Privacy Policy

RYDA Mobility (Private) Limited, Harare, Zimbabwe. Registered in Zimbabwe, entity number 132243A0282026.
Last updated 15 August 2026. This policy describes what the RYDA rider and driver apps actually do today, not what they may do later.

The short version

• We collect your phone number, your name, and where you are, because a ride cannot happen without them.
• Your driver never sees your phone number, and you never see theirs.
• Chat between you and your driver is deleted when the trip ends.
• We do not sell your personal information to anyone.
• You can delete your account from inside the app, without emailing anyone.

Who we are

RYDA is a ride hailing service operating in Harare, Zimbabwe. RYDA Mobility (Private) Limited, registered in Zimbabwe under entity number 132243A0282026, is the data controller for the information described here, as that term is used in Zimbabwe's Cyber and Data Protection Act (Chapter 12:07).

For any privacy question, or to exercise any right described below, contact privacy@ryda.co.zw.

What we collect, why, and on what basis

Your account. Your phone number, which is how you sign in. Your first and last name, so a driver knows who they are collecting. A profile photo if you choose to add one. An emergency contact name and number if you provide one, used only if you raise an emergency alert. We need these to provide the service you asked for.

Where you are. Your location when you request a ride, so we can find a driver near you and show them where to collect you. Your pickup and dropoff points are stored with each trip. While a driver is online, the driver app reports their position so riders can watch the car approach and so our team can respond to an emergency. This is the core of the service and it cannot work without it.

Driver location while the app is not open. If you drive for RYDA, the driver app keeps reporting your position while you are online even if you switch to another app or your screen is off. This runs only between tapping Go online and tapping Go offline, it shows a permanent notification the whole time it is running, and it stops the moment you go offline. It exists so that you keep receiving trip offers and so riders can see you approaching. It is never used for advertising and we do not track you when you are offline.

Your trips. Pickup and dropoff points and addresses, distance, duration, fare and its breakdown, payment method, the four digit trip PIN, and the time each stage of the trip happened. If a trip is cancelled we record who cancelled it and why. We keep these as our business records and because tax, safety and dispute handling require them.

Messages. In app chat between you and your driver. Chat is deleted automatically when the trip ends. The one exception is a trip with an open safety incident, where messages are kept until that incident is closed and then deleted.

Saved places and notes. Any place you save, such as Home or Work, and any landmark note you add to help a driver find you.

Ratings and reports. The rating and any comment you leave after a trip, reports you file, and people you block. We use these to keep the service safe.

Drivers only. Driving licence, VID roadworthiness certificate, vehicle insurance, vehicle registration and a verification selfie. These are stored privately, are never public, and are reviewed by a person before a driver is approved. We also keep your vehicle details, your wallet balance and every wallet transaction. We are required to verify drivers before letting them carry passengers.

Payments. Your chosen payment method and a reference from the payment provider. We never see or store your card number or your mobile money PIN. Those go directly to the payment provider.

Your device. A push notification token so we can alert you about your ride, and crash reports when the app fails so we can fix it.

What we deliberately do not do

• We do not show your phone number to your driver, or theirs to you.
• Phone numbers and email addresses are automatically removed from chat messages and pickup notes. This is a safety measure, not an inconvenience: a ride arranged outside the app has no trip record, no emergency button and no way for us to help you.
• Crash reports are stripped of phone numbers, email addresses and precise coordinates before they leave your device.
• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not use your location for advertising.
• We do not track drivers when they are offline.

Decisions the software makes automatically

Two things happen without a person reviewing them, and you should know about both.

• Matching. Which driver is offered your trip is chosen automatically, based on who is nearby and available.
• Driver wallet lock.On cash trips a driver keeps the fare and owes RYDA its commission, so their wallet balance falls. If a driver's balance passes a set negative limit, the app automatically stops offering them trips until they settle. This is an automated decision that affects a driver's ability to earn. If it happens to you and you think it is wrong, contact us and a person will review it.

Who we share it with

Your driver sees your first name, your rating, your pickup and dropoff, and any note you left. Not your phone number.

Anyone you send a trip link to.If you share your trip, that link shows the vehicle, the driver's first name and the live position, and nothing that identifies you. It stops working when the trip ends, and in any case within six hours.

Companies that help us run RYDA. We name them because vagueness here is not useful to you:

• Supabase, our database, sign in and file storage provider. Servers in Europe.
• Google, for place search, for turning coordinates into street addresses, for push notifications, and for the font the apps use.
• Project OSRM, which calculates the road distance and travel time between your pickup and your dropoff so we can quote a fare. Your pickup and dropoff coordinates are sent to it.
• CARTO, which supplies the map images shown in the apps.
• Sentry, which receives crash reports, stripped as described above.
• Payment processors in Zimbabwe, once electronic payments launch.

Authorities, where the law requires it or where there is a serious safety concern such as an assault or a missing person.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.

Information leaving Zimbabwe

The companies listed above operate outside Zimbabwe, mainly in Europe and the United States, so running RYDA necessarily means some of your information is stored or processed abroad. We share only what each one needs to do its job.

How long we keep it

• Chat messages: deleted when the trip ends, or when a safety incident on that trip is closed.
• Trip share links: stop working at the end of the trip, and expire within six hours regardless.
• Driver position: we store a driver's current position while they are online and overwrite it each time it updates. We do not currently build a history of everywhere a driver has been. If that changes we will update this policy first.
• Trip, payment and wallet records: kept for as long as Zimbabwean tax and company law require, currently six years.
• Driver documents: kept while you drive for RYDA and for as long afterwards as we are required to show that we verified you.
• Your account: kept until you delete it. See below for what deletion does.

How we protect it

Information travels between the apps and our systems over an encrypted connection, and is encrypted where it is stored. Access to the operations console is restricted to named administrators, and sensitive administrative actions such as banning a rider, approving a driver, changing prices or adjusting a wallet are written to a log that administrators cannot edit or erase. Driver documents are kept in private storage that is not publicly reachable.

No system is perfect. If a breach occurs that puts you at risk, we will tell you and the regulator as quickly as we reasonably can.

Your rights

• Delete your account from Settings in the app, without having to email or call anyone. Your name, photo, phone number and emergency contact are erased and your account is closed. Trip and payment records remain, with your personal details removed from them, because we are legally required to keep the financial record.
• Ask what we hold about you, or ask us to correct something that is wrong. Write to privacy@ryda.co.zw and we will respond within 30 days.
• Block someone so you are never matched with them again, in either direction.
• Report a problem about any trip, from the trip receipt.
• Turn off location in your phone settings at any time. RYDA cannot find you a ride without it.
• Ask a person to review an automated decision that affected you, such as a driver wallet lock.
• Complain to the regulator. If we have not resolved your concern, you can raise it with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, which supervises data protection.

Children

RYDA is not for people under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children, and we delete it if we discover we have.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top and, for anything significant, tell you in the app before the change takes effect.