Driver Companion 

                                           Privacy Policy 

Bus Driver Companion Privacy Policy

Effective date: 27 October 2026

Bus Driver Companion is a driver-focused application designed to help drivers manage worksheets, shift history, fatigue-compliance information, work records, vehicle-damage records and accident or incident reports.

Information Bus Driver Companion may process

Bus Driver Companion may process information that you provide or generate while using the app, including:

• Account information associated with signing in, such as your name, email address and account identifier.

• Driver worksheets, worksheet PDFs, shift times, breaks, actual work times, attendance, vehicle details, depot information, employer settings, ruleset selections and related work records.

• Fatigue and compliance calculations generated from your work records.

• Vehicle-damage records, including descriptions, notes, vehicle and depot information, dates, photographs and amendments.

• Accident or incident reports, which may include locations entered by the user, descriptions, photographs, injuries, police or emergency-service details, and information about other drivers, vehicles, insurers or witnesses.

• Information required to provide backup, recovery and synchronisation between supported devices.

• Subscription status and purchase-validation information where required to provide paid access.

Sign-in and cloud services

Bus Driver Companion uses authentication and cloud services to allow users to sign in and access their Bus Driver Companion data across supported devices. Authentication may be provided using services such as Google Sign-In, Sign in with Apple and Firebase Authentication.

Where cloud backup or synchronisation is enabled, Bus Driver Companion may store worksheets, shift history, settings, reports, photographs and related app data using cloud services such as Firebase. Cloud records are associated with the user’s authenticated account identifier.

Email account connections

Bus Driver Companion may allow you to connect an email account, including Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, iCloud Mail or Yahoo Mail, so the app can locate worksheet emails and PDF attachments.

Email access is used only for worksheet-import features that you choose to use. The app does not upload or store the contents of your entire mailbox. A selected worksheet PDF may be saved locally and included in cloud backup when that feature is enabled.

Email access tokens, app passwords, automatic-import watermarks and background scheduler state are stored on the device and are not included in cross-device cloud recovery. Connecting Gmail for worksheet import is separate from using a Google account to sign in to Bus Driver Companion. You may disconnect a supported email account at any time.

Gmail worksheet importing

Connecting Gmail for worksheet importing is optional and separate from signing in to Bus Driver Companion. With your permission, the app uses read-only Gmail access to search for worksheet emails and retrieve their PDF attachments. Current searches target emails from Thompson Bus Services Operations with a TBS Driver Worksheet subject, a PDF attachment and the applicable date range. Google's permission technically permits broader read access; the app limits its searches for this feature. It does not use this connection to send emails, delete messages, change labels or mark messages as read.

Imported PDFs and extracted shift records may be saved on your device and included in your account's cloud backup. Disconnecting Gmail stops future access through that connection but does not automatically delete previously imported records or backups. You can also revoke access through your Google Account's third-party connections settings.

How we protect information

The app connects to Google's Gmail API using HTTPS, encrypting those requests and responses in transit. Cloud backup uses authenticated Firebase services. Deployed Firestore and file-storage rules restrict normal app-client access to records and files under the signed-in user's own account identifier. These restrictions do not mean that privileged service administrators are technically unable to access service data.

Email credentials that the app stores directly are handled through platform secure-storage facilities rather than included in cross-device cloud recovery. On iOS, the mail secure-storage adapter uses the system Keychain. Google's sign-in software manages the Gmail authorisation session. Bus Driver Companion does not ask you to enter your Gmail password into the app.

Imported worksheets, shift records and selected report files are stored in the app's local storage and may be included in cloud backup. Bus Driver Companion does not claim independent end-to-end encryption of all local records, backups or exported files. Device security, account access and how you handle exported recovery copies also affect protection. Keep exported copies private and share them only with intended recipients.

No storage or transmission method guarantees absolute security. Contact gaffers73@icloud.com about privacy or security concerns.

Photographs, files and on-device processing

Photographs and files are accessed only when you select or capture them for a Bus Driver Companion feature. Text recognition used to read selected worksheet or roster images is performed on the device. Face ID or other biometric authentication is handled by the device operating system; Bus Driver Companion does not receive or store biometric templates.

Subscriptions and purchases

Subscriptions are processed by Apple or Google through their respective app stores. Bus Driver Companion may receive subscription status, product and purchase-validation information needed to confirm access, restore purchases and provide support. Payment-card details are handled by the app store and are not received by Bus Driver Companion.

Driver control of information

Bus Driver Companion is designed around driver control of personal work records. Information stored by the driver is not automatically made available to an employer or other organisation. Sharing a worksheet, report or other record requires an action by the driver.

How information is used

Information processed by Bus Driver Companion may be used to:

• provide shift, worksheet, report and compliance features;

• calculate fatigue-management guidance;

• restore or synchronise records across supported devices;

• provide worksheet-import functionality;

• validate subscriptions and restore purchases;

• maintain app reliability, security and duplicate-import protection; and

• respond to support, privacy or deletion requests.

Bus Driver Companion does not sell personal information, display third-party advertising or use personal information to track users across other companies’ apps or websites.

Third-party services

Bus Driver Companion may rely on third-party services necessary to provide authentication, cloud storage, worksheet access, subscriptions or app distribution. These may include Apple, Google, Firebase and Microsoft services. Their handling of information is also governed by their respective privacy policies and terms.

Data retention and deletion

Bus Driver Companion retains information only as necessary to provide the features being used, meet security and operational requirements, and subject to the operation of the relevant cloud and app-store services.

Users may request deletion of their Bus Driver Companion account and associated cloud-stored Bus Driver Companion data using the Delete Account instructions on this website or by contacting the developer. Disconnecting an email account stops the app from using that connection for future worksheet searches.

Local information

Some information is stored locally on the user’s device. Removing the app may remove local information that has not been backed up or synchronised. An app update is not intended to remove existing app information.

Location

Bus Driver Companion may allow a user to type a location into an accident or incident report. The current app does not collect the device’s precise or approximate GPS location for this purpose.

Children

Bus Driver Companion is intended for working drivers and is not designed for children.

Changes to this privacy policy

This policy may be updated as Bus Driver Companion develops or its features change. The latest version will be published on this webpage.

Contact

For privacy questions, support enquiries, or account and cloud-data deletion requests, contact:

Email: gaffers73@icloud.com