How USA Times collects, uses, and protects information about news readers, ride riders, drivers, and contributors. USA Times runs three products: the news publication at usatimes.com, the rider iPhone app, and the in-vehicle driver iPhone app. This policy covers all of them.
Last updated: June 2026.
1. What we collect
1a. News site (usatimes.com)
Information you give us. Your email address when you sign up for a newsletter or send us a tip, letter, op-ed, pitch, or correction. The content of your message. Account information if you are a USA Times contributor.
Information collected automatically. Device and connection details (IP address, browser, operating system), usage information (pages viewed, time on page, search queries), and cookies. See our Cookie Policy.
1b. Rider iPhone app (USA Times member app)
Information you give us. Your full name, phone number, email address, and profile photo (optional) when you create a rider account. Your payment method (credit/debit card) when you book a ride, processed by our payment partner Stripe — we never store the full card number on our servers. Pickup and drop-off addresses you enter for each ride. Any in-app messages you send dispatch or your assigned driver.
Information collected automatically. Device identifier (an opaque token tied to your install — not your Apple ID), iOS version and app version, push notification token, and approximate device location during a trip so the driver and dispatch can find you. The app does not collect background location when no trip is in progress.
1c. In-vehicle driver app (USA Times Car App)
The driver app runs on company-owned iPhones mounted in USA Times vehicles. It is not a personal-phone app. When a driver signs in to begin a shift, we collect:
- Driver identity (full name, phone, profile photo, contact number) as set in the driver’s record by USA Times management or by the driver via the in-app Account screen.
- Driver’s 4-digit PIN, stored only as a salted SHA-256 hash — never as plaintext.
- Shift events: shift start/end timestamps, starting/ending odometer, trip statuses (enroute, arrived, on trip, completed, no-show), and trip flags raised by the driver.
- Vehicle GPS location: published once per minute from the in-vehicle iPhone so dispatch can see fleet positions on a live map. While a trip is in progress, location is also published every five seconds so the assigned rider can see the car move on their app’s map.
- Device identifier (opaque token), iOS version, app version, push notification token, online/offline state.
The driver app does not collect payment information from drivers and does not process payments through the App Store. Driver compensation is handled outside the app.
2. How we use it
News site: to publish the news, run the website, send newsletters you have requested, respond to inquiries, maintain editorial workflows, measure traffic, serve advertising, prevent fraud and abuse, and comply with legal obligations.
Rider app: to assign a driver to your booking, route the car to you, charge the fare, communicate with you during the trip, support you afterwards, and prevent fraud or unsafe behavior.
Driver app: to dispatch trips to drivers, show drivers their assigned roster and trip details, give riders and dispatch a live view of vehicle location, archive shift records for fleet operations, and prevent unauthorized device use.
3. How we share it
3a. Between rider and driver
When a rider books a ride and a driver is assigned, USA Times shares each side’s basic profile with the other to support a relationship-style service:
- The driver sees: the rider’s full name, phone number, and profile photo (if set). Pickup and drop-off addresses. Any special instructions, passenger count, flight number, and the fare estimate. This information remains accessible to the driver for trips they previously completed, to support relationship continuity with repeat customers.
- The rider sees: the driver’s full name, phone number, and profile photo. Vehicle make, model, color, plate, and car code.
Neither side ever sees the other’s email address, payment information, or any other rider’s or driver’s data. Riders’ bookings are not visible to drivers other than the one assigned.
3b. With service providers
We rely on the following third parties under contractual obligations to use information only as we direct:
- Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging) — backend infrastructure for both iPhone apps.
- Stripe — credit/debit card processing for ride fares. Card numbers are tokenized by Stripe and never touch our servers.
- Apple — App Store distribution, TestFlight beta delivery, Push Notifications.
- Twilio — SMS notifications (e.g. ride confirmations, gift-ride links).
- Google Cloud Platform — server hosting for the news site and operator dashboard.
- Hosting and analytics providers for the news site, as described in the Cookie Policy.
3c. With law enforcement
Only when required by valid legal process, after notifying the affected user where lawful and not prohibited.
3d. What we do not do
We do not sell your personal information. We do not give advertisers your name, email address, phone number, payment data, or precise location. We do not use newsroom communications (tips, letters, pitches) for advertising targeting. We do not use rider trip history or driver location data to target advertising.
4. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict the use of your personal information, or to withdraw consent. To exercise any of these — including to delete your rider account and associated trip history — email achir@usatimes.com. We respond within 30 days.
Drivers may update their own profile photo and contact number from the in-app Account screen at any time, and may rotate their 4-digit PIN there.
5. Editorial archive
USA Times is a news publication and our editorial archive is a matter of public record. Articles we publish remain available indefinitely. We may correct factual errors and, in extraordinary circumstances, retract a story, but we generally do not remove published articles in response to requests.
6. Security and retention
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information (HTTPS in transit, encryption at rest in Firebase and our database, role-scoped Firestore security rules, two-factor authentication on operator accounts, brute-force protection on the rider login, PIN-based device authentication for in-vehicle iPhones, and hashed PIN storage).
We retain information only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or as required by law:
- Rider account + trip history: for the life of the account, or until you ask us to delete it.
- Per-trip location pings: 24 hours (then automatically deleted from Firestore).
- Fleet location history: 90 days (then automatically deleted from Firestore).
- Driver shift records: for the life of the driver’s employment plus regulatory retention requirements.
- Payment transaction records: retained by Stripe according to their policy and for as long as required by US tax and accounting law.
- Editorial content: indefinitely (see §5).
7. Children
USA Times news and ride services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
8. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of the page. Material changes will be communicated by email to rider account holders.
9. Contact
Privacy questions, deletion requests, or anything else: achir@usatimes.com.
Location & activity logging
When you are signed in, we record a periodic “last seen” entry — at most once per day — to operate the service, investigate problems, and detect fraud or abuse. Each entry includes your IP address, device/browser type, the date and time, and an approximate location (city and country) derived from your IP address. If you have granted location permission, we may also record your device’s precise location at that moment. We keep these activity records for 30 days and then delete them automatically. We do not sell this information. You can request deletion of your data at any time by emailing hello@usatimes.com.
Separately, when you book a ride you provide a pickup location so your driver can reach you; that location is used only to fulfill your trip.