Drive Nation: Privacy notice

Beta version 23, October 2026. The same notice is in the app (Profile, Settings, Privacy notice).

Who we are

Drive Nation Society ("we") is responsible for your personal information in this app.

Contact: drivenationsociety@gmail.com

Who can use Drive Nation

You must be 18 or older. If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we delete it.

What we collect, and why

We do not track your location: the app asks for your approximate location only when you choose a distance on the map or tap "Use my approximate location once" for New meets near me, never in the background, and we never keep it on our servers (a spot you choose for New meets near me stays on your phone only). We do not use advertising or analytics trackers, and we never sell your information.

• Your account: your email address and, if you sign in with Google, your Google name. We use them to sign you in, confirm your email and contact you about your account.
• Your profile: a display name, and, if you choose, your first name, surname, nickname, Instagram and TikTok handles, interests, a profile picture, and your town or city. We use them to show your profile to other members, if you let us. A profile picture is shrunk on your phone and the location details in the photo are removed before it is uploaded.
• Your garage: for each car you add, the make, model and year, and optionally the modifications, a short "about" text and a social handle. A number plate is optional and stays private unless you choose to show it. You can add up to 10 cars, and up to 4 photos of each car; they are shrunk on your phone and the location details in them are removed before upload. Hiding your number plate does not hide a plate that shows in a photo: that is your responsibility.
• Who you follow: if you follow other members, the list of members you follow (up to 200) and when you followed them. Only you can see this list. The members you follow are not told.
• Who you block: if you block a member, the list of members you blocked (up to 200) and when. Only you can see it, and the member is not told. The app uses it on your phone to hide them from you.
• Comments: if you write in an event's Discussion: your comment, your display name and when you wrote it, and when you last commented (to allow one comment every 10 seconds). Members who are signed in can read the Discussion of approved and cancelled events; admins can also see comments hidden from members. Comments are deleted 365 days after the event. If you report a comment, a copy of its text is kept with your report so the admins see what you reported.
• Event photos: if you add photos to an event’s Gallery: the photos (shrunk on your phone, with their location details removed), your display name, when you added them, and the list of photos you added to that event (at most 30). Members who are signed in can see the photos of approved and cancelled events. Photos can show people and number plates: only post people who agree. Anyone pictured can ask for a photo to be removed by emailing us. Event photos are deleted 365 days after the event.
• Your activity: only if you switch on "Show my activity" (it is off unless you do, and it works only while your profile is visible to members): the Activity tab shows members when you joined, a car you added (its name and first photo) and photos you added to an event, with your display name and profile picture. These entries are made by our server from what you already shared, and are deleted after 90 days, when you switch it off, hide your profile or are banned, and when you delete the car or photo (or an admin hides the photo). New approved events are listed there too.
• Events you're going to: if you tap "I'm going" on an event: that you are going, and when you said so. Everyone can see how many people are going. Signed-in members can see your name in the event's "Who's going" list, unless you switch on "Keep my RSVP private" (then you are counted but not named). While your profile is hidden your RSVP is always private, and if your profile is hidden or banned later, your RSVPs are made private. If your account is banned, your RSVPs to events that have not ended are removed. RSVPs are deleted 365 days after the event, or when your account is deleted. The app also keeps a copy of each event you're going to (its details and poster) on your phone, so the event page works without signal at the venue. That copy stays on your phone and is deleted the day after the event, when you are no longer going, or when you sign out.
• Ratings: if you rate an event (1 to 5 stars): your stars and when you gave or changed them. Only you can see your own stars; nobody else can, not the person who posted the event and not the admins. The event shows only how many ratings it has and their average, and only once it has at least 3. Your rating is removed if you remove your RSVP or your account is banned, and deleted 365 days after the event.
• Notifications: only if you allow notifications: a push token for each phone you use the app on (a random code that lets Google deliver our notifications to that phone), and your two reminder switches ("Evening before" is on unless you turn it off; "2 hours before" is off unless you turn it on). We use them to remind you about events you said you are going to, to tell you when one changes its time or venue or is cancelled, and to tell you when an event you submitted, or a change to it, is approved or not approved (with the reason, if one was given). If you are an admin, they also tell you how many events and reports are waiting for review (never between 21:00 and 07:00; a summary follows at 07:00), unless you switch "Review queue alerts" off. Only you can see them, not the admins. The token is removed when you sign out, when your phone stops using it, or when another account signs in on the same phone. Notifications are delivered by Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, which can happen outside South Africa; they contain the event's title, time and venue, never anything about you. Before an account that has not been used for a long time is hidden or deleted, we also send a reminder (see "How long we keep it").
• When you last opened the app: the date and time, saved at most once a day in a private record that only you can read (not other members, not the admins). It is used only for the timeline for unused accounts (see "How long we keep it").
• New meets near me: only if you switch on "New meets near me": the spot you chose (on the map, or your approximate location once) and the distance. They are kept ONLY on your phone and never sent to us. To deliver the alerts, your phone joins a few of Google's "topics", each standing for a map square of about 40 km or 150 km across; Google therefore knows which map squares your phone listens to, but not you or your exact spot. We do not know who listens to which square. Switching it off, or signing out, removes the spot from your phone and leaves the squares. Alerts for meets approved between 21:00 and 07:00 are sent at 07:00.
• The Terms of Use: which version of the Terms of Use you accepted, and when. We keep it to show you agreed to the rules for posting.
• Events you add: the title, type, date and time, venue, rules, description, the venue's position on the map and its address, and a poster picture. The address comes from your map link, or is found by your phone's built-in address lookup, which asks Google about the venue's position (never about where you are). Pictures have their location and camera details removed on your phone before they are uploaded. We also keep a private list of your events that are waiting for review, so that at most 3 can wait at once; only you can see it. You can edit an event while it waits for review, fix and send again one that was not approved, and ask for a change to an approved meet: the change (and a new poster, if you add one) is kept for the admins to review, and the meet stays as it is until they approve it. Only you and the admins can see a change request; it goes once it is approved, or when you withdraw it. If you make an event repeat (up to 8 dates), an admin reviews it once with all its dates; once approved, each date becomes an event of its own with the same details and a copy of the poster.
• Your approximate location: only if you choose a distance on the map (for example "Within 50 km"), the app asks your phone for your approximate location, to measure how far each event is in a straight line. It stays on your phone: it is not saved and is never sent to us. If you say no, everything else still works. The map itself is drawn by Google Maps.
• Reports and moderation: reports you send about a member or an event, and admin actions such as approving an event or banning a member. We keep these for 24 months to keep the community safe.
• Crash reports: if the app crashes or hits an error, Google Firebase Crashlytics receives the kind of error, where in the app it happened, your phone model, Android version and app version, and a technical trace. It does not receive your name, email, location or anything you typed.

