Who we are
Souboul Esselam is a ride-hailing app that connects passengers with nearby drivers in Mauritania. This page explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and how to get rid of it.
What we collect
- Your phone number — this is your identity with us. Signing in is a phone number and a WhatsApp code. There is no password.
- Your name — shown to the driver who accepts your ride, so they know who they are collecting.
- Your location — for your pickup point, finding nearby drivers, and working out the route and fare. It is read only while you are using the app. We do not track you when it is closed.
- Your photo — entirely optional, and uploaded by you.
- Your ride history — pickup, destination, fare and date.
What we do not collect
- We do not ask for your email address. Your account is created against an internal address derived from your phone number; nothing is ever sent to it.
- No financial data whatsoever. Fares are paid in cash directly to the driver, so no card number passes through us and no payment processor is involved.
- No access to your contacts, messages or files.
Who we share it with
- The driver who accepts your ride: your name, location and phone number — during the ride only, because they need them to reach you.
- Google Maps Platform: pickup and destination coordinates, to compute the route, distance and time.
- Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): to deliver ride notifications to your phone.
- WhatsApp (Meta): your phone number, for the sign-in code alone.
- We sell your data to no one, share it with no advertiser, and use it for no advertising.
Specific to drivers
- In addition to the above, a driver provides when applying:
- Licence number, photographs of both sides of the national ID, and a face photograph — to verify that whoever is driving is who they claim to be, which protects passengers.
- Vehicle details: type, model, plate and colour.
- These documents are seen by our review team only. No passenger and no other driver can see them; they sit in a private store that requires administrative permission to read.
Your location while working — read this carefully
- While you are Online, Souboul Esselam collects your vehicle’s location even when the app is closed or the screen is off.
- It is used for three things only: showing your car to nearby passengers so requests reach you, letting a passenger watch you approach after you accept, and calculating distance and fare (and resolving a dispute if one arises).
- Collection stops the moment you go Offline. We never collect your location while you are offline.
- The recorded trail is erased automatically after 14 days.
- We do not sell your location or share it with any advertiser. You may decline the permission and keep working; the only effect is that you disappear from the map once the screen sleeps.
Your wallet
- We keep your balance, your commission history, and the top-up requests you file, including the transfer receipt you attach.
- An account cannot be deleted while the balance is negative — that is, while commission is owed. Settle first, then delete.
Where it is kept and how it is protected
- On servers we run ourselves, not on a third-party platform.
- Every connection between your phone and our server is TLS-encrypted.
- The database enforces row-level security: an account can read only what belongs to it, even if the app asks for more.
- Sign-in codes are stored hashed and salted — unreadable even from inside the database — and expire in five minutes.
How long we keep it
- For as long as your account exists, to operate the service.
- Driver location trails are erased automatically after 14 days.
Your rights
Access, correction, deletion and objection — write to us and we reply within 48 working hours.
Deleting your account
- In the app: Settings → Delete account. Or write to us from the account’s number.
- Removed immediately and irreversibly: your name, phone number, photo and sign-in identity. You will not be able to sign in again.
- Kept: receipts for past rides — date, distance and fare — because they are an accounting record belonging to two people, you and the driver. They carry nothing that identifies you.
- Deletion is refused during a ride in progress, because someone is waiting at the other end of it.
Children
The service is not directed at anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes to this policy
Anything material will be published here with its date, and flagged inside the app.