merge

Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 3, 2026

Merge LLC ("Merge," "we," "us") runs a mobile app that connects college students traveling in the same direction. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, and who else sees it.

Merge is for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

What we collect

Your account

Your name, photo, university, gender, graduation year, bio, and rating are visible to other Merge users when you post or book a ride. Your email and phone number are not shown to other users.

If you drive

These help riders identify the right car at pickup.

Trips

Merge does not track your location. The app does not request or use your device's GPS. We store the approximate coordinates of the cities you select, not where you are.

Messages, ratings, and reports

Payments

Payments are handled by Stripe. You enter your card details directly into Stripe's own secure form.

Merge never receives or stores your card number, security code, or bank details. What we store is limited to Stripe reference IDs, the amounts charged and paid out, and — if you save a card — its brand and last four digits so you can recognize it.

Device

A push notification token, so we can send you alerts about your rides.

What we don't do

We don't use analytics or crash-reporting tools. We don't run advertising. We don't track you across other apps or websites. We don't sell your personal information.

Why we collect it

Who we share it with

We share information with the services that make Merge work, and only what each one needs:

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our users.

Your choices

Edit your information

You can change your name, photo, phone, university, bio, and vehicle details in the app under Profile.

Delete your account

You can delete your account in the app: Profile → Delete account. Doing so signs you out permanently and removes your name, email, phone, bio, photo, university, gender, graduation year, and vehicle details from your profile.

Records of past trips, payments, messages, and ratings are kept in anonymized form, because they're part of other users' history and our payment records. You can't delete your account while you have a trip coming up — cancel or complete it first, so nobody is left without a ride or out of pocket.

Notifications

You can turn push notifications off in your phone's settings at any time.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information while your account is active. Trip, payment, message, and rating records are kept after deletion in anonymized form, for our records and for the other people involved in those trips. Stripe keeps payment records according to its own policies and legal obligations.

Security

Access to your data is restricted by database-level security rules, and card details never touch our systems. No service can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

Changes

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll let you know in the app or by email.

Contact

Questions about your privacy or your data: ridewithmerge@gmail.com