Bondtrail is an app your family uses to stay in touch. It can show where people are, but only if they choose to share.
This page explains what Bondtrail knows about you. We have tried to write it the way we would explain it to you in person — including the parts that are less comfortable, because you should know those too.
The most important thing: nothing about your location is shared until you switch it on yourself. Not when you install the app. Not when you join your family's Circle. You switch it on, and you can switch it off again whenever you want.
2.1 Can my family see where I am right now?#
Only if you turned sharing on. If you have not, they see nothing — you are simply not on the map.
When sharing is on, the people in your Circle can see where you are. Once you are within about 150 metres of a place your family has saved, like home or school, they see the name of the place instead of exactly where you are.
2.2 Can I turn it off?#
Yes. Any time. You do not need permission and you do not have to explain why.
Your family is not sent a push notification when you turn it off. The change appears in the Circle Feed, and your family will notice that you are not on the map.
Only the people in your Circle. Not the public. Not people in other Circles. Not advertisers.
You can always see who is in your Circle. If someone is in it who you do not want there, talk to the adult who set it up — and read section 11 of this page if that feels difficult.
4.1 If you are 14 or older#
A Privacy Bubble hides your location from your family. While it is on, all they see is that you are in a bubble — not where. You choose when to turn it on. It can cover up to 2 km and last up to 6 hours a day.
It ends by itself if you travel outside the area, or when the time runs out. Then your family sees your exact position again.
4.2 Can someone end my Bubble?#
Yes. Anyone in your Circle who is 14 or older can end it, and see exactly where you are.
When that happens, a note is written down with their name on it, and you can read it in the app. You might not find out at the moment it happens — you may only see it later.
There is no limit on how often someone can do this.
So here is the honest version: a Bubble is useful, but it is not a lock. If there is somewhere you really do not want your Circle to see, the thing that works is turning sharing off.
4.3 If you are under 14#
The Privacy Bubble is not available to you yet, and you will not see it in the app. What you can do at any age is turn your sharing on and off.
It arrives on your 14th birthday, by itself. You do not have to ask anyone, and nobody has to approve it. The Bubble will simply be there.
5.1 Can someone check my location without me knowing?#
Yes, and we want you to know that.
If your sharing is on, people in your Circle can look at where you are as often as they like. Bondtrail does not keep a record of that, and does not tell you.
Some other apps say they tell you every time. We do not do that, so we are not going to say we do.
5.2 So what does get written down?#
Some things are recorded permanently. Everyone in your circle can read them, and nobody can delete them — not your parents, not an adult who runs the circle, not even us. These are the things that get written down:
- When someone presses SOS
- When a Privacy Bubble is turned on, ends by itself, or is ended by someone else — including that person's name
- When someone joins or leaves a Circle
- When a Circle is created
- When someone's role in a Circle changes
When someone turns location sharing on or off, that change appears in the Circle Feed, but Bondtrail does not send a push notification about it. If something else is not on the list above or in the Circle Feed, it is not being recorded.
6.1 What happens if I press SOS?#
You slide a button to start it, and there is a seven-second countdown before anything is sent, so you can stop it if you pressed it by mistake.
After that, Bondtrail tries to tell the people in your Circle straight away. They get a notification and then open the app to see where you are.
If you have an emergency contact, we also text them. Because they might not have the app, that text includes your name, where you are, and that you are asking for help.
SOS works even if your sharing is off, and even if you have a Bubble on. That is on purpose.
Nobody at Bondtrail is watching for SOS alerts. No one here will see it or come. Alerts can also fail — if your phone is out of battery, has no signal, or notifications are switched off.
If you press SOS by accident, tell your Circle as soon as you safely can. Nobody will be angry with you for that.
6.2 Who is my emergency contact?#
You choose them yourself. You give us their mobile number, and if you ever press SOS we send them a text with your name and where you are.
They do not need to have Bondtrail. They will get a message from us telling them you have listed them, and a link they can use if they would rather we did not keep their number.
7.1 Does my family see how I am feeling?#
They see the short answer you choose — like whether your day was busy, normal or chill, and the mood you tap in the evening. That is the point of it.
They do not see anything you write in your private journal. That is only for you. Your parents cannot see it, adults who run the Circle cannot see it, and it is never shown in the Circle Feed.
We store your journal on our servers so it works across your devices, but nobody at Bondtrail reads it.
| What | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Where you have been, and your driving information if you drive | 30 days, then deleted |
| Your name, email and profile | While you have an account |
| The notes about who joined, left, or ended a bubble | While you have an account. They cannot be deleted separately |
| Your check-ins and private journal | 30 days, then deleted |
| The notes about SOS | 30 days, then deleted |
| Your emergency contact's number | While you have them listed, then deleted |
| Things you post in the Circle Feed | Until you delete them, or leave the Circle |
Our computers are in the United States, so your information is stored there. Some of the people who work at Bondtrail are in Nigeria and in Canada. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.