Who can see what

• Your profile and garage are hidden from other members unless you switch on "Let other members see my profile". When it is on, members see your name (and first name, surname and nickname if you added them), profile picture, town, handles, interests and cars with their photos (your number plate only if you chose to show it).
• Other members never see your email address or your private number plate. Nobody else, not even admins, can see who you follow. If you remove or replace your profile picture, the old file is deleted.
• Admins and owners can see your profile details for moderation, even when your profile is hidden, and can see reports made about you and who made them.
• Activity shows your entries to signed-in members only while "Show my activity" is on and your profile is visible. Whether this app has shown you the question about it, and when you last opened Activity, are kept only on your phone.
• The number of people going to an event is public. Your name is listed under "Who's going" only to signed-in members, only while your profile is visible, and never if you keep your RSVP private. Admins see the list the same way as members.
• The member you report is not told who reported them.
• Approved events are public: anyone, even without an account, can see the title, time, venue, rules and poster. The event says "Posted by" your name only if your profile is visible to members; otherwise it says "Posted by a member", and "Posted by a former member" once you have deleted your account.
• An approved event can be shared as a link. Anyone with the link can open a web page with the event's poster, title, type, time, venue and address, rules and description; the page never shows who posted it, who is going, comments or photos, and it is not listed in search engines. People who have the app open the event in the app instead.
• Approved events are also in a public calendar feed: a link anyone can add to their own calendar app (for example Google Calendar), so new events appear there by themselves. It has the same details as the web page (title, type, time, venue and address, rules and description) and never shows who posted an event or who is going. It is not listed in search engines.

Where your information is kept

On Google servers (Google Cloud and Firebase) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Some processing by Google happens outside South Africa, for example signing in, sending the email that confirms your address, crash reports, and turning a venue's position into an address. We send Google only what is needed for these.

How long we keep it

• From public launch: after 11 months without opening the app we send you a reminder. After 12 months your profile is hidden from members and your car photos are deleted (your car details are kept); opening the app again makes your profile visible again. After 23 months we send a last reminder, and after 24 months your account and information are deleted, the same as when you delete your account yourself. The reminders come at least 25 days before anything is hidden or deleted, as a notification to your phone if notifications are on. Owners, admins and banned accounts are not hidden or deleted by this. Events you added stay, shown as "Posted by a former member".
• During the beta, the 12- and 24-month timeline above does not run yet. Test events may be cleared before launch; your profile and garage will be kept.
• Events: an approved or cancelled meet stays as a record of the event. Its poster is deleted 365 days after it was uploaded.
• Photos you remove: when you remove or change your profile picture or a car photo, or delete a car, the photo is deleted straight away. If that does not finish (for example because the connection drops), a monthly clean-up deletes any photo that is no longer on your profile or one of your cars.
• Reports and moderation records: reports, and moderation records (for example an approval, a rejection or a ban), are deleted 24 months after they were made.
• Backups: we keep a daily backup of our database for 14 days, so we can recover it after a fault or a mistake. The backups are stored in Johannesburg with the database, and app admins cannot see them. Information that is deleted, also when you delete your account, stays in the backups until they run out, so it is gone from them within 14 days. Photos and posters are not in the backups.
• When you delete your account: your profile, profile picture, garage (cars, plates and photos), follows, blocks, comments, gallery photos, RSVPs, ratings, Activity entries, reminder settings and phones, your events that were not yet approved or were not approved, and changes to your meets that were waiting for review, are deleted straight away. A comment that has replies stays as "Comment deleted", with no text or name. Your sign-in is removed within the hour, after a final check for anything sent from another phone in the meantime. We keep: meets you posted that were approved (they are public gatherings and show "Posted by a former member"; posters are deleted 365 days after upload), reports you made and moderation records (each deleted 24 months after it was made), and a record that the account was deleted and when (the account ID and dates only). Copies in our backups are gone within 14 days.
• If an account is banned, we keep a minimal record (the account ID and email) for as long as the ban stands, to enforce it, even after other information is deleted.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, or to object to how we use it. You can edit your profile and cars in the app at any time.

To delete your account and your information, tap "Delete my account" in Profile, Settings. You confirm it is you, and it is done straight away (see "How long we keep it"). If you cannot use the app, or your account is restricted, email us from the address on your account (how: drivenation-za.web.app/delete-account). We may reply to that address to confirm it is you, and we act within 30 days.

If you are unhappy

Please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za

Changes

If this notice changes, the new version will be in the app.