Privacy Policy

Who We Are and the Two Roles We Play

TransitPulse handles personal information in two distinct capacities, and different parts of this policy apply to each.

Agencies and other customers who send their own messages through our platform are responsible for obtaining consent from their own recipients and for publishing their own privacy notice.

Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of information:

• Contact information you provide through our contact form, demo requests, or meeting bookings, including your name, email address, phone number, agency or organization name, country and state or province, the software you currently use, and any messages you send us.
• Mobile phone numbers and messaging consent records. If you text us, or if you opt in to transit alerts, we keep the number, a record of when and how consent was given, the fact that the number was verified, and a record of any opt-out.
• Verification codes sent by text to confirm you control a phone number you entered.
• Message content and delivery records for text messages you send us or we send you, including the message body, timestamps, and whether the message was delivered.
• Alert rules you create, such as the routes, stops, days, and time windows you want to be notified about.
• Usage data collected automatically when you visit our website, such as your IP address, browser type, referring page, pages visited, and time spent on the site.
• Cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.
• Rider information processed for transit agencies, which may include a calling or texting phone number, an email address, call transcripts and summaries, alert subscription preferences, and the content of complaints or feedback a rider submits. We handle this on the agency's behalf as described above.

We do not knowingly collect Social Security numbers, payment card numbers, government identification numbers, or health information through this website.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support, including replying by text when you text us
• Verify that you control a phone number you gave us
• Send the transit alerts you created rules for, and nothing beyond them
• Schedule and confirm demos and meetings
• Send you information about our products and services that you have requested
• Operate, secure, and improve our website and services
• Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Keep records that demonstrate consent and compliance with messaging regulations
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests

We do not use your information to make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.

SMS and Text Messaging

We operate two text messaging programs, described below. Neither one is used for sales, marketing, or promotion. We do not send promotional texts, drip campaigns, or unsolicited follow-ups, and we do not add a phone number to a messaging list because you gave it to us for some other reason. Giving us a phone number on our contact form does not enroll you in either program.

Program 1: Replies to messages you send us

You start this conversation and you control it. You text our number, we text you back. If you text again, we reply again. That is the entire program.

• We never text you first. We only respond to a message you sent us.
• Consent is your act of texting us. Nothing to sign up for and nothing to check.
• Frequency is roughly one reply per message you send. When you stop texting, we stop texting.
• Your number is used to reply to you and for nothing else. It is not added to a list, a campaign, or a sales pipeline.

Program 2: Transit alerts you create yourself

This program is opt in, double confirmed, and every message it sends is one you asked for by name. It works like this:

1. You create an account in the Feedback portal.
2. You enter your mobile number and check a box consenting to receive text alerts. The box is never pre-checked, and consent is not a condition of creating an account or using any other part of the portal.
3. We text a verification code to that number.
4. You return to the website and enter the code, which confirms you control the number. Until you do, we send nothing further.
5. You then build your own alert rules, choosing the route, the stop, the days, and the time window. For example, alert me Monday through Friday between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM when route 4 arrives at stop 1234.

We send only what your own rules ask for. You set the message frequency, because it follows directly from the rules you wrote. A rule covering one stop on weekday mornings produces very different volume from a rule covering several routes all day, and you can see, edit, pause, or delete any rule at any time in the portal.

We use your verified number to send the alerts you built and to secure your account. We do not use it to contact you about anything else.

The consent language we use

Where we collect a phone number for messaging, we show this disclosure:

By providing your phone number, you agree to receive SMS Customer Care messages from TransitPulse. Message frequency may vary. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, HELP for help. We will not share your mobile information with third parties for marketing purposes. Our privacy policy is available at https://www.transitpulse.io/privacy.

When you opt in, we send this confirmation:

TransitPulse: You have agreed to receive SMS updates from us. Msg frequency may vary. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe, HELP for help.

Cost

Message and data rates may apply. Your mobile carrier, not TransitPulse, sets those rates, and we are not responsible for charges from your carrier.

How to stop messages

Reply STOP to any message to opt out at any time. You will receive one final message confirming that you have been unsubscribed, and we will send no further messages to that number unless you opt in again. For alerts, you can also delete your alert rules or remove your number in the Feedback portal, or email [email protected]. Opting out of text messages does not affect your account or any other service, and does not stop you from texting us again later if you want a reply.

