BlackBox

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 4 November 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how BlackBox ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you use the BlackBox mobile applications and website (the "Service"). By using the Service you agree to the practices described here.

1. Who we are

BlackBox is operated by George Barbour, a sole trader based in Scotland, United Kingdom, trading as "BlackBox". You can contact us at blackboxsupport@ghillie.xyz. We act as the data controller for personal data processed through the Service.

2. What we collect

Account information

When you sign in with Google, we receive your email address, display name, profile photo URL and Google account identifier. We do not store your Google password. Guest mode does not create a BlackBox account; garage records remain on the device, and optional usage reporting is described below.

Vehicle and trip data

Information you enter (vehicles, fuel logs, costs, modifications, finance and renewal details, trip GPS samples and uploaded images) is stored on your device and, when signed in, synced to your account. Trip recording collects precise location, timing and movement data. A trip you start can continue recording with the app backgrounded or the screen off. If you enable automatic trip detection, background location is used to detect driving and start recording without a separate tap for each trip. You can stop recording and turn automatic detection off. BlackBox requires an internet connection for normal use.

Revs community content

Revs stores your chosen username, profile information, avatars and banners, posts, photos, comments, follows, likes, bookmarks, event responses, group memberships and moderation reports. Public profiles, posts, comments, group information and locations you publish can be viewed by other people, including visitors who are not signed in. Profile visibility choices control the sections they apply to; they do not make all Revs activity private. Publishing a vehicle, image or route shares the information included in that content. Do not publish information you want to keep private. Reports and moderation tools are restricted to authorised reviewers.

Maps, location search and notifications

Map tiles are fetched from CARTO using OpenStreetMap-based maps; requests expose your network address and requested map areas to the provider. Location searches are sent through BlackBox to Photon, including your search text, and results are cached for seven days. If you enable push notifications, BlackBox stores a device notification token and preferences. Google Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers notifications such as Revs activity and fuel price alerts, including the notification content and relevant post or station identifiers. Local reminders are scheduled on your device.

Fuel station route comparisons

When you press Compare journeys, BlackBox sends your current location and the two selected station locations to Google Maps to calculate driving distances and estimated times. BlackBox does not save these Google route results or your comparison location to your account. Google processes this request under its Privacy Policy.

App usage insights

BlackBox can report daily activity, coarse UTC activity hours, estimated engaged foreground time, foreground visits, screens and tools opened, counts of screen-to-screen changes, logging/posting outcomes and successful community action counts, with app version and platform. Time is sampled in small intervals and stops after inactivity or when the app is backgrounded; it is an estimate, not a precise session recording. We keep daily totals rather than an individual clickstream or ordered journey history. Guests use a random installation identifier that rotates after 90 days; the backend stores a hashed pseudonym, not that raw identifier. Signed-in usage is linked to your account, and protected installation pseudonyms distinguish cumulative snapshots from different installations. Guest reports also include bounded record counts. These reports do not include vehicle details, photos, trip locations, post/comment text, searches, or other text you enter.

You can stop future reporting in Settings > Your data > Share app usage insights. This also clears pending local reports and the local analytics identifier; it does not delete reports already received. Activity is sent in small batches: expanded reporting accepts up to twelve batches per account actor per UTC day, older clients up to four, with shared global and guest limits. Uploads are spaced and background delivery is best effort. Daily activity, tool and usage snapshots are kept for up to 90 days plus a bounded cleanup period; deleting your account removes linked activity. Non-identifying aggregate record totals are retained for product reporting. Owner reporting supports downloads of aggregate statistics and metric definitions for analysis; those exports exclude account names, emails and protected identifiers.

Payment information

Website Pro subscription payments are processed by Stripe. Android uses existing account entitlements and does not offer purchases. We receive billing status, subscription and customer identifiers, billing period dates and payment event details such as amounts and invoice references; we do not store your card number, CVV or full billing address. Stripe's own privacy policy applies to data they hold: stripe.com/privacy.

Account and billing emails

We use Resend to deliver service emails such as account welcome messages, payment confirmations, payment problems, subscription cancellation and completed account deletion. Resend receives the destination email address and message contents, including your name and relevant payment amount or period when applicable. We do not include vehicle, trip or photo data in these emails. These are transactional messages, not marketing subscriptions. Resend describes its handling of data at resend.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Our delivery queue clears message contents when a send is accepted, permanently fails or expires (after 23 hours plus the next scheduled cleanup). Minimal delivery/deduplication identifiers are kept for up to 90 days plus scheduled cleanup. Resend ordinarily retains message content and delivery logs for 30 days. A completed-deletion confirmation briefly retains its destination address for delivery even after the account itself is erased.

