Rider app

Background location in the Sendfy Rider app

Last updated 18 August 2026.

Disclosure. Sendfy Rider collects location data to enable live dispatch, courier assignment, customer delivery tracking and distance-based pay even when the app is closed or not in use. Collection only runs while a signed-in courier is on shift.

Who this applies to

Only to couriers who sign in to the Sendfy Rider app. It does not apply to customers ordering on Sendfy — the customer app never collects location in the background.

Why we need it in the background

A courier rides with the phone in a pocket or on a handlebar mount with the screen off. Android stops sending location to an app in that state unless the app runs a foreground location service. Without background location:

Dispatch cannot see which courier is nearest to a waiting order, so orders are assigned badly or not at all
Customers lose the live map of their delivery arriving
Distance-based courier pay and delivery-time records cannot be calculated fairly
Safety escalation for a courier who stops moving is impossible

What is collected

GPS coordinates, accuracy, heading and speed
The time the fix was taken on the device
The courier account the fix belongs to

Fixes are taken roughly every 8 seconds or every 8 metres of movement, uploaded over HTTPS to Sendfy servers, and queued on the device when there is no network so a blackspot does not leave a gap.

When collection starts and stops

Starts only when the courier taps Go online for a booked shift
Runs with a permanent Sendfy · Location active notification the whole time it is on
Stops automatically when the courier goes offline, ends the shift, takes a break or signs out
Stops if the server reports the shift has ended, even if the app was swiped away

How a courier turns it off

Tap the ongoing notification and go offline, or open Android Settings → Apps → Sendfy Rider → Permissions → Location and choose “Ask every time” or “Deny”. Turning it off means the courier cannot go online for shifts, but the account, earnings and history are unaffected.

Sharing and retention

Location is shown to Sendfy dispatch staff, and the live position of the assigned courier is shown to the customer for the duration of their delivery. It is not sold, not used for advertising and not shared with data brokers. Live positions are kept for operational review and dispute resolution, and trip traces are deleted or aggregated once they are no longer needed for delivery operations, pay disputes or legal records.

Contact

Questions or a deletion request: support@sendfy.org. Full policy: sendfy.org/privacy.