Privacy Policy

West-Way Taxi

Effective Date: Updated September 19, 2025

 

West-Way Taxi (“West-Way,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal information entrusted to us by passengers, customers, account holders, and individuals who contact us to arrange transportation.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information when you book, request, receive, pay for, or inquire about taxi or transportation services through our telephone dispatch service, text message, website, web booking portal, mobile application, email, customer-service channels, or through an authorized third party.

 

1. Scope and Applicable Law

This Policy applies to personal information relating to identifiable individuals, including passengers, people making bookings on behalf of passengers, account holders, and users of our website or mobile application.

West-Way collects, uses, and discloses personal information in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation where applicable, and applicable provincial privacy legislation. Where West-Way handles personal information subject to Québec privacy law, we will also comply with applicable requirements under Québec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.

This Policy does not apply to the personal information of West-Way employees, job applicants, drivers, or contractors in their employment or business relationship with West-Way, except where expressly stated.

 

2. Personal Information We Collect

We collect only the personal information reasonably necessary to provide, administer, improve, secure, and account for our transportation services.

Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

Booking and Trip Information

•  Your name;

•  Telephone number, email address, and preferred contact method;

•  Pickup, destination, and intermediate stop locations;

•  Requested pickup date and time;

•  Passenger count, luggage requirements, and vehicle preferences;

•  Booking notes, pickup instructions, access codes, or safety-related instructions;

•  Trip history, cancellation history, no-show information, fare information, and receipts;

•  Account, voucher, corporate account, agency, hospital, insurer, or program reference numbers.

Accessibility and Service Requirements

Where necessary to provide appropriate transportation, we may collect limited information about mobility, accessibility, service animals, wheelchair or mobility-device requirements, escort requirements, or other transportation-related accommodation needs.

Please do not provide medical diagnoses, detailed health records, or other sensitive information unless it is necessary for us to safely arrange your transportation.

Communications Information

We may collect information contained in communications with us, including:

•  Telephone calls to dispatch or customer service;

•  Text messages;

•  Emails;

•  Website forms;

•  In-app messages;

•  Complaints, compliments, lost-property reports, incident reports, and service requests.

Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance, training, safety, booking accuracy, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and service improvement. Where calls are recorded, notice will be provided where required by law.

Location Information

We may collect location information, including:

•  Pickup and destination addresses provided during booking;

•  Device location information when you enable location services through our website or mobile application;

•  GPS and operational data generated by West-Way vehicles or affiliated vehicles while completing a booking.

Location information is used to dispatch vehicles, estimate arrival times, communicate trip status, improve routing, investigate service issues, and support passenger and driver safety.

Payment and Billing Information

Where you pay electronically, West-Way and/or its payment service providers may collect information needed to process payment, including payment method, payment authorization information, transaction amount, fare, gratuity, and billing details.

Payment card information may be processed by third-party payment providers. West-Way does not retain payment card security codes after authorization.

Website, App, and Device Information

When you use our website, booking portal, or mobile application, we may collect:

•  IP address;

•  Device type, operating system, browser type, and app version;

•  Login, account, and device identifiers;

•  Website or app activity;

•  Cookies and similar technologies;

•  Approximate location derived from your IP address.

 

3. Information Received From Third Parties

We may receive personal information from authorized third parties that arrange, fund, coordinate, or administer transportation on your behalf. These may include hospitals, health-care providers, insurers, employers, schools, residential facilities, municipalities, travel coordinators, social-service organizations, or family members.

Where another person or organization books a trip for you, we rely on that person or organization to have authority to provide your information and arrange transportation on your behalf.

If you make a booking for another person, you represent that you are authorized to do so and that you have informed the passenger about this Privacy Policy.

 

4. How We Use Personal Information

West-Way may use personal information to:

•  Receive, confirm, schedule, dispatch, and complete transportation bookings;

•  Identify pickup and destination locations;

•  Match passengers with suitable vehicles and drivers;

•  Communicate booking confirmations, arrival notices, delays, cancellations, and trip-status updates;

•  Process payments, fares, invoices, credits, refunds, and account charges;

•  Provide customer service and respond to inquiries, complaints, and lost-property reports;

•  Accommodate reasonable transportation and accessibility needs;

•  Protect the safety and security of passengers, drivers, staff, and the public;

•  Detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to fraud, abuse, safety incidents, policy violations, or unlawful activity;

•  Maintain operational, financial, tax, insurance, and legal records;

•  Improve dispatch operations, customer service, routing, website functionality, and service quality;

•  Produce de-identified or aggregated statistics and operational reports;

•  Send promotional or marketing communications where permitted by law and with appropriate consent.

We do not sell or rent personal information. We do not use individual passenger trip locations for third-party behavioural advertising.

 

5. Consent

By providing personal information to West-Way or requesting transportation services, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of information for the purposes described in this Policy.

