Privacy Policy

HALLT Ltd · Company number 17349811 · Suite A, 82 James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE · Last updated: 16 October 2026 · Contact: info@hallt.co.uk

This Privacy Policy explains how HALLT Ltd (“HALLT”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, stores, and shares personal data when you use www.hallt.co.uk and the HALLT mobile applications (passenger, driver, and related admin tools).

HALLT is an electronic hail platform for licensed Hackney carriage (ply-for-hire) services.

App users also accept our full Terms of Service in the app (including a data-protection section). If wording conflicts for contract purposes, the in-app Terms version you accepted applies; this page is the public privacy notice for the website and stores (Google Play / App Store).

1. Who we are (data controller)

Data controller (under UK GDPR): HALLT Ltd
Company number: 17349811
Registered office: Suite A, 82 James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE
Email: info@hallt.co.uk
Website: https://www.hallt.co.uk

“Data controller” is a UK data-protection term. It means HALLT Ltd is the organisation legally responsible for personal data processed in the HALLT apps and on this website (deciding why and how that information is used).

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email info@hallt.co.uk. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.

2. This website

The marketing site is a simple static site. You do not need an account to browse it. If you email us, we use your email address and message content to reply and manage enquiries.

Hosting may generate standard technical logs (for example IP address, browser type, pages requested, timestamps) for security, abuse prevention, and reliability.

3. What data we process in the apps

Depending on whether you are a passenger or a driver, we may process:

• Identity and contact: name, email, phone number; for drivers, legal first and last name where collected (for verification and compliance — display name shown to passengers may differ).
• Passenger mobile number: used for one-time passcode (OTP) sign-in and account security. It is not shown to drivers and is not used for marketing. You may change it while signed in by verifying a code sent to the new number. If you can no longer use your registered mobile and cannot sign in, HALLT is not obliged to rebind a new number to that account. What happens to that number when the account is closed is in section 9.
• Account and security: authentication identifiers, session IDs (single-device session where used), and optional app lock, which uses the phone’s own unlock. Driver email sign-up may keep legal/display names on the device only until email is verified. After the email is verified, a new driver may need to request access before they can finish signup: we send the verified email and the legal name they entered to HALLT administrators, who may approve or decline. Until approved, they cannot start driver verification or go For Hire. Incomplete driver sign-ups that never complete email verification may be removed automatically after 24 hours (Auth account cleanup).
• Profile: photo and display details you provide. Passenger photos may be held as pending review until HALLT admin approves them for drivers to see on hails. A rejected passenger photo is removed from the profile and deleted from storage. Only a photo already approved, if you have one, remains for you, for admin, and for drivers.
• Optional customer trust verification (passengers, including dual-mode drivers hailing as passengers):
  • Linking Google (Android) or Apple (iOS) to your HALLT login. We store link flags. Hailing does not depend on it.
  • Optional government photo ID image and a live selfie, pending and approved copies, and submission timestamps. An administrator looks at the photos.
  • Optional profile photo. An administrator looks at the photo before drivers see it, and may mark it checked.
  • Trust badge stamps and a count of completed real hails copied onto hail records (section 6).
• Location: live or recent GPS when using map, hail, For Hire, trip, or taxi rank / presence. Background location is for drivers while For Hire or on a rank (so hails and rank presence still work with the screen off). After a driver accepts a hail, a live passenger pin (and short trail samples) may be written while the passenger’s HALLT app is running so the driver can see if they wander; if the passenger force-quits HALLT, that pin freezes at the last update. If you use trip share, live taxi coordinates for that trip may also be published to a temporary follow link you create (see section 6A).
• Hail and trip records: pickup, destination, times, status, cancellations (including cancel reasons such as intentional delay / non-progress towards pickup), passenger/luggage/pet/accessibility notes, estimates, meet confirmation, short pickup meet / verification codes where used for pickup integrity, destination-change answers, and related operational records.
• Live location trails after a driver has accepted a hail, while the passenger’s HALLT app is running, for safety, integrity, and review.
• Driver approach samples: after a hail is accepted, the app may buffer short GPS samples of the driver’s path towards pickup. Those samples are ephemeral and are discarded when the passenger is on board or the hail ends normally. They are kept with the hail / conduct report only if the passenger cancels citing intentional delay or similar non-progress. An administrator reviews the report. Confirmed delay misconduct may be recorded on the driver account.
• Device and technical data: device type, app version, push tokens, and diagnostics — not an advertising ID. We also use Firebase App Check (Play Integrity on Android, DeviceCheck on iOS) so requests can be shown to come from a genuine HALLT install. We may refuse Authentication, database, storage, and Cloud Function requests that fail that check. That attestation is for security and abuse prevention, not advertising.
• In-app trip messages after a hail is accepted (text, timestamps, and sender role).
• Support threads with HALLT administrators (two-way with you, or moderated three-way between admin, driver, and passenger). Includes message text, timestamps, who can see each message, moderation status (for example pending until admin releases a reply to the other party), status notices, and related push/in-app alerts while a thread is open.
• Trip-share records when a passenger creates a safety follow link (section 6A).
• Favourites and history you choose to store in the app.
• Optional public pickup-place names you type when suggesting a meet (for example “The Kings Head”). HALLT administrators review those suggestions before they may become a public catalogue place. Only text you actually type in that flow is sent — not a bubble or catalogue row you merely confirmed.
• Reliability / safety signals: for example cancel-after-accept counts, blocks between users, identity or conduct reports (including intentional-delay / non-progress reports), and related admin confirm/reject outcomes.
• Accessibility and party notes you choose to provide for a hail (for example wheelchair-accessible vehicle request, assistance dog, passenger count). These are used for matching, capacity, and the driver’s equality duties.

