Privacy Policy

Account information: name, email and/or phone number, password (stored as a salted hash, never in plain text), and profile photo if you add one.

Trip information: pickup and drop-off locations, route, fare, ride type, and any notes or photos you attach to a pickup to help your driver find you.

Location data: your device's location while a ride is being requested or is in progress, and — for drivers — while online and available for requests. Location sharing can be turned off in your device settings, but this will prevent MelaGO from functioning correctly.

Payment information: transaction records for fares, refunds, payouts, and wallet activity. MelaGO does not store your full card number or mobile-money PIN — those are handled by our payment processors.

Communications: messages sent through in-app chat between a rider and driver for the duration of a trip, and support tickets you submit.

To provide the service itself: matching riders with nearby drivers, calculating fares, processing payments, and enabling in-trip communication and safety features (SOS, trusted-contact alerts, safe-arrival confirmation, trip sharing).

To maintain trust and safety: reviewing driver documents, investigating incidents, resolving support tickets and disputes, and detecting fraud or abuse.

To improve the service: understanding demand patterns (in aggregate) to improve dispatch, pricing, and coverage — including in underserved areas.

The other party in a trip: a driver sees a rider's name, pickup details, and approximate location; a rider sees a driver's name, photo, vehicle, and rating. Exact live location is only shared for the duration of an active trip.

Payment processors (Telebirr, CBE Birr, and card networks) to complete transactions — governed by their own privacy policies.

Law enforcement, only when legally required, or to protect the safety of a rider, driver, or the public.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

You can update your profile information, language preference, and notification settings at any time from your account. You can request a copy of your data or deletion of your account by contacting support — some information (e.g. completed trip and payment records) may be retained as required for legal, tax, or dispute- resolution purposes even after account deletion.

We retain trip and payment records for as long as needed to comply with tax and financial-recordkeeping obligations. Passwords are hashed; sensitive fields are never returned in API responses (for example, a driver never receives a rider's pickup PIN through any endpoint other than the in-person check itself).

Questions about this policy or your data can be raised through in-app Support, or by reaching MelaGO directly.