Michigan Bus (the “App”) is an independent transit-information app for the University of Michigan bus system. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the University of Michigan.
This Privacy Policy explains how the App’s operator (“we,” “us,” or “our”) handles information when you use the App. It applies to the App and the supporting Michigan Bus services that link to this policy.
Summary
- You do not need an account to use the App.
- The App does not display third-party advertising and does not sell personal information.
- Your device location, saved places, and destination history stay on your device. We do not receive your device’s location.
- We receive pseudonymous app-usage and crash diagnostics associated with a randomly generated installation identifier.
- If you start a Live Activity, we temporarily receive the information needed to send its updates through Apple Push Notification service.
- If you submit feedback, we receive the message and any contact email you choose to provide.
- Destination searches use Apple’s MapKit services and are subject to Apple’s privacy practices.
Information Handled Only on Your Device
Device location
If you grant location permission, the App uses your precise device location to center the map, determine whether you are near a bus stop, and, when authorized, detect that you have left the area of a stop connected to an active Live Activity. Depending on the permission you choose, iOS may allow this stop-exit detection while the App is not open.
The App processes your device location on your device. We do not transmit your device’s location to our servers. A Live Activity registration may include the selected bus stop’s public coordinates, but those coordinates describe the stop—not your device.
You can deny or revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings. Core map and transit-information features remain available without location access, although location-dependent features will not work.
Saved places, destination history, and preferences
Saved places—including a place you label “Home”—may include a name, address, aliases, and coordinates. Recent destination selections, route order, route-planning preferences, tutorial state, and other settings are also stored locally on your device. We do not receive the names, addresses, aliases, or coordinates of your saved places or destination history.
Some usage events tell us only that the number of saved places changed; they do not include the saved places themselves.
You can remove saved places in the App and clear certain local settings using the App’s reset controls. Deleting the App also removes its ordinary local app data, subject to iOS backup and restoration behavior.
Pending diagnostics
Usage events awaiting delivery and a crash report from the prior session may be stored temporarily on your device. After a successful delivery, the App removes the delivered events from its local queue.
Information We Collect
In this policy, “collect” means that information is transmitted from your device and retained by us or a service provider for longer than necessary merely to complete a request.
Usage analytics and installation information
The App creates a random installation identifier and stores it in the iOS Keychain. This is not Apple’s advertising identifier, and we do not use it to identify you by name or track you across other companies’ apps or websites. Keychain items can persist across an App deletion and reinstallation, depending on iOS behavior.
The App sends the following pseudonymous information to our server:
- the random installation identifier and random session identifiers;
- event dates and times and session duration;
- App screens viewed and general interaction context;
- bus route identifiers selected;
- whether onboarding was completed;
- search query length, result count, result type, and search source—but not the words you searched for;
- the number of saved places and the kind of change made—but not saved-place names, addresses, aliases, or coordinates;
- non-content error codes and their App source; and
- platform, iOS version, App version and build, general device class, and device type such as iPhone or iPad.
We use this information to understand feature usage, measure reliability, diagnose errors, plan improvements, and operate the service. We do not use it for advertising.
Crash and diagnostic information
After a crash, the App may send a report on the next launch. A report may include the crash type, exception name and reason, signal number, call stack, last App screen, App uptime, available and used memory, thermal state, low-memory warning count, available disk space, and the diagnostic timestamp. It also includes the installation, session, App, operating-system, and general device information described above.
Crash reports are used to identify and fix stability and performance problems. Although these reports are designed to contain technical information rather than content you enter, operating-system-generated crash details can sometimes contain unexpected technical values.
Feedback and optional contact information
If you use the App’s feedback form, we receive the feedback message, the App version and build, the source platform, and submission and review dates. You may also choose to provide an email address if you would like us to contact you about that feedback. Providing an email address is optional, and we use it only to follow up about the feedback you submitted—not for advertising or marketing.
Feedback submissions do not include your device’s location, saved places, destination history, or the App’s analytics installation identifier. Please do not include passwords or other sensitive information in the feedback message.
Live Activity information
If you start a Live Activity, the App sends our server:
- an opaque ActivityKit activity identifier and push token;
- the Apple Push Notification service environment and whether frequent updates are enabled;
- the selected public stop’s identifier, name, member-stop identifiers, and coordinates;
- selected route identifiers and, if you use a vehicle-watch feature, a vehicle and route identifier; and
- related technical settings needed to produce and deliver the Live Activity.
We use this information only to create, update, troubleshoot, and end the Live Activity. Live Activity registrations do not include your device’s location, saved places, destination searches, name, email address, or the App’s analytics installation identifier.
