Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Unik Ride Tales is a marketplace based in Mombasa, Kenya, that connects riders with car owners ("hosts") for timed, owner-driven experiences. We are the data controller for the personal data described here. You can reach us at support@unikridetales.com.

2. What we collect

We collect only what the service needs to work:

• Account data: your mobile phone number (used for sign-in by one-time code), your display name and an optional profile photo.
• Host verification data: your full name, national ID number, a photo of your ID and of your car's documents, and the M-Pesa number or Till you want payouts sent to. Only our review team sees these documents.
• Listing data: the photos, descriptions, prices, meeting points and availability a host publishes. Listings are public inside the app.
• Booking data: dates, time slots, guest counts, add-ons, prices, deposits, booking status and the reviews you write.
• Payment data: the phone number you pay from, the amount, and the M-Pesa transaction reference returned by Safaricom. We never see or store your M-Pesa PIN.
• Messages: the chat messages you exchange with a host or rider inside the app.
• Technical data: device type, app version and crash or error logs, used to keep the app working.

3. How we use it

• To create and secure your account and sign you in.
• To publish listings, process bookings, take deposits and pay hosts.
• To verify hosts so riders can trust who they are booking with.
• To let riders and hosts communicate about a booking and to send reminders and status notifications.
• To handle cancellations, refunds and disputes.
• To detect fraud and misuse and to keep the platform safe.
• To improve the app using aggregated, non-identifying usage information.

4. What we share

Riders and hosts see each other's name, profile photo and the booking details needed to meet. Phone numbers are not shown in the app; conversations happen in the in-app chat.

To process deposits we send your phone number and the amount to Safaricom (M-Pesa). Safaricom's own privacy terms apply to that transaction.

Our data is hosted on Google Firebase (Google Cloud), which processes it on our behalf under Google's data-processing terms. Data is stored in Google's European region.

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers. We may disclose data when the law requires it or to protect the rights and safety of users.

5. How long we keep it

Account and booking records are kept while your account is active. Payment records are kept for as long as Kenyan tax and accounting rules require. Host verification documents are kept while you are an active host and deleted when your host profile is closed. Chat messages are deleted with the account.

6. Your rights and choices

Under the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 you can ask what data we hold about you, ask us to correct it, object to certain processing, or ask us to delete it.

You can delete your account yourself from Profile → Settings → Delete account in the app, or by emailing support@unikridetales.com from the phone number on the account. Deletion removes your profile, saved listings, messages and host documents. Booking and payment records that we must keep by law are retained in anonymised form.

7. Security

Data travels over encrypted connections and is stored on Google Cloud infrastructure with access limited to the people who need it. Sign-in uses one-time SMS codes rather than passwords. No system is perfectly secure, so please keep your phone locked and tell us at once if you think your account has been misused.

8. Children

Unik Ride Tales is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account or take part in an experience. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service grows. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is significant we will tell you in the app.

10. Contact

Questions or requests about your data: support@unikridetales.com.