Privacy Policy
Last updated: 3 October 2026
This policy explains how On White Horses Ltd (the company that provides DespatchOS, registered in England & Wales, company number 14366814, registered office 14-15 Southernhay West, Exeter, EX1 1PL) collects, uses, and protects personal data when you use the DespatchOS mobile app or web portal, or visit the DespatchOS website. We are the data controller for the personal data described below.
If you have any questions about this policy or want to exercise your rights, contact us at hello@despatchos.app.
1. Who this policy covers
DespatchOS is used by professional transport operators. The categories of users this policy applies to are:
- Drivers — record shifts, deliveries, vehicle checks, and fuel receipts via the mobile app.
- Managers and operations staff — schedule jobs, review reconciliations, and manage the fleet via the web portal.
- Client and subcontractor administrators — view jobs and invoices for the organisation they are linked to.
The app is intended for use by people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.
2. What we collect and why
| Data category | Examples | Why we need it | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account & identity | Name, email, phone number, role, employer, UTR (sole traders only), VAT number, Companies House number, business address. | To create and manage your account; to issue invoices and self-bills; to satisfy HMRC record-keeping rules. | Contract performance; legal obligation (HMRC). |
| Authentication | Encrypted password hash, login session tokens, push-notification tokens, biometric enrolment flag (the biometric data itself never leaves your device). | To sign you in securely and send you operational notifications. | Contract performance; legitimate interest (security). |
| Location | GPS coordinates captured during your shift (start, end, periodic breadcrumbs every minute while on shift) and at job collection / delivery. | To track shift hours and deliveries, support proof of delivery, and provide route analytics. Background location collection only runs while you have a shift open. | Contract performance; legitimate interest (operational records). |
| Photos and documents | Vehicle walkaround photos, vehicle handover and return photos, proof-of-delivery photos, fuel receipt photos, end-of-day scanner screenshots. | Compliance with DVSA daily-check rules; rental / damage records; financial audit; dispute resolution. | Contract performance; legal obligation (DVSA, HMRC); legitimate interest. |
| Operational data | Job records, route codes, mileage, fuel transactions, payment summaries, driver pay rates, invoice records. | To deliver the service, settle payments, and meet HMRC record-keeping rules. | Contract performance; legal obligation. |
| Device & technical | App version, operating system version, device type, anonymous crash reports. | To diagnose problems and improve the app. | Legitimate interest. |
| Mobile device session | Device model, operating system version, app version, a generated device identifier stored on your device, the IP address used at sign-in, and the sign-in timestamp. | To ensure only one mobile device is signed in to your account at a time. This protects driver-pay accuracy (a single source of truth for shift GPS), prevents fraudulent dual tracking, and supports our audit trail. Signing in on a new device signs out the previous device. | Legitimate interest (fraud prevention, data integrity). |
| Bug reports | The screen you reported from, your description, an optional screenshot. | To investigate and fix issues you raise. | Legitimate interest. |
3. The DespatchOS website
This section covers despatchos.co.uk, despatchos.app and despatchos.com.
Requesting beta access
If you send us the Request beta access form we collect what you type into it: your name, work email, company and, if you choose to give them, your phone number, the size of your fleet, what you use today and your message. We use it only to reply to you about DespatchOS. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in answering an enquiry you have made, and taking steps at your request before entering into a contract. We keep it for as long as we are in contact with you about DespatchOS; you can ask us to delete it at any time.
Counting visits
We count visits to the website ourselves, without cookies and without any third-party analytics. For each page load we record the page, the time, the site that referred you, the type of device and browser, an approximate location (country, region and town) and a shortened form of your IP address with the last part removed. Your full IP address is never stored. To work out the approximate location, the shortened address is sent to an IP-location service (ipapi.co). None of this identifies you, and we do not combine it with a beta request you send.
Links and codes
If you arrive through one of our links or adverts, the code for that link is saved in your browser's local storage for 90 days so that, if you later send us the form, we know which advert it came from. We also keep daily totals of how many times each link was followed. Those totals hold no information about who followed it.
4. Sharing and processors
We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it for advertising. We use the following third-party data processors to run the service. Each one is contractually bound by UK GDPR and processes data only on our instructions:
| Processor | Purpose | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase (Google Cloud) | Authentication, database, file storage, push notifications, hosting. | europe-west2 (London). |
| Anthropic, Inc. | Server-side AI extraction of fuel-receipt and end-of-day scanner data. Photos are processed transiently and not used to train Anthropic models per their commercial terms. | United States. |
| Expo (EAS) | Mobile-app build and over-the-air update infrastructure. | United States. |
| Apple App Store / Google Play | App distribution, crash reports. | Global. |
We also query the following UK government and registry APIs as part of normal operations. These calls send only the minimum identifier required (e.g. a VAT number, a registration plate) and the response is stored on the relevant business record:
- HMRC Check a UK VAT Number API — to verify supplier VAT registration before issuing self-billed invoices.
- DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service — to verify MOT / tax status for fleet vehicles.
- Companies House public register — to confirm subcontractor / client company details.
- postcodes.io — to validate UK postcodes.
Where data is transferred outside the UK (for example to Anthropic in the US, or to Expo / Apple / Google), we rely on the UK addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses for the safeguard. We will provide a copy of the relevant transfer mechanism on request.
5. How long we keep your data
| Data category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Job, invoice, self-bill, and fuel records | 7 years from the relevant tax year-end (HMRC record-keeping rules). |
| Vehicle handover, return, walkaround, and rental records | 7 years (commercial liability + insurance audit). |
| GPS shift breadcrumbs and route trails | 12 months from collection. |
| Authentication tokens and push tokens | While your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account closure. |
| Mobile device session audit log | 24 months from sign-in (kept alongside other audit data for fraud and dispute review). |
| App diagnostic logs and bug reports | 90 days from creation. |
| Account profile (name, contact details, business info) | While your account is active. On closure we retain the minimum required to satisfy our legal obligations, then delete. |
6. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your data (this policy).
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectify inaccurate data.
- Request erasure ("right to be forgotten") subject to our legal record-keeping obligations.
- Restrict or object to processing.
- Receive your data in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, email hello@despatchos.app. We will respond within one calendar month.
7. Security
Personal data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (Google Cloud-managed encryption). Access to personal data inside the company is role-based and audited. Photos and documents are stored under access-controlled paths and served via signed URLs.
8. Cookies and local storage
The web portal uses essential cookies for authentication and session state. The mobile app stores a small amount of data on your device (auth tokens, draft entries when offline, queued uploads). We do not use third-party advertising or analytics cookies. The website sets no cookies at all; it uses your browser's local storage only for the link code described in section 3 and to remember which version of the logo animation to show next.
9. Children
DespatchOS is a workplace tool for licensed commercial drivers and operators. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18, and the service is not directed at children.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect any changes. If the change is material we will notify active users by email or in-app notification.
11. Contact us
On White Horses Ltd
14-15 Southernhay West, Exeter, EX1 1PL
Companies House: 14366814
hello@despatchos.app