“Garbage Truck — Live Tracker” (the “Service”, “we”, “us”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and how you can delete it, across our website, iOS app and Android app.
This is the English version of our Privacy Policy and it is the version that applies to all languages other than Traditional Chinese (台灣正體). A Traditional Chinese version is available at garbagetruck.tw/privacy. The Service is designed primarily for users in Taiwan and follows Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act, Apple App Store privacy requirements, and the Google Play User Data policy. This policy does not replace the privacy policies of the App Store, Google Play, the iOS/Android system permission prompts, or any third-party service.
1. Scope
- The website garbagetruck.tw and all of its pages.
- The “Garbage Truck — Live Tracker” iOS app (App Store).
- The “Garbage Truck — Live Tracker” Android app (Google Play, including open and internal test builds).
It does not cover third-party websites, map services or government sites we link to.
2. Who we are and how to contact us
The Service is operated by the Garbage Truck — Live Tracker team, which is the controller of the personal data described here. For any privacy question, to exercise your rights, or to request deletion of your data, email us:
Email:
hello@garbagetruck.tw
3. Data we collect
The Service requires no account or sign-up. We never ask for your name, national ID, phone number or payment details. The categories we do handle are:
| Category | Examples | Purpose | Does it leave your device? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location data | Approximate or precise location you grant through iOS or Android, plus any address or pin you enter manually. | Show nearby trucks, collection points, routes, estimated arrival times and arrival reminders. | Processed on-device wherever possible. Coordinates may be sent to our service or a data source to return nearby results; they are not linked to your identity and are not retained long-term. |
| App settings | Reminder times, saved collection points, custom pins, language and preferences. | Personalised lookups, notifications and general usability. | Stored on your device; not uploaded unless you choose to send it. |
| Notification & device data | Notification permission state, push token, device model, OS version, app version, language and region. | Deliver notifications, troubleshoot issues, maintain compatibility and service quality. | Push tokens and basic device data are sent to our push provider so notifications can be delivered. |
| Usage & diagnostics | Screen and page views, button taps, feature interactions, crash and error logs, performance data, coarse region inferred from IP. | Understand usage, improve features, detect faults and security incidents. | Yes — sent to analytics and crash-reporting providers, used in aggregated or de-identified form. |
| Contact & feedback | Your email address, message content, screenshots or problem descriptions you send us. | Answer questions, provide support, improve the Service, keep necessary records. | Yes — you send it to us directly. |
| Android waitlist | The email address and optional feedback you submit through the “join the beta / waitlist” form on our website. | Notify you when the Android version launches or opens for testing, and take your feature requests into account. | Yes — stored in a Google Sheet we control. |
We do not collect contacts, call logs, SMS, photos, health data, biometrics, or a list of the other apps installed on your device, and we do not use advertising identifiers for cross-app tracking.
4. Where the data comes from
- Data you give us: feedback emails, the waitlist form, saved locations, reminder settings.
- Data the operating system or browser provides with your permission: location, notifications, device information.
- Technical records generated automatically by the app and website: usage statistics, error logs, security logs.
- Public sources such as Taiwan government open data and announcements from city/county governments and environmental protection bureaus. This is generally not your personal data, but it is combined with your query location to show nearby collection information.
5. How we use it
- Provide truck locations, collection points, routes, schedules and on-time/delayed status.
- Send arrival, schedule-change and service-notice reminders according to your settings.
- Keep the app and website secure, prevent abuse, fix errors and improve performance.
- Analyse usage to understand which features are needed and improve the product.
- Respond to your questions and keep necessary support records.
- Comply with the law, lawful requests from authorities, dispute resolution and protection of rights.
We do not use your location or usage data for advertising, personalised ads or cross-app tracking, and we do not sell or rent your personal data.
6. Android permissions (Google Play)
The Android app requests the following permissions only to power the matching feature. You can revoke any of them at any time in Settings → Apps → Permissions; the related feature will stop working, but the rest of the app will continue to function.
| Permission | Why we ask | Required? |
|---|---|---|
Location (approximate / precise)ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION / ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION |
Find collection points and trucks near you and compute distance and estimated arrival. Precise location is used for street- and alley-level accuracy. | No — you can pick a location manually instead. |
Background locationACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION |
Requested only if you turn on arrival reminders that need to work while the app is closed, so we can tell whether a truck is approaching the place you selected. The location is used solely to produce the reminder you asked for. | No — without it you can still use fixed-location and time-based reminders. |
NotificationsPOST_NOTIFICATIONS (Android 13+) |
Deliver collection reminders, truck-approaching alerts and service notices. | No. |
Alarms & foreground serviceSCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM / foreground service |
Fire reminders at the exact time you set, and keep live tracking updated while you have deliberately started it. | No. |
NetworkINTERNET / ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE |
Fetch collection data, map tiles and content updates. | Yes. |
What we declare in the Google Play Data safety section is consistent with this policy. If you spot a discrepancy, please tell us so we can correct it.
7. iOS permissions
On iOS, location (while-in-use or always), notifications, Live Activities and widgets all require your consent in the system dialog and can be changed at any time under Settings → Privacy & Security. Without location or notification permission you can still search manually, but nearby lookups, auto-location and live reminders will not work.