Help

Reply HELP to any message for assistance, or contact us at [email protected]. Supported carriers include the major United States wireless carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Messaging run by transit agencies

A transit agency that licenses our platform may run its own messaging separate from the two programs above, using its own sender and its own opt-in. Those messages are the agency's, sent under the agency's privacy notice, and the agency is responsible for obtaining consent from its recipients. TransitPulse delivers them on the agency's behalf and does not use those numbers for its own purposes.

How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing or advertising. We share information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers. We use vetted vendors to run our business, including cloud hosting and database providers, email delivery services, telephony and messaging providers that transmit calls and text messages, calendar and meeting scheduling tools, website analytics, and AI model providers that generate call summaries and responses. These vendors may process personal information only to perform services for us, under contract, and may not use it for their own purposes.
• The transit agency you are dealing with. Where we process rider information on an agency's behalf, that agency has access to it.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information where required by law, subpoena, court order, or public records demand, or where we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, investigate fraud, or respond to a security incident.
• Business transfers. If TransitPulse is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may transfer as part of that transaction. It would remain subject to this policy or a successor policy at least as protective, and we would notify affected customers.

Mobile phone numbers and SMS consent records are excluded from any sharing beyond the messaging providers needed to deliver messages, as stated in the SMS and Text Messaging section above. This exclusion applies to business transfers as well.

Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include:

• Encryption in transit using TLS for the website, our APIs, and our database connections
• Application-layer encryption of rider contact details in alert subscription records
• Encrypted backups
• Access controls that limit staff access to what a role requires, with an audit trail of administrative actions
• Separation of each agency's data

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

Data Retention

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. Retention is enforced automatically by scheduled jobs that run daily and delete records past their window. It is not a manual process. Deletion is permanent within the application, though copies may remain in encrypted backups until those backups expire.

The periods below are the defaults set by our Data Retention and Deletion Policy. A transit agency may shorten or lengthen most of them to match its own records retention schedule, and where the agency sets a period, that period governs.

Backups are used only for disaster recovery. We do not restore a backup to service a data access request.

When a transit agency's agreement ends, the agency may export its data before termination and for 30 days after. We then delete the agency's production data within 30 days of the end of that export window, unless the agency instructs otherwise in writing or the law requires retention, and we provide written certification of deletion on request.

Where TransitPulse or an agency is subject to litigation, subpoena, investigation, or a public records demand, the affected records are placed on legal hold and are exempt from scheduled deletion until the hold is lifted.

Access and Deletion Requests

You may ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. Email [email protected] or contact us.

Here is how we handle a request:

• We verify that you are the person the data concerns, usually by confirming that you control the phone number or email address on the record. We ask for no more information than verification requires.
• If the request concerns rider data we process for a transit agency, we confirm the request with that agency before executing the deletion, because the data is theirs and they may be subject to a public records retention schedule.
• A rider deletion covers the rider's subscription records and delivery history, call records tied to that phone number, and text message records.
• We respond within the period the applicable law requires, generally 45 days from a verified request, extendable once where the law allows.
• We do not charge a fee, discriminate against you, or degrade your service because you exercised a privacy right.

We may keep information where the law permits or requires it, including where an agency must retain a record under its own public records retention schedule, where the record is needed to complete something you asked us to do, or where it is needed to detect or resolve a security incident. Where we retain something, we tell you what and why.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, why, and who we share it with
• Access a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Request that we limit the use of sensitive personal information
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of, but the right is stated here for clarity.
• Opt out of marketing communications and text messages at any time
• Appeal a decision we make about your request, and to be free from retaliation for exercising any of these rights

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have these rights under those laws. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with proof of authorization.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you also have the right to object to or restrict processing, to data portability, and to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. Our legal bases for processing are your consent for text messages and marketing, performance of a contract for services you have purchased, and our legitimate interest in operating and securing our business.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information:

• Privacy and data requests: [email protected]
• General inquiries: [email protected] or our contact form
• Legal notices and legal hold: [email protected]
• Entity: TransitPulse LLC, United States