Last updated: 3 July 2026
Departly is designed to need as little of your data as possible. Departly does not require an account. The only data that leaves your device is: the optional, anonymous “Live Bus” position you choose to share; the public route/stop you are viewing (to fetch arrivals); when you search for a place in Plan a Trip, the text you type (sent to Apple Maps to find the address); and, if you use the optional referral feature, an anonymous app-specific identifier used to credit invites. Each is explained below.
With your permission, Departly uses your device location to (1) show the bus stops nearest you and (2) power the optional get-off reminder, which alerts you as you approach your destination stop. Because a get-off reminder must reach you even after you put your phone away, while a reminder is active Departly keeps checking your location in the background — including when Departly is not on screen or your device is locked (iOS shows the blue location indicator while it does), and stops as soon as the reminder ends. For these features your location is processed on your device to measure distance to a stop, and is not sent anywhere. You can use route search and live arrivals without granting location access.
Live Bus (optional crowdsourcing). If you choose to tap “I’m on this bus — share live position” on a route, Departly shares an anonymous, temporary projected position along that route — never your raw GPS coordinates, and with no account name or identifier — to the app’s iCloud (CloudKit) public database, so other riders waiting for that route can see a live bus. While you are sharing, Departly updates this projected position in the background (even if you leave the app or lock your screen) so the live bus keeps moving for others, until you stop sharing or leave the route. Each report expires within about 90 seconds, sharing stops automatically when you leave the route or close the screen, and nothing is ever shared unless you opt in for that trip.
Motion & Fitness (optional, for the get-off reminder). When a get-off reminder is active, Departly can use your device’s motion activity (whether you appear to be in a vehicle or on foot), together with speed and your distance from the route, to notice when you have likely gotten off and ask whether to end the reminder. This is processed entirely on your device, is never sent anywhere or stored, and the feature can be turned off in Settings (“Detect when I get off”). Departly works fully without granting Motion access.
To show arrivals, Departly requests public route, stop and estimated-arrival data from Hong Kong government open-data services (DATA.GOV.HK). These requests contain only the route or stop you are viewing — no location, identifier, or personal information about you is sent.
Departly also periodically downloads updated route, stop, station and fare reference files from our own server (mwsupplylimited.github.io) so the trip planner and fares stay current without an app update. These are plain public transit-data files — the download sends no information about you.
When you type an address or place in Plan a Trip, Departly uses Apple’s Maps service to turn what you type into a location. The text you type, together with a coarse Hong Kong map region (to keep results local), is sent to Apple to return matching places; Apple handles this request under Apple’s privacy policy. Departly does not attach your name, account or identifier to the search. Places you save as Home, Office or recent destinations are kept on your device (and synced via your own iCloud, below); you can remove any of them at any time.
Your favourite routes and stops, your saved places (Home / Office / recent destinations), your reminder history and your token balance are stored on your device and, if you are signed into iCloud, synced through your own private iCloud (CloudKit) account so they appear on your other devices. This data is held in your personal Apple account; we cannot read it.
The free version of Departly shows ads through Google AdMob. To serve ads, the AdMob SDK may collect device information and an advertising identifier. On first launch Departly asks, via Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt, whether you allow tracking; if you decline, you still get ads, but non-personalised ones. Free users may also choose to watch optional rewarded ads to earn tokens; these are served by the same AdMob SDK. Departly Pro removes all ads and the advertising identifier is not read for Pro subscribers. See Google’s privacy policy for how AdMob handles data.
Departly Pro is sold as an auto-renewable subscription processed by Apple. Free users can also unlock individual Pro features with tokens, a virtual in-app item earned by watching rewarded ads or claiming daily bonuses, or bought as consumable token packs. All purchases — subscriptions and token packs — are handled entirely by the App Store; Departly receives only an anonymous confirmation of the purchase. We never see your payment details. Tokens have no cash value, are non-refundable, and are not exchangeable for money; your balance is stored in your own private iCloud account.
Referrals (optional). If you share or redeem an invite code to earn tokens, Departly writes an anonymous, app-specific iCloud identifier (the code, and a per-user record id — never your name, email, or payment details) to the app’s iCloud (CloudKit) database so both people can be credited. The feature is optional and is not shown to Departly Pro subscribers.
Departly is suitable for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13.
Questions about this policy: mwsupplylimited@gmail.com