8.1 What do you not collect?#
We do not read your messages, look at your photos, listen through your microphone, or follow what you do in other apps. We do not show ads, and we never sell anything about you to anyone.
These are your rights. You can use them yourself — you do not need a parent to ask for you, though for some things we may need to involve them.
- Ask what we have about you — We will send you a copy.
- Ask us to fix something wrong — Like a misspelled name or the wrong age.
- Ask us to delete things — Some things we have to keep, and we will tell you which and why.
- Ask for a copy of your information — In a file you can keep.
- Change your mind about something you agreed to — We will tell you what will stop working first, so you can decide.
- Complain — To us, and if you are not happy with our answer, to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
How to ask: email legal@bondtrail.app. A real person reads it. We will reply within 30 days, and usually much sooner.
We will treat you as a person with rights, not as someone's child who needs permission to ask a question.
If you are under 14, an adult has to set your account up before it works.
They sign up, prove who they are, and get a code. They give you the code and you enter it. Then we ask you to confirm that this person really is your parent or guardian. Until you say yes, nothing works and nobody can see anyone's location.
If something does not feel right#
Bondtrail is meant to help a family stay connected, not to control anyone.
Bondtrail is meant to help a family stay connected. It is not meant to control anyone.
Sometimes an app like this gets used in a way that does not feel okay — someone checking on you constantly, ending your Bubble over and over, or using it to keep track of you in a way that frightens you.
Nothing about using Bondtrail means you have to accept being watched in a way that makes you feel unsafe.
This section is written for you rather than for the young person. It repeats things from our Privacy Policy that most affect a child's account.
12.1 What you control#
- Who is in your child's Circle. Only people you add can see your child's location, and you should review that list from time to time.
- Consent, for a member under 14. A child under 14 cannot consent for themselves under Quebec law, which we apply across Canada. You consent on their behalf through the Guardian process. Bondtrail has no minimum age.
- Access to your child's information. You can ask us for a copy, ask us to correct or delete it, or withdraw consent on their behalf, by emailing legal@bondtrail.app.
12.2 What you do not control, and should know before you rely on Bondtrail#
12.3 Emergency contacts, and why we let your child choose#
A member of any age nominates their own emergency contact, and it is theirs to choose. That person receives an SMS with your child's name and precise location if SOS is activated. They do not have to be someone you have approved or someone in the circle, and you cannot override the choice.
We designed it this way because a young person in trouble should be able to reach the adult they actually trust, which is not always a parent. That is a deliberate choice and we think it is the right one.
It also means you should talk to your child about who they picked. Ask them, rather than assuming. If you are concerned about the person they have chosen, that is a conversation to have with them — and with us at legal@bondtrail.app if something is genuinely wrong.
12.4 Where you manage your child's Circle#
Circle membership is managed from the Circle settings screen — the same member-management screen every administrator uses. There is no separate guardian review view, and Bondtrail will not prompt you to check. Reviewing who can see your child is something you need to do yourself, from time to time.
12.5 How a Guardian relationship starts#
You sign up, verify your identity, and receive a single-use Guardian Code to give to your child. You can generate a fresh one at any time once you are verified.
Worth knowing. Identity verification proves that a person is an adult. It does not prove they are your child's parent. The check that connects the two is your child confirming, in the app, that the person is genuinely their parent or guardian.
12.6 How the Guardian Code works#
You verify your identity with our verification provider, which confirms you are an adult. You are then given a single-use Guardian Code to give to your child so they can join your Circle. Your child then confirms in the app that you are in fact their parent or guardian.
That last step matters. Verifying identity proves someone is an adult. It does not prove they are a particular child's parent. Your child's confirmation is what makes that link, which is why we ask for it and why it cannot be skipped.
Codes are single use. Do not share yours with anyone other than the child you have authority over.
12.7 How a child's data is treated differently#
- A minor's information is used only to run the Services within their Circle and to support SOS.
- We do not send marketing to anyone under 18, and we do not build behavioural profiles of minors.
- Nobody can share a location outside the circle. That feature does not exist yet.
- Location and driving data are deleted after 30 days, the same as for adults.
12.8 Questions or complaints#
Email our Privacy Officer at legal@bondtrail.app. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca, or if you live in Quebec, to the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec at cai.gouv.qc.ca.
This notice sits alongside our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, which have the full detail. If anything here disagrees with the Privacy Policy, the Privacy Policy is the one that counts — but tell us, because that would be our mistake to fix.
Bondtrail Technologies Inc. · 2-38 Leighside Lane, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada E2K 2R6 · legal@bondtrail.app