Consent may be express or implied depending on the sensitivity of the information and the circumstances. We will seek express consent where required, including for sensitive accessibility or health-related information, optional app permissions, marketing communications, or other purposes not reasonably expected in connection with arranging transportation.

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions. Withdrawal of consent may affect our ability to provide certain services. For example, we may be unable to arrange a suitable vehicle if you decline to provide information necessary for accessibility or pickup requirements.

Withdrawal of consent will not affect information already collected, used, or disclosed lawfully before the withdrawal.

 

6. Text Messages, Email, and Marketing Communications

West-Way may send operational communications by text message, email, phone, or app notification, including booking confirmations, vehicle-arrival notices, delay notices, cancellation confirmations, receipts, and safety-related notices.

Operational messages are necessary to provide or administer your requested transportation service. Choosing not to receive them may limit our ability to confirm, update, or complete your booking.

West-Way will send promotional emails or text messages only where permitted by law. Marketing messages will identify West-Way and include a functioning unsubscribe option. You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time. Unsubscribing from marketing messages will not stop essential trip-related or account-related communications.

 

7. When We Disclose Personal Information

We disclose personal information only as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, with your consent, or as required or permitted by law.

We may disclose limited information to:

•  Drivers and affiliated fleets: Information necessary to complete the trip, such as passenger name, pickup location, destination, trip notes, accessibility requirements, and a method of contacting dispatch or the passenger where necessary.

•  Technology and dispatch providers: Companies that provide dispatch systems, mobile applications, website hosting, communication tools, cloud storage, data analytics, payment processing, and customer-support systems.

•  Organizations that arranged or paid for transportation: Such as hospitals, insurers, employers, agencies, or account holders, where necessary to confirm, administer, invoice, or report on the trip. Information shared may include booking status, trip completion, cancellation, no-show status, fare, and relevant service information.

•  Professional advisers and insurers: Where necessary for legal, insurance, audit, fraud prevention, or dispute-resolution purposes.

•  Government, police, regulators, or courts: Where required or permitted by law, including in response to lawful requests, subpoenas, court orders, or emergencies involving safety.

Our service providers are required to protect personal information, use it only for authorized purposes, and apply safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

 

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website and mobile application may use cookies, pixels, software-development kits, and similar technologies to support booking functionality, maintain sessions, improve performance, understand usage, prevent fraud, and improve our services.

You may manage cookies through your browser or device settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect your ability to use portions of our website, booking portal, or mobile application.

Where required by law, we will obtain consent before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.

 

9. Safeguards and Security

West-Way uses reasonable administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, modification, or destruction.

Safeguards may include:

•  Access restrictions based on job responsibilities;

•  Staff confidentiality obligations and privacy training;

•  Password protection and secure account controls;

•  Encryption or secure transmission methods where appropriate;

•  Secure disposal and destruction procedures;

•  Monitoring and review of systems and access;

•  Contractual privacy and security requirements for service providers.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect personal information, West-Way cannot guarantee absolute security.

 

10. International Processing and Storage

West-Way may use service providers that store or process personal information in Canada or other jurisdictions, including the United States. Personal information processed outside Canada may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is held.

West-Way remains accountable for personal information in its control and requires service providers to apply appropriate privacy and security safeguards. Where Québec privacy requirements apply, West-Way will take the additional steps required before communicating personal information outside Québec.

 

11. Retention and Secure Disposal

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to provide services, administer accounts, resolve disputes, meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations, and enforce our agreements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information, the nature of the service, legal requirements, and whether the information is needed for a complaint, investigation, payment dispute, or safety matter.

When personal information is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy, or de-identify it in accordance with our records-retention practices.

 

12. Privacy Incidents and Breaches

If West-Way becomes aware of a privacy or security incident involving personal information, we will investigate, contain, assess, and document the incident.

Where required by applicable law, West-Way will notify affected individuals and privacy regulators of a breach that creates a real risk of significant harm or serious injury. We will also maintain breach records as required by law.

 

13. Access, Correction, and Privacy Requests

You may request access to personal information West-Way holds about you, ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information, withdraw consent, ask questions about our privacy practices, or make a privacy complaint.

We may request information to verify your identity before responding. Subject to applicable law and limited exceptions, West-Way will respond to access requests within the time required by law, generally within 30 days.

Requests should be directed to:

Chief Privacy Officer

West-Way Taxi

11 Bentley Ave.

Ottawa, ON K2E 6T7

Telephone: 613-727-0166

Email: info@westwaytaxi.ca

Subject line: Privacy Request

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, where applicable, the relevant provincial privacy regulator.

 

14. Children and Bookings for Others

West-Way may provide transportation for minors where a parent, guardian, school, care provider, or other authorized person arranges the trip. We collect only the information reasonably necessary to safely provide the requested transportation.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children for unrelated marketing purposes.

 

15. Changes to This Policy

West-Way may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal requirements, or privacy practices.

The most current version will be posted on our website. Where a change is material, West-Way will provide additional notice where required by law.