Network and security information
When the App contacts our server, internet infrastructure and hosting providers necessarily process information such as your IP address, request date and time, requested endpoint, and basic connection or error information. This information may be used to deliver requests, maintain security, prevent abuse, troubleshoot failures, and keep the service available. We do not use network information for advertising or to infer your precise location.
Destination Search and Other Apple Services
The App uses Apple MapKit for map display, place autocomplete, and destination search. Search text and related requests are sent from your device to Apple as needed to provide those features. We receive analytics about the length and result count of a search, but not its text. Apple handles information under its own privacy policy, available at apple.com/legal/privacy.
Live Activity updates are delivered through Apple Push Notification service. Apple may process the push token, delivery data, device and account information, and other information necessary to provide its services under its own terms and privacy practices.
How We Use Information
We use collected information to:
- provide current transit data and Live Activity updates;
- maintain, secure, debug, and improve the App and supporting services;
- measure App usage and feature performance;
- review and respond to feedback you choose to submit;
- prevent abuse and protect users, our services, and others;
- respond to support, privacy, or legal requests; and
- comply with law and enforce our agreements.
Where a law requires a legal basis, we process information as necessary to provide features you request, with your consent where required, for our legitimate interests in operating and improving the App where those interests are not overridden by your rights, and to comply with legal obligations.
How We Disclose Information
We may disclose information in the following limited circumstances:
- Service providers. Hosting, infrastructure, security, and technical service providers may process information for us under contractual or other obligations that require privacy and security protections at least as protective as those described in this policy and as required by applicable law.
- Apple services. We use MapKit and Apple Push Notification service as described above.
- Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information if we reasonably believe it is necessary to comply with law or legal process; protect the rights, safety, or property of users, the public, or us; or detect and address fraud, abuse, or security issues.
- Business transfer. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, subject to this policy and applicable law.
- With your direction. We may disclose information when you ask or authorize us to do so.
We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, targeted advertising, or data-broker use. We do not use the App’s information to track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.
The App obtains public transit locations, routes, arrivals, and vehicle data from transit data sources. Our server’s collection of that public operational data is not tied to your identity or installation.
Retention
We retain information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above:
- raw usage events, including crash events, are scheduled for deletion after 7 days;
- per-installation daily usage summaries are scheduled for deletion after 90 days;
- session and installation records are removed after their related retained analytics expire, unless a diagnostic label has been applied by an operator or the record must be kept to complete a deletion, security, or legal process;
- an active Live Activity registration is ordinarily refreshed in 30-minute intervals and removed after the Live Activity ends, is dismissed, becomes invalid, or expires; transient delivery failures may cause it to be retained while a final delivery or removal is retried;
- recent server-side Live Activity delivery events are ordinarily retained for no more than 15 minutes after the associated registration is removed;
- feedback messages and optional contact email addresses are retained only as long as reasonably necessary to review the feedback, respond when requested, improve the App, and meet security or legal obligations; and
- security, infrastructure, and support records are retained according to operational need and the applicable provider’s retention practices.
We may retain information longer when reasonably necessary to comply with law, resolve a dispute, enforce an agreement, investigate abuse, or protect the service. Backup copies may remain for a limited period before being overwritten.
Your Choices and Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a copy of personal information; object to or restrict certain processing; or withdraw consent. You may also have the right to appeal our response or complain to a privacy regulator.
The App does not have user accounts, and analytics, diagnostics, and Live Activity data are associated with random technical identifiers rather than a name or email address. A feedback submission may be associated with an email address only when you voluntarily provide one for follow-up. To make a request, contact us using the privacy contact below. We may ask for information reasonably necessary to locate the relevant installation or feedback data, verify the request, and protect against fraudulent deletion requests. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.
You can also:
- change location access in iOS Settings;
- disable Live Activities in the App or iOS Settings, or dismiss an individual Live Activity;
- submit feedback without an email address if you do not want to be contacted;
- remove saved places and use the App’s reset controls for supported local data; and
- delete the App to stop future collection from that installation.
Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children’s Privacy
The App is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the App, contact us so we can investigate and delete it when appropriate.
United States Availability
The App and supporting services are operated from the United States. The App is offered only through the United States App Store and is not offered in the European Union.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes to the App, our practices, or legal requirements. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice when required by law. Your continued use after an update is subject to the updated policy, but we will obtain consent when required for a new use of information.
Contact Us
Privacy questions and requests should be directed to:
- Julio Casal
- Email: legal@casal.ai