Device and usage data

Every referral reward requires an owner review. Authorised owners can inspect the current Google sign-in name, profile photo, email and BlackBox signup timestamp for referrers and their invited accounts, together with qualification, payment status and reward history. Review decisions retain an owner identifier, reason and timestamp with the reward history. These identity details are not disclosed to the referrer or other users. BlackBox signup dates are not Google account creation dates.

If you take part in referrals, we keep your invitation relationship, up to five activity dates, protected fingerprints of up to five qualifying records, reward history and relevant payment references. We use keyed hashes of Google account and device identifiers to prevent repeat claims; hashes are protected identifiers, not anonymous data. Raw Google/device identifiers are not stored in the referral tables. Browser and repeated-device invitations may need an owner review. Your referrer sees milestone counts and reward status, not your name, email, records or payment details. Referral bookkeeping is separate from optional usage analytics.

To keep the Service working, we log technical information such as your device identifier, app version, IP address (transiently, for rate limiting), and error reports. We do not use third-party advertising or behavioural tracking.

3. How we use your data

4. Legal bases (UK / EU GDPR)

We process your data on the following legal bases: (a) performance of a contract for the core Service and subscription billing; (b) legitimate interests for security, abuse prevention and product improvement; (c) consent where required, including location permissions for trip tracking and optional automatic detection; (d) legal obligations for tax and compliance records.

5. Sharing and processors

We do not sell your data. Revs content you publish is shared with its audience as described above. Services involved in operating BlackBox include:

6. Retention

If you choose to send a suggestion or bug report in the app, we store your message, any reproduction steps, account association, app version and platform so the owners can review it. These reports and private review notes are owner-only, remain until removed by an owner or account deletion, and are not included in aggregate analysis exports. Screenshots, vehicle details, locations and diagnostic logs are not attached automatically.

The existing usage-reporting setting also controls feature-level activity summaries: reported tool starts/results, logging actions, hourly counts, first/last observation times and coarse error/timing buckets. Reports are batched, bounded and retained with the existing 90-day analytics policy. Pending record identifiers used to match a local save with a sync acknowledgement remain on the device and are not part of analysis reports. Turning off usage reporting does not stop you deliberately sending feedback.

Referral anti-abuse identity/device claim hashes expire after one year, with daily cleanup. General referral/device-review audit entries have the same one-year cleanup period. Individual reward approvals and revocations are retained with reward history. Account deletion removes referral device associations, activity dates and record fingerprints. Proof of earned rewards and payment reversal references is retained with the referrer's reward history, with the deleted invitee's account identifier replaced by a random reference. These reward records and their review history are removed when the referrer's account is deleted.

We retain your account and content while your account exists. Request full account deletion from Profile > Settings > Delete Account or through our public account deletion page. We verify your identity and require confirmation before deletion. Factory Reset only clears garage data; it keeps the account, Revs content and subscription. Requests and removal of backups are handled within 30 days through our support and backup procedures. Linked BlackBox subscriptions and recognised open checkouts are stopped before full account removal. Device-local copies and exports need to be removed on the devices that hold them.

Payment and accounting records are retained separately for 6 years for tax and accounting purposes. Stripe retains its own payment records. Error logs are kept for up to 90 days. Owner audit records are retained for up to one year plus scheduled cleanup. Ban records, including email addresses and protected Google identity hashes, remain while the ban is in force, with manual review when a ban is lifted. Group audit records remain with the group with the deleted actor and account target identifiers removed. Session records expire within 30 days, but cannot access an account that has been deleted. See the deletion page for referral, confirmation email and media cleanup exceptions.

7. Your rights

If you are in the UK or EEA, you have the right to access, correct, delete, export, restrict or object to processing of your personal data, and to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or your local supervisory authority. Email blackboxsupport@ghillie.xyz to exercise any of these rights.

8. Security

Data is transmitted over HTTPS. Session cookies are HttpOnly, Secure, and signed. Backend secrets are held in Cloudflare's secret store. No system is perfectly secure; if you believe an incident has affected your account, please contact us.

9. International transfers

Cloudflare, Google, and Stripe operate globally and may process your data outside the UK/EEA. They rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and equivalent safeguards.

10. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA where required). We do not knowingly collect data from children.

11. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be highlighted in the app or via email before they take effect.

12. Contact

Questions? Email blackboxsupport@ghillie.xyz.

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