Privacy Policy.

1.Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how [GondolaGo legal entity name] ("GondolaGo", "we", "us"), with registered office at [registered address, Venice, Italy], processes personal data when you use the GondolaGo mobile app, this website and the related services (together, the "Services").

It applies to everyone who uses the Services: tourists who book rides and buy tickets, gondoliers and water-taxi drivers who provide rides through the app (together, "providers"), and visitors of this website. Where a section applies only to one group, we say so.

GondolaGo is the data controller for the processing described here. Gondoliers and water-taxi drivers are independent operators; where they process your data for their own purposes (for example to issue a receipt), they do so as separate controllers under their own obligations.

2.Data we collect

2.1 Data you give us

• Account data. Name, email address, password (stored hashed), the role you choose (tourist, gondolier or taxi driver), preferred language and, if you add one, a profile photo.
• Provider details. For gondoliers and taxi drivers: licence number, boat details and photos, years of experience, dock location, availability slots and the services and prices you offer.
• Booking data. Pickup point and any pickup notes, destination, date and time, duration, number of passengers, ride type and special requests you write (for example an anniversary or a song request).
• Payment data. Card brand, the last four digits and expiry date of a saved card, and the cardholder name. The full card number is handled by our payment provider and is not stored by GondolaGo.
• Communications. Messages you exchange with a provider or tourist through in-app chat, reviews and ratings you leave, and support requests you send us.

2.2 Data collected when you use the Services

• Location. With your permission, the location of your device. For tourists, this centres the map and lets you drop a pickup pin. For providers who switch to "available", we collect your position repeatedly (roughly every 10 metres of movement) and store the latest point, so tourists can see you approach. Tracking stops when you go offline or close the app.
• Usage data. Which screens you open, bookings you create, accept, decline or cancel, ride status changes and timestamps.
• Device data. Device model, operating system version, app version, language and push-notification token.
• Transaction data. Amounts, currency, time and status of payments and vaporetto ticket purchases.

2.3 Data from other sources

• Ratings and reviews that other users leave about you.
• Map and routing data from our mapping providers, used to draw canals, docks and routes.
• Confirmation data from our payment provider and, for vaporetto tickets, from the public transport operator (ACTV).

3.How we use data

• To provide the Services. Create and manage your account, match a request with a nearby available provider, show live arrival and ride progress, process payments, issue tickets and keep your trip history.
• Safety and security. Verify provider credentials, detect fraudulent accounts or payments, support the in-app emergency button, and investigate incidents reported on a ride.
• Communication between users. Deliver in-app messages and show the limited profile details (first name, photo, rating, boat) that the other party needs for the ride.
• Customer support. Answer your requests, resolve disputes about a booking and handle refunds.
• Service messages. Send booking confirmations, status changes, receipts and important notices about your account by push notification or email.
• Improvement and research. Analyse how the Services are used, fix errors and develop new features, using aggregated or pseudonymised data where possible.
• Marketing. With your consent where required, tell you about new routes, features or offers. You can opt out at any time.
• Legal obligations. Keep tax and accounting records, respond to lawful requests from authorities and enforce our Terms.

4.Automated processes

Matching. When you request a ride, the app shows your request to providers of the right type (gondola or water taxi) who are available near your pickup point. The first provider to accept is assigned. No decision with legal or similarly significant effect is taken automatically about you.

Pricing. Prices shown before you confirm are calculated from the ride type, duration and number of passengers, and from the prices a provider has published. The amount you see at confirmation is the amount charged.

Fraud checks. Our payment provider and we may use automated rules to flag suspicious activity. Flagged cases are reviewed by a person before any account action is taken.

5.Cookies and local storage

This website does not set tracking or advertising cookies. It stores one preference in your browser's local storage: your light or dark theme choice. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address when the font files are requested. The app uses local device storage to keep you signed in and to remember your settings.

6.Sharing and disclosure

6.1 With other users

• When a provider accepts your request, they see your first name, your pickup point and notes, your destination, passenger count and any special requests. They do not see your payment details.
• When you accept a request as a provider, the tourist sees your first name, photo, rating, boat details and, for water taxis, your live position until the ride starts.
• Reviews and ratings you leave are shown on the other user's profile with your first name.

6.2 With service providers

We use trusted companies to run the Services on our behalf, under contracts that limit what they may do with your data: cloud hosting and database services ([Supabase, hosted in region]), payment processing ([payment provider]), map tiles and routing, push-notification delivery and email delivery.

6.3 With the public transport operator

When you buy a vaporetto ticket, the data needed to issue and validate the ticket is shared with ACTV, which processes it under its own privacy notice.

6.4 For legal reasons

We may disclose data to authorities, courts or other parties where the law requires it, to protect the safety of our users or the public, to enforce our Terms, or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case we will tell you before your data becomes subject to a different policy.

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers.

7.Retention and deletion

• Account and profile data is kept while your account is active.
• Booking, transaction and ticket records are kept for 10 years after the transaction, as required by Italian tax and accounting law, and otherwise only as long as needed to resolve disputes.
• Provider live location is overwritten with each update; we keep only the latest point, and it is cleared when you go offline.
• Chat messages are kept for 12 months after the related ride, then deleted, unless needed for an open dispute or safety investigation.
• Support requests are kept for 24 months after they are closed.

When you delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except for the records we must keep by law.

8.Your choices and rights

Device permissions. You can grant or revoke location, notification, camera and photo permissions in your device settings at any time. Without location, tourists can still set a pickup point by hand; providers cannot go "available".

Profile and settings. You can edit your name, photo, language and saved cards in the app, and delete your account from the settings screen.

Marketing. You can opt out of marketing messages in settings or through the unsubscribe link in any marketing email.

Your rights. Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right to access your data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to its processing, receive a copy in a portable format, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. To exercise these rights, write to [privacy@gondolago.example]. We answer within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Italian data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (garanteprivacy.it), or the authority of the EU country where you live.

9.Legal bases

• Performance of a contract: account management, matching, ride tracking, payments, tickets, chat and support.
• Legitimate interests: safety and fraud prevention, service improvement, defending legal claims, and service communications. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Consent: precise device location, marketing messages and optional profile photos. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation: tax and accounting records and responses to lawful requests.

10.International transfers

Your data is stored in the European Economic Area at [hosting region]. Some service providers may process data outside the EEA. Where that happens, we rely on an adequacy decision of the European Commission or on the Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, together with additional safeguards where needed. You can ask us for details of these safeguards.

11.Children

The Services are intended for people aged 18 or over. Children may travel as passengers on a ride booked by an adult, but we do not knowingly create accounts for, or collect data from, anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

12.Updates and contact

We may update this Policy as the Services change. When we make material changes we will notify you in the app or by email before they take effect. The date at the top shows when the Policy was last revised.

Questions about privacy: [privacy@gondolago.example]. Data Protection Officer, if appointed: [DPO name and contact]. Postal address: [registered address].