Drivers — additional data

• Licensing and vehicle documents and images (badge, licences, insurance, plates, vehicle details, capacity, accessibility flags, licensing authority), including where a face crop from a badge photo is used as a profile image.
• On-device text recognition (OCR) results used to check documents / plates against stored fields.
• Council / public register checks: where available, automated or assisted lookups against published hackney / taxi licensing registers (and related outcomes, timestamps, and messages) to support verification and ongoing compliance before or while For Hire.
• Driver photo: the approved hackney badge photo, or a profile photo the driver has confirmed, shown to the passenger so they can see who is collecting them.
• Rank presence, vehicle permits, and related keys.
• District driver board: operational notices posted by drivers within a licensing district (message text, district, timestamps, author identifiers) and optional notification preferences (for example sound). HALLT administrators may monitor board content for safety and abuse prevention.
• Driver Assist (optional, off by default): preference flags; when a driver activates Driver Assist, activation location (map pin), active/cancel status, limited identity and vehicle card fields shared to nearby drivers and HALLT admin (for example name, plate, vehicle colour, profile photo where available), approximate distance metadata, related push notification records, and a short operational audit. See section 6B.
• Platform fee and balance records for amounts the driver owes HALLT.
• Offer outcomes: whether a hail offer was accepted, rejected, timed out, completed, or cancelled. The platform fee on a completed job is a flat 10% of the fee basis.

4. Why we process data (purposes)

• Provide and secure the Application and accounts
• Facilitate and match electronic hails; show necessary info to the other party
• Driver verification, licensing support, council-register checks, and compliance
• Rank / district operations and For Hire availability
• District driver operational messaging and related notifications
• Pickup integrity (including meet confirmation, short meet / verification codes where used, and optional public pickup-place suggestions you type)
• Fraud, abuse, identity, and safety prevention
• Customer support and operational communications (including push notifications, admin inbox messages, and support threads — including moderated three-way conversations)
• Trip safety share: providing a temporary follow view to people the passenger chooses to invite
• Optional passenger trust verification and showing limited HALLT badges / completed-hail signals to drivers on offers and trips
• Optional Driver Assist: alerting a limited set of nearby HALLT drivers (and logging for HALLT admin) when a driver requests peer help
• Driver platform fee accounting, settlement, and offer outcomes
• Legal compliance, tax, disputes, and enforcement of our Terms
• Improve reliability and product quality

5. Lawful bases (UK GDPR)

We rely on one or more of:

• Contract — to provide the service you signed up for (account, hail, driver tools).
• Legitimate interests — security, fraud/abuse prevention, product integrity, limited service improvement (balanced against your rights).
• Legal obligation — where law requires retention or disclosure.
• Consent — where required for certain device permissions or optional features (you can withdraw permissions in device settings; core features may then stop working). Optional Driver Assist is enabled and activated by the driver; they can turn the preference off and cancel an active alert in the app.

Optional passenger photo ID and live selfie (section 3). Those photos are ordinary personal data. Because the check is optional, we rely on your consent when you submit them. You can remove the ID shield in the app after confirming, or ask us to clear a pending upload via in-app support or info@hallt.co.uk.

Automated integrity decisions. Some availability and safety decisions are applied automatically or semi-automatically (for example document expiry turning For Hire off, unpaid platform balance holds, or district licensing gates). An offer that times out can set the driver Unavailable. Where the product provides a path, you may contact HALLT or use in-app support / admin review. These measures protect passengers, other drivers, and licensing integrity.

