie audio in real time. Nothing is recorded. |
| Cloudflare | Runs the small server that issues voice tokens and proxies map requests, and hosts this website. |
| Apple | App distribution and push notification delivery. |
These providers operate globally, so your data may be processed outside your country, including in the United States. Transfers rely on the providers' standard contractual clauses.
How long things are kept
- Live position: overwritten continuously; it is not retained as a trail. When you disconnect you are marked offline.
- Trips and drive records: kept until you delete them or delete your account.
- Account: kept until you delete it.
- Walkie-talkie audio: not retained at all.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. If you are in the UK, EU, or another region with equivalent law, you also have the right to object to or restrict processing, and to complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).
Our legal basis for processing is the contract between us — the app cannot do what you installed it to do without sharing your position with your group — and, for optional extras such as notifications, your consent, which you can withdraw in iOS Settings.
Deleting your account
Email [email protected] from the address you signed up with and we will delete your account, your drive records and your profile within 30 days, and confirm when it is done. In-app account deletion is on the roadmap and this page will be updated when it ships.
Children
DriveStream is intended for licensed drivers and their passengers and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
Traffic between the app and our providers is encrypted in transit. Access to trip data is enforced server-side: the database rules only let you read a trip you are a member of, and only let you write your own position and your own drives. No system is perfect, but we will notify affected users without undue delay if a breach puts their data at risk.
Changes
If this policy changes materially we will update the date at the top and, where the change matters, tell you in the app. Continuing to use DriveStream after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints: [email protected].