Effective date: August 17, 2026
Motor City Riot and Hatchforge provide the Motor City Riot mobile app. This policy explains what information the app processes and how it is used.
Information the app processes
The informational portions of the app retrieve published events, photo galleries, member information, and social links from mcrdetroit.com and its connected media services.
Ride Mode may process information that a participant provides or generates, including:
- Display name and optional separate public alias
- Precise or approximate device location
- Nearest street address, location accuracy, speed, distance, and battery level
- Ride role, online status, help status, destination, and leader trail
- Ride chat messages and moderation reports
- Firebase-generated anonymous user, installation, and messaging identifiers
- Basic device, app, network, and notification-delivery information processed by Firebase
The app does not sell personal information and does not use Ride Mode information for advertising.
How information is used
Ride Mode information is used to authenticate app sessions, operate the live group map, help riders stay together, calculate ride statistics, coordinate assistance, navigate to riders or destinations, deliver ride notifications, prevent abuse, and moderate reported content.
Location sharing begins only after a participant starts or joins a ride, sees the location disclosure, grants Android location permission, and chooses to continue. When enabled, the foreground location service may continue sharing while another app is open or the device is locked. Android displays a persistent notification while this occurs. Sharing stops when the participant leaves the ride, the leader ends the ride, or the participant uses the notification’s stop-sharing control.
Who can see Ride Mode information
Participants who possess a temporary ride PIN can view information associated with that active ride.
For a public ride, privacy-filtered locations, the leader trail, the leader-selected destination, and each rider’s separate public alias may appear on the public interactive map at mcrdetroit.com. Locations within the protected clubhouse area are withheld, and public trail endpoints are trimmed. Private rides are not shown on the public website map.
Spectators can participate without sharing a map location and are not shown in the rider list or on the rider map.
Service providers
The app uses Google Firebase Authentication, Realtime Database, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Messaging. These services process data needed to authenticate sessions, store temporary ride information, operate notifications, prevent abuse, and maintain service security. The app also retrieves website content and images from Motor City Riot’s WordPress and Cloudinary services and uses map and geocoding providers to display maps and nearest-address information.
Retention
Temporary ride records, including locations and chat messages, expire after approximately 12 hours. Moderation reports may be retained for up to 90 days. Local ride statistics and preferences remain on the device until replaced, cleared through Android app settings, or removed by uninstalling the app. A remembered public-ride club password is encrypted with Android Keystore and stored only on that device.
Choices and controls
Participants may decline location permission, join as a spectator, stop location sharing, leave a ride, block a rider, or report inappropriate content. Android permissions and locally stored app data can also be cleared through the device’s system settings.
Security
The app uses encrypted network connections, Firebase security rules, temporary ride PINs, privacy filtering for public rides, and Android Keystore for remembered club credentials. No system can guarantee absolute security.
Children’s privacy
The app is intended for adults and is not designed for children under 13.
Changes
This policy may be updated when app functionality or legal requirements change. The effective date above identifies the latest version.
Contact
Questions or privacy requests may be submitted through the Motor City Riot contact page.