We as U’Charge value the safety and privacy our customers and we are determined to ensure that the person personal information is protected. Because we value their privacy, the GPS in our power banks will only be activated when the power banks are reported as stolen or lost. Our privacy policy outlines how we intend to use the data collected from the power banks, particularly the GPS embedded in the power banks.
Data collected
U’Charge collects data from the users renting power banks. These users use our Product Service System when in need of a portable charger. The data collection follows through our application as well as our machines. The collected data consists of the user’s name, email, credit card, GPS of the battery, anonymous location, data storage, and data usage.
The names and emails are collected to be able to subscribe to the application and use our subscription possibilities if wanted. The credit card information is taken for the user to be able to pay for renting the power banks and in case of loss/damage for us to be able to charge them extra according to our regulations. As well as to assure easy and secure payment. For locating the power banks we take GPS information, this also gives the possibility to the user if wanted to find lost batteries and avoid extra charging. So the user can find the most suitable station for renting and returning, we provide an anonymous location as guidance in the Amsterdam city map.
For storing the data securely we also make usage of data storage. Lastly, data usage is collected to analyze, for example, usage patterns, sending notifications, generating invoices.
As we are a data-driven company, we collect our customers’ billing information (such as name, email address, and credit card/debit card details), the power bank’s location, and the user’s usage amount. For this, the customer needs to agree to a data collection consent form, which is going to be shown to him before creating his account:
What is done with the collected data?
The data collected will be utilized to enhance the caliber of our services, prioritize user experiences, and ensure that our customers feel a sense of security. Furthermore, this will enable us to operate as a transparent company, maintaining openness and honesty in our practices:
- Usage & Feedback: The service quality will be improved to analyze how our users use our products and for abilities to improve ourselves. This is to check for example in which locations our users use our PSS most for the expansion of locations for our stations.
- User experience: with the data collected from our users depending on their likes and dislikes changes can be made to achieve a better user experience.
- Billing and invoicing: To make sure that we charge our customers billed fairly and make sure that we are a transparent company.
- Customer support: If our user has any issues or questions the personal data collected can help with accurate information and allow efficient processing. This results in being a trustworthy company.
- Decision-making: anonym information such as their location can help us with seeing which locations, usage hours are more popular, etc.
Data security
Data collection has multiple risks, such as privacy breaches, data breaches, unauthorized access, data aggregation and profiling, and inaccurate and biased data. We want to make sure that we store our data in a secure way, which will allow us to not violate our customers’ rights and avoid hackers stealing our customers’ information. To secure data we are obtaining consent forms first and foremost. The consent form allows us to collect the data from our customers with consent, giving them full information on what kind of data we are collecting and why it is necessary for a better experience. We only collect data that is necessary and try to avoid unnecessary data collection as much as possible. For the collected data we clearly state our purposes. We will also implement security measures for the collection of our customer’s data. There should be a regular protocol for checking up on the security of our data, to evaluate if there are no risks. Also, since the regulations of data change constantly, it is important to keep up with the regulations and laws to prevent legal consequences and protect our customers.