6. Who sees what

• Passengers may see limited driver/vehicle info needed to identify the correct taxi (e.g. display name, photo, plate, vehicle description).
• Drivers may see limited passenger info needed for the hail (e.g. name, approved profile photo, pickup, destination, party notes). Drivers may also see optional badges: “Google linked”, “Apple linked”, “ID Verified”, and “Face verified”. Where the ID is verified and the profile photo is marked, the hail may also show “HALLT shield — ID + profile photo matched.” A successful-hails count is shown where the app displays it.
• HALLT administrators may review documents, trips, reports, support threads, and related records for onboarding, safety, fees, and support. In moderated three-way support, a party’s message may be visible only to admin until admin approves or edits a release for the other party.
• Trip-share invitees (anyone who opens a follow link the passenger created) may see the limited trip and vehicle information described in section 6A — without needing a HALLT account.
• Nearby drivers receiving Driver Assist may see the limited driver card and location information described in section 6B when another driver activates Driver Assist. HALLT administrators may also see Driver Assist activations for safety and abuse review.

6A. Trip share (safety follow links)

The HALLT app may let a passenger share an active trip by creating a temporary web link (for example on hallt.co.uk). The passenger chooses who to send the link to (for example via the device share sheet). The link is a capability: anyone who receives it can open the follow page until the trip ends, the passenger stops sharing, the link expires (typically within a few hours), or the account is closed. After stop, expiry, or closure the follow page no longer serves live trip data (a short end screen may still appear). The passenger can create that link only once the driver has started the trip.

Invitees may typically see:

• Trip status (for example on trip, completed, or cancelled)
• Vehicle description (for example colour / type) where available
• Vehicle registration and hackney plate identifiers (to verify the correct taxi)
• Pickup and drop-off labels and map pins (the stated journey places — not a live track of the passenger)
• Live or recent taxi map position (driver GPS) while the share is active — not the passenger’s live GPS pin

Invitees do not receive the passenger’s phone number through the share link, and do not see the driver’s display name or profile photo. The follow page is not a full passenger account. Passengers should only share with people they trust. Misuse of trip share (for example harassment or unlawful tracking) is prohibited under our Terms.

Lawful basis: for creating and maintaining a trip share we rely primarily on the passenger’s consent (they choose to create and send the link), together with our legitimate interests in offering a safety feature, with safeguards (temporary links, the taxi fields listed above, and public read stopped when sharing ends). Taxi location, vehicle identifiers, and stated pickup / drop-off labels and pins appear on a share because they are necessary for the safety feature the passenger initiated for that hail.

6B. Driver Assist (driver-to-driver safety alert)

The HALLT app may offer an optional Driver Assist control for licensed drivers. Driver Assist is off by default. A driver must enable it in Preferences and then deliberately activate an alert (hold-to-send with confirmation) while on shift (For Hire, Unavailable mid-shift, or on an active HALLT trip).

When activated, HALLT may notify a limited number of other nearby HALLT drivers.

Recipients may typically see:

• Driver display or legal name
• Vehicle registration / plate and vehicle colour where available
• Profile photo where available
• Map pin at the Driver Assist activation location
• Approximate distance from the recipient

The alert uses the map pin taken at activation. The activator may cancel when safe. When they cancel, HALLT notifies the same nearby drivers that they are OK, with the name and plate where those were shown. HALLT may also log an internal admin alert for operational and safety review. In an emergency, call 999 (UK).

Lawful basis: we rely on the driver’s consent (enable Driver Assist and activate an alert) and/or our legitimate interests in offering a peer safety tool for drivers, with safeguards (opt-in, confirmation, limited fields, limited recipients, cancel, short retention, misuse may be restricted under our Terms).

7. Sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data.

We use service providers who process data on our instructions, including:

• Google Firebase / Google Cloud (authentication, database, storage, cloud functions, hosting, crash/diagnostics where enabled, and App Check / Play Integrity so we can tell genuine app traffic from abuse) — typically europe-west2 and related Google infrastructure. Apple DeviceCheck is used on iOS for the same App Check purpose.
• Google Maps / location services for maps and geolocation features.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging / Apple Push Notification service for push notifications.
• Stripe — for driver platform fee settlement (card Checkout). The passenger pays the driver for the journey.
• On-device machine learning libraries (for example Google ML Kit for OCR / face detection bridges) so a document or badge photo can be read and framed on your phone. Face and document images are processed for HALLT’s verification purposes as described in this Policy. Google’s ML Kit terms also allow ML Kit to contact Google for things like bug fixes, model updates, and hardware compatibility, and to send performance and utilisation metrics about the ML Kit APIs in the app (not a substitute for HALLT’s privacy notice for your account data). See Google’s ML Kit terms and privacy materials for that metrics processing.

