Privacy policy

1. About this policy

ParkShark is the app and service responsible for the practices described here. Our privacy contact is support@parkshark.online.

This single policy covers ParkShark on iOS and Android, plus this website and support. Features differ between the current versions, so platform-specific practices are identified below. A feature described for iOS does not imply that Android collects the same data. We will update this policy as features and data practices change.

2. Data we access and use

We use information to provide the features you use, manage your account and bookings where available, respond to support requests, protect the service, and understand app usage where analytics is enabled. Location permission and notification permission are controlled by your device; iOS also provides account privacy preferences.

If you email us, we receive your email address, any name you provide, your message and attachments. Please do not send passwords, payment credentials or unnecessary personal information. Neither current app implements card payment processing. Neither app requests access to your contacts, SMS or microphone.

Android app

Location and maps

With your permission, the app obtains approximate or precise coordinates when the home screen opens and when you tap the current-location button. It centres Google Maps on your position and enables the map’s location layer. Coordinates are passed to the map on your device to display the relevant area. ParkShark does not upload a device-location history to its own server.

Local controls

Search text and date, time, price, distance and availability filter choices are held in temporary app state. These controls do not yet send searches to a parking service or create bookings. This Android version does not create accounts, collect vehicle or profile details, upload photos or send booking notifications.

Google Maps technical data

Google’s Maps SDK collects IP addresses, device and SDK information, a pseudonymous Maps SDK identifier and SDK crash information. Map camera interactions can also be collected. Google uses this data to operate and improve its services. Android has no separate ParkShark analytics or crash-reporting service.

iOS app

Accounts and profiles

Firebase Authentication handles email/password, Apple and Google sign-in, and guest authentication where used. We process an account identifier, authentication status and provider information. Registered profiles can include your display name, email address, optional phone number and sign-in provider profile image. Passwords for email sign-in are processed by Firebase Authentication. Your Apple or Google password is not provided to ParkShark. Account and privacy preferences are stored with your profile.

Parking listings and photos

To publish a space, we store its owner identifier, address and coordinates, title, characteristics, availability, prices, access instructions and the photos you select. Draft information and images can be saved on your device; published information and images are stored through Firebase. Listings and photos are made available to people discovering parking. Public contact details you choose to add are shared to help users contact you. Only include information you intend to disclose in a listing or public profile.

Vehicles and bookings

We store saved vehicle details, including registration, name and type. Bookings record the driver and owner identifiers, parking details, vehicle information, dates, price, status and timestamps. Booking participants receive the information available in the booking experience to arrange and manage the stay. Booking data can reveal where and when you intend to park; it is separate from live device-location data.

Location, search and directions

With location permission, iOS uses your current position for nearby discovery and travel-time estimates. Apple MapKit processes map-area, search and routing requests, including origins and destinations where needed. The parking service receives geographic queries to find listings. When you choose directions in Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze, the selected app receives the parking destination and handles navigation under its own policy.

Notifications

When enabled, push delivery uses Apple notification services and Firebase. Installation identifiers, messaging tokens, account identifier, notification permission state and app version information support routing and registration. Booking email delivery, where activated, uses Firebase functions and Resend, which receive the recipient’s email and booking message content, including parking details, dates, amount and booking reference. Booking links can contain a booking identifier; avoid forwarding them unnecessarily.

Usage analytics

When enabled, Firebase Analytics receives screen and feature events, sign-in method, booking and listing flow results, broad filter summaries and error categories. Events can be associated with your ParkShark account identifier, account state and SDK-generated identifiers and device information. These are used to understand and improve the app. Custom event payloads do not include passwords, raw search text, precise coordinates, email addresses or vehicle registrations. The app configures advertising storage, advertising user data and ad personalisation consent as denied.

iOS privacy preferences: Account → Privacy provides analytics, email and push toggles. New account preferences currently default to enabled; a previously stored analytics refusal is preserved when preferences are first created. Collection is suspended while account preferences load. Push alerts additionally require permission from iOS. Turning analytics off stops subsequent app analytics collection and resets the local analytics identity; it does not itself erase previously transmitted data. These preferences do not disable authentication, bookings, maps or essential service processing.

3. Your location choices

You can deny location permission and browse the map manually. Current-position and nearby travel-time features may then be unavailable. Where supported, use approximate location instead of precise location.

Android: Settings → Apps → ParkShark → Permissions → Location. The app may appear as “park_shark_android” in system settings.

iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → ParkShark. Change access or turn Precise Location off. Manage notifications separately in Settings → Notifications → ParkShark, and manage selected photo access through the system photo picker.

Neither app requests background location tracking for a travel history. Location permission does not control the network and technical data processing needed to deliver maps. Publishing a parking address or creating a booking stores that information even if device location permission is off.

4. Service providers and sharing

Google Maps (Android): supplies the embedded map and processes the technical data described above. See Google’s Privacy Policy and Maps SDK data disclosures.

