Privacy Policy
This policy was last updated when the new website went live.
WomenFirst is built on trust. This policy explains, in plain language, what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what you can do about it.
It applies to our website at womenfirst.ca, to the WomenFirst Rider and WomenFirst Driver apps, and to anything else that links to this policy.
We follow Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, because we are based in Alberta, the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Where a provincial law gives you stronger rights, that law applies.
Who is responsible for your information
WomenFirst, Inc.
8801 Resources Road, Unit 209
Grande Prairie, Alberta T8V 3A6
Our Privacy Officer is Arthur Urich. You can reach him at arthur@womenfirst.me about anything in this policy — a question, a request to see your information, or a complaint.
What we collect
When you ride with us
- Your name, phone number and email address
- Your account password, stored in scrambled form that we cannot read
- Pickup and drop-off addresses, and your trip history
- Payment details (see Payments below — we do not hold your card number)
- Messages you send us through the app, the website form, or by phone
When you drive with us
- Everything above, plus
- Your driver’s licence and driving record
- Your vehicle details, insurance and registration
- The results of the background and licensing checks required to carry passengers
Licence, driving record and background-check results are sensitive information. We ask for them only because provincial and municipal rules require us to verify who is carrying passengers, we keep them separate from ordinary account data, and we do not use them for anything else.
What the apps ask your phone for
Both apps ask for the following permissions. You can refuse or withdraw any of them in your phone’s settings, though some features will stop working if you do.
| Permission | Why we ask |
|---|---|
| Location — approximate and precise | To show you nearby drivers, set your pickup point, follow the trip in progress, and calculate fares. The Driver app also uses it to receive trip requests and navigate. |
| Phone — place calls, read phone status | So you can call your driver or our support line from inside the app, and so a call in progress does not interrupt the trip. |
| Microphone | Listed by the app stores as part of the calling feature. Our apps do not record audio. When you press Call or SOS, the app simply opens your phone’s own dialler with the number already filled in, and the call is an ordinary phone call handled by your carrier — not by us. |
| Device ID | To keep you signed in on your own device, to send you trip notifications, and to detect fraudulent accounts. |
| Network access | The apps need an internet connection to work at all. |
Location, specifically
Location is the most sensitive thing we handle, so to be exact:
- The Rider app uses your location while you are using it and during a trip.
- The Driver app uses location while a driver is on shift, including in the background, so riders can see the car approaching.
- We keep trip locations as part of your trip history. We do not build a picture of your movements outside of WomenFirst trips, and we do not sell location data to anyone.
Collected automatically
- Device model, operating system and app version
- Rough location from your IP address
- Which screens you open and when, so we can find and fix faults
Payments
Card payments are handled by Stripe and Square. Your full card number goes to them, not to us — we never see or store it. We keep only what we need to recognise the payment: the last four digits, the card type, and whether the charge succeeded.
Stripe and Square process this information under their own privacy policies, which we suggest you read.
Why we collect it
- To provide the ride — matching you with a driver, navigating, charging the correct fare
- For safety — verifying drivers, responding to incidents, investigating complaints
- For support — answering your questions and resolving problems
- To meet the law — licensing, insurance, tax and municipal requirements
- To improve the service — understanding which features work and where the experience falls short
We do not use your personal information for anything else without asking you first.
Who we share it with
- Your driver sees your first name, your pickup and drop-off, and a way to contact you through the app.
- You see your driver’s first name, photo and vehicle.
- Stripe and Square, to take payment.
- Service providers who host our systems, send notifications and help us with support — each bound by contract to protect your information and use it only for the work we give them.
- Police, regulators or the courts, where the law requires it or where someone’s safety is at risk.
- A buyer, if WomenFirst is ever sold or merged — you would be told before your information moved.
We do not sell your personal information, and we never have.
Where your information is kept
Our systems run on servers in Canada and the United States. That means some of your information is stored or processed outside Canada.
You should know what that means: while your information is in another country, it is subject to that country’s laws, and courts, law enforcement and national security authorities there may be able to obtain it under their own legal processes. We use contracts and security controls to protect it wherever it sits, but we cannot override foreign law.
If you would like to know which parts of our service run where, write to our Privacy Officer and we will tell you.
Messages we send you
We send service messages — trip confirmations, receipts, driver arrival alerts, security notices, and changes to this policy. These are part of the service and you cannot turn them off while you hold an account.
We also send in-app broadcasts to people who have our apps: announcements about new cities, features and service changes. You can turn these off in your notification settings.
We do not currently send marketing emails or marketing text messages. If that ever changes we will ask for your consent first, as Canada’s anti-spam law requires, and every message will carry a way to unsubscribe.
Cookies on our website
Our website uses cookies that are needed for it to work, and a cookie that remembers your choice about cookies. You can refuse the rest through the banner shown on your first visit, or clear cookies in your browser at any time.
How long we keep it
- Your account — for as long as it is open
- Trip and payment records — for seven years after the trip, which is the period Canadian tax rules require
- Driver screening records — for as long as the driver is with us, and afterwards for the period licensing rules require
- Support conversations — for two years
When a retention period ends, we delete the information or strip out everything that identifies you.
How we protect it
Information travels to us over an encrypted connection and is stored on systems protected by access controls, so that only staff who need your information to do their job can reach it. Passwords are stored scrambled and cannot be read, even by us.
No system is perfectly secure, and we will not pretend otherwise. If a breach ever puts you at real risk of significant harm, we will tell you and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.
Your rights
You can:
- See what we hold about you, and get a copy
- Correct anything wrong
- Withdraw your consent to uses that are not required for the ride itself, or by law
- Close your account and have your information deleted, except records we must keep
- Complain — to us first, and then to a regulator if we have not put things right
Write to arthur@womenfirst.me. We answer within 30 days, which is the deadline PIPEDA sets. There is no charge.
If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca or 1 800 282-1376. In Alberta you may also contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta at oipc.ab.ca.
Children
WomenFirst accounts are for adults. Children ride with us often, and warmly welcomed — but the account, and the consent to this policy, belongs to the parent or guardian who books the ride.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app or by email before the change takes effect. The date at the top always shows the current version.
Contact
Arthur Urich, Privacy Officer
arthur@womenfirst.me
WomenFirst, Inc., 8801 Resources Road, Unit 209, Grande Prairie, Alberta T8V 3A6
(877) 496-6361