TransitWatch for Android ยท Effective November 8, 2026
TransitWatch is built to need as little information about you as possible. There are no accounts, and TransitWatch has no servers of its own.
TransitWatch uses your location only while you use the app, to find the nearest stations and show their departures. It never uses your location in the background. Your location is found by your device through Google Play services, processed on your device, and not sent to us. Walking and driving times are estimated on your device.
The map in TransitWatch is provided by Google Maps. When you use it, and when you open Google Maps from TransitWatch (Navigate, or Show in Maps for a station entrance), Google handles those requests under Google's privacy policy. Google's map component also sends Google crash reports, diagnostic information and an anonymous identifier, which Google uses to keep its maps working and to improve its services.
TransitWatch downloads timetables and live departure information directly from BART. Like any internet request, these reach BART's servers, which can see your device's IP address. The requests do not include your location or any personal information.
TransitWatch never asks for your home address. For Last Ride Home, you choose a Home station; the app suggests the stations closest to where you are, and you can pick any station. Your Home station is stored on your phone only and never sent to us.
TransitWatch sends at most one small report a day through TelemetryDeck, a privacy-focused analytics service