Google Firebase (iOS): provides authentication, database and image storage, backend functions, messaging and analytics. It processes the corresponding account, listing, vehicle, booking, installation and usage data, together with service-related technical information. See Firebase’s privacy and security information.

Apple (iOS): provides MapKit, location services, Apple sign-in when selected, and push delivery. See Apple’s Privacy Policy and Apple Maps & Privacy. Google sign-in and optional external Google Maps or Waze navigation are governed by the chosen provider’s privacy policy.

Resend and email providers: process booking email delivery where activated, and email providers handle support correspondence. See Resend’s Privacy Policy. Opening a hosted booking link also sends the link identifier and ordinary web-request information to the link’s hosting provider.

Other ParkShark users: receive published listing and public-profile information, and booking details relevant to their role. Information may also be disclosed where required by law or a valid legal request. ParkShark does not sell personal data or operate an advertising service.

Providers may process data outside your country, including outside Switzerland or the European Economic Area. Their privacy notices and applicable service arrangements describe processing and transfer protections. We do not promise that all information stays in Switzerland.

5. How data is protected

Both apps use device permission controls for location. Network services use secure transport through their platform and provider SDKs; this website uses HTTPS. iOS uses Firebase authentication and database/storage access rules to control access to account data. Local iOS draft images use system file protection, and locally cached data also depends on your device’s security.

Published listings and public-profile fields are intended to be shared; they should not contain secrets or unnecessary personal information. Support email is not an end-to-end encrypted privacy request channel. No method of transmission or storage guarantees absolute security.

6. Retention and deletion

Android: location, search and filter state is temporary and discarded when the relevant state is disposed or the app process ends. Backgrounding the app may not end its process. Clear app storage or uninstall to remove local preferences and caches. This version has no ParkShark account to delete.

iOS local data: drafts, preferences, images and cached service records can remain on your device between sessions. Deleting the app removes its app-container data; offloading it can preserve that data. Neither action deletes your server account or records. System-managed sign-in credentials and provider data can have separate lifetimes.

iOS accounts: use Account → Edit profile → Delete account and complete the required sign-in verification, or email the request below. The current in-app process removes the authentication account, private/public profiles, saved vehicles and owned listings, disables the current push registration and resets local analytics data.

Booking records and images: the current iOS deletion flow does not automatically erase existing booking records and their snapshots. Listing-image cleanup preserves images referenced by bookings ending within the previous six months or in the future, and can preserve images if that check fails. This is not a guarantee that those images or bookings are automatically deleted after six months. Contact us to request review and deletion of retained booking information; we will explain any specific legal obligation that requires continued retention.

Notifications and analytics: registration records are marked to expire 30 days after refresh, and booking delivery receipts seven days after booking creation. Expiry markers do not guarantee deletion on that date; server cleanup must be active. Provider-held analytics, authentication and messaging data follow the applicable service settings and provider retention rules. Turning off a preference, uninstalling or resetting local analytics does not automatically delete all previously transmitted provider data.

Support: correspondence is retained as needed to resolve your request and related follow-up or meet applicable legal obligations. Request deletion by email. Where information must be retained, we will explain the reason and applicable period in our response. See also Google’s data retention explanation.

Send from your account email where possible and specify whether you want your entire account or particular information deleted. Do not send your password. You can make this request without installing either app.

7. Your privacy rights

Depending on applicable law, you may request access to, correction or deletion of your personal information, a portable copy, or restriction of or objection to processing. You can withdraw optional location permission at any time. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.

Email support@parkshark.online with “ParkShark privacy request” and explain what you would like us to do. For correspondence, use the email address you originally contacted us from where possible. We may need proportionate information to verify the request, and will respond within the period required by applicable law. No app installation or account is needed to contact us.

8. Website and support form

The ParkShark homepage stores your language choice in browser local storage and a “parkshark-language” cookie. The cookie lasts up to one year; local storage remains until cleared or replaced. These preferences are not advertising trackers. You can remove them through your browser’s site-data settings.

The support form prepares a message in your email app. It does not submit the form to a ParkShark web database. The message is sent only when you send it through your email service.

Our website is delivered through OpenAI Sites and Cloudflare infrastructure. Web requests necessarily disclose your IP address and request information to that infrastructure to deliver and protect the site. Infrastructure processing and retention are governed by the relevant provider arrangements and policies, including OpenAI’s Privacy Policy and Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy. The website does not add advertising or analytics scripts.

9. Children’s privacy

ParkShark is a parking app intended for drivers and parking-space owners, rather than a service directed to children. If you believe a child has supplied personal information to us, contact our privacy address so we can investigate and address it, including deletion where appropriate.

10. Changes and contact

We will update this policy when the app’s data practices change and revise the date above. Material changes and any additional permission or consent requirements will be communicated as applicable before the new processing begins.

For questions about this policy or your information, contact ParkShark at support@parkshark.online.