Privacy policy

This privacy policy governs your use of the RIMTO Rider software application (“Application”), created by the University of Michigan for use on a mobile device. The Application allows users to make on-demand travel requests.

What information does the Application obtain and how is it used? – This Application will record the origin and destination of your trip, your GPS locations when making a request or arriving at a stop, the vehicles that have served your request and all relative timestamps. This data will be used to improve the application. The purpose of collecting this data is to investigate the travel patterns of the members of the University of Michigan in an effort to understand how this new transit service modifies mobility patterns.

User Provided Information –Registration with us is optional. Registration is necessary in order to be able to use the basic features of the Application. When you register with us and use the Application, you generally provide: (a) your name and (b) email address. We may also use the information you provided us to contact you from time to ask follow-up questions or inform you of upcoming survey opportunities.

Automatically Collected Information – In addition, the Application may collect certain information automatically, such as the type of mobile device you use, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, and information about the way you use the Application.

Does the Application collect precise real time location information of the device? – This application does collect precise information about the location of your device when making a request or arriving at a stop. We use your location information to understand where and when you are making your request and arriving at the corresponding stop. You may at any time opt-out from further allowing us to have access to your location data by changing the settings of the RITMO rider app: this will not disable the app but just remove some specific features.

Do third parties see and/or have access to information obtained by the Application? – We may disclose User Provided and Automatically Collected Information: as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process; when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request; and in a privacy preserving (differentially private) fashion with our research collaborators who do not have an independent use of the information we disclose to them, and have agreed to adhere to the rules set forth in this privacy statement.

Opt-out of all information collection by uninstalling the Application – You can stop all collection of information by the Application easily by uninstalling the Application. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your mobile device or via the mobile application marketplace or network.

Data Retention Policy, Managing Your Information – We will retain User Provided data for as long as you use the Application and for a reasonable time thereafter. If you’d like us to delete User Provided Data that you have provided via the Application, please contact us at ritmo.support@umich.edu and we will respond in a reasonable time. Please note that some or all of the User Provided Data may be required in order for the Application to function properly, and we may be required to retain certain information by law.

Children – We do not use the Application to knowingly solicit data from or market to children under the age of 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with information without their consent, he or she should contact us at ritmo.support@umich.edu. We will delete such information from our files within a reasonable time.

Security – We are concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. We provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect information we process and maintain. For example, we limit access to this information to authorized employees and contractors who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve our Application. Please be aware that, although we endeavor to provide reasonable security for information we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.

Changes – This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time for any reason. We will notify you of any changes to our Privacy Policy by posting the new Privacy Policy here.You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes.

Your Consent – By using the Services, you are consenting to our processing of User Provided and Automatically Collection information as set forth in this Privacy Policy now and as amended by us. “Processing,” means using cookies on a computer/hand held device or using or touching information in any way, including, but not limited to, collecting, storing, deleting, using, combining and disclosing information, all of which activities will take place in the United States. If you reside outside the U.S. your information will be transferred to the U.S., and processed and stored there under U.S. privacy standards. By using the Application and providing information to us, you consent to such transfer to, and processing in, the US.

Contact us – If you have any questions regarding privacy while using the Application, or have questions about our practices, please contact us via email at ritmo.support@umich.edu..