We may also share data with licensing authorities or law enforcement where required or permitted by law, and with professional advisers under confidentiality.

Data may be processed outside the UK by infrastructure providers subject to appropriate safeguards where required (for example standard contractual clauses or equivalent).

8. Location, camera, and other permissions

Location is central to hail, matching, driver district rules, ranks, and trip integrity. Drivers who go For Hire or take trips may need location (including background) so the service works when the app is not in the foreground. Passengers use location while HALLT is open (pickup and, after accept, a live pin). If you turn off necessary permissions, those features may be unavailable.

Camera and photos are used for profile images (including passenger photo review), driver licensing documents, and plate/badge checks. Notifications deliver hail offers, trip updates, support-thread alerts, Driver Assist peer alerts, and operational alerts. Optional device biometrics only unlock the phone or app lock.

9. Retention

We keep data for as long as needed to provide the service and for legal, accounting, licensing-support, safety, and dispute purposes, then delete or anonymise where practicable. Current periods (a legal hold can keep data longer):

• Active account profile / login: while the account is open, then removed or anonymised on closure subject to the carve-outs below.
• Unverified driver email sign-up: Firebase Auth users created for driver registration who never verify their email may be deleted automatically after 24 hours; any temporary on-device signup details are discarded with that path.
• Optional customer ID and selfie: while a check is pending; after admin approve, the full government photo-ID page (passport or driving licence image) is kept for 30 days for dispute and abuse checks, then deleted. The live ID-selfie is kept while an ID-checked badge or a checked profile-photo badge remains active. It is deleted on badge revoke paths where designed and on account closure.
• Hail / trip, fee ledger, identity/conduct reports, and journey evidence: longer retention where needed for disputes, tax/accounting, safety patterns, and licensing-support evidence.
• Live passenger pin during a hail: after a driver accepts, while the passenger’s HALLT app is running; the live subdocument is deleted four hours after complete or cancel.
• Completed passenger trail snapshot: kept with the hail for seven days if the trip was uneventful, or ninety days if the complete was far from the stated destination, the driver confirmed completing away, or a passenger report is filed on that hail (a report in the first week extends the hold to ninety days).
• Driver approach samples: discarded when the trip starts or the hail ends without a qualifying delay cancel; if retained with an intentional-delay report, kept with hail, conduct, and dispute records for admin review, for the same period as the other journey evidence on that hail.
• Trip-share records: while the share is active (trip ongoing or short TTL), then deactivated on complete/cancel/revoke/expiry or account closure; residual records only as needed for security, abuse prevention, and a short operational audit.
• Driver licensing document images (badge, driver licence, vehicle licence, insurance, and live plate-check photos): while the driver account is active for verification and compliance, and for six years after account closure, then deleted. Profile photos and passenger ID / selfie uploads are removed on standard closure (selfie also on ID-badge revoke).
• Driver Assist records: while the alert is active; after cancel or resolution, residual records only as needed for a short operational and admin audit, security, and abuse prevention.
• Phone registry: after a standard Customer account deletion, the binding for that mobile is removed so the number can open a new account. Trips stay on the closed account. After a ban or an under-18 closure, or where the number was already locked, the binding stays locked until HALLT unlocks it. Driver email logins are not a mobile reopen path.
• Support thread messages: for as long as needed to resolve the matter and for safety/dispute follow-up, aligned with general support and trip retention.
• Stripe payment metadata (drivers): as required for accounting and as retained by Stripe under their terms.

Account closure (in-app “Delete account”): closing the account follows the list above. An outstanding driver platform balance is cleared before self-serve deletion.

10. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you may have rights to:

• Access your personal data
• Rectification of inaccurate data
• Erasure (subject to lawful exceptions, including retention needs above)
• Restriction of processing
• Data portability (where applicable)
• Object to certain processing based on legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent where processing is consent-based

Contact info@hallt.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

11. Children

HALLT accounts are for users aged 18 or over (or older if your jurisdiction requires). When you accept the terms you confirm that you are 18 or over. HALLT stores that confirmation with your acceptance.

12. Security

We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk (access controls, encrypted transport, least-privilege admin tools, verification for drivers). No system is perfectly secure; please protect your device and login.

13. International users

HALLT is designed for use in the United Kingdom under UK taxi / Hackney rules in supported licensing areas. If you access the service from elsewhere, UK law and this Policy still describe how we handle data for the service we operate.

14. Changes

We may update this Policy as the product evolves. The “Last updated” date will change. Material changes to the in-app Terms may require re-acceptance in the Application.

15. Contact

HALLT Ltd
Company number: 17349811
Registered office: Suite A, 82 James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE
Email: info@hallt.co.uk
Web: https://www.hallt.co.uk