8. Third parties and recipients
We do not sell your personal data. To run, maintain and analyse the Service we may use the following providers, limited to what is necessary:
- Google Play services and Google Play Console — distribution, updates, test tracks, crash and ANR diagnostics (Android Vitals).
- Firebase (Google) — may be used for push notifications (Cloud Messaging), crash reporting (Crashlytics) and usage analytics to maintain service quality.
- Apple, the App Store and iOS system services — app downloads, Smart App Banner, push notifications, system permissions, crash diagnostics.
- Google Analytics 4 — website traffic, events and usage analysis.
- Vercel (hosting and analytics) and Cloudflare (content delivery and data services) — website deployment, media and data delivery, performance and traffic statistics.
- Google Apps Script and Google Sheets — receiving and storing the Android waitlist form entries.
- Email and support tools — receiving and replying to your messages.
- Taiwan government open data and official announcement sources — collection information and source attribution.
These providers process data under their own policies and may be located outside Taiwan (for example in the United States or the EU). Where we engage a processor, we require protection measures broadly equivalent to this policy.
9. International transfers
Because those providers' servers may sit outside Taiwan, some of your data (for example diagnostic logs, push tokens or a waitlist email address) may be transferred to and stored in other countries. We choose providers that offer appropriate safeguards and transfer only what is necessary.
10. Security
We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures, including:
- HTTPS/TLS encryption for all traffic between the app or website and our services and third parties.
- Keeping settings, saved locations and preferences on your device wherever possible, so that little personal data sits on a server.
- Least-privilege access control for people and services that can reach the data.
- Periodic review of provider configuration and access logs.
No method of internet transmission or electronic storage is completely secure. If a data incident occurs that may affect your rights, we will notify you and take remedial steps as required by applicable law.
11. Retention
- On-device reminders, saved locations and preferences remain on your device until you delete them, reset the app, or uninstall it.
- Waitlist email addresses and feedback are kept until the Android launch notification has been sent or until you ask us to delete them, whichever is earlier, and in any case no longer than 24 months.
- Support and feedback emails are kept for as long as needed to handle the request, improve the Service or resolve a dispute.
- Analytics, diagnostic and security logs follow the provider's retention policy (typically up to 14 months) and are used in aggregated or de-identified form wherever possible.
- Data we must keep for legal, accounting, audit or dispute-related reasons is kept for the required period.
12. How to delete your data
The Service has no accounts, so there is no account to delete. You can remove your data as follows:
- On-device data: clear your saved locations and reminders inside the app, or simply uninstall it. Uninstalling removes the settings, saved locations and cached data stored on your device.
- Permissions and identifiers: revoke location and notification permissions in iOS/Android settings to stop further collection. On Android you can also reset or delete your advertising ID under Settings → Google → Ads.
- Server-side data (waitlist entries, support emails): email hello@garbagetruck.tw with the subject “Data deletion request” and the email address you used. We will complete the request and reply within 30 days.
- Website cookies: clear this site's cookies and local storage in your browser, or reopen the cookie settings on this page and turn analytics cookies off.
If data has been anonymised or aggregated, or must be retained on legal or legitimate grounds (accounting, audit, security records), we may be unable to delete it entirely — we will tell you why and what is retained.
13. Cookies and similar technologies
Our website uses cookies, browser storage, analytics tags and similar technologies to keep the site working, measure traffic, and understand downloads and interactions. You can block or delete cookies in your browser, though some features or statistics may be affected.
On your first visit we show a cookie banner: necessary cookies are always on so the site can function; analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) are on by default and you can switch to “necessary only” at any time. If you open this page inside an in-app browser, the banner is suppressed and handled by the app instead. You can reopen the cookie settings whenever you like.
The apps themselves do not use web cookies for advertising or tracking.
14. Children
The Service is not directed at children and is not listed in the Google Play “Families” programme. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 (or the age set by local law). Minors should use the Service with the consent or supervision of a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has provided us personal data without proper consent, contact us and we will delete it promptly.
15. Your rights
Under Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act you may ask us to:
- confirm and review your personal data;
- provide a copy;
- supplement or correct it;
- stop collecting, processing or using it;
- delete it.
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable law, you may also have rights to object to or restrict processing and to data portability. To exercise any of these, email hello@garbagetruck.tw. We may need information to verify your identity so data is not disclosed to the wrong person. We respond within 30 days.
16. Government data and collection information
The Service uses Taiwan government open data, announcements from the Ministry of Environment, city and county governments, environmental protection bureaus and other public sources. This information can change due to local policy, traffic, weather, staffing, vehicle scheduling or updated notices. Actual collection times and rules are always determined by the local government, environmental protection bureau, cleaning team or on-site notice.
17. Changes to this policy
We may revise this policy when the Service changes, the law changes, a provider changes, or operational needs require it. Updates are published on this page with a new “Last updated” date. For significant changes we will give notice on the website, in the app or by other reasonable means.
18. Governing law
This policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of China (Taiwan). If any provision conflicts with mandatory law, that provision yields to the law and the remainder stays in effect.
See also: Terms of Service · 台灣正體版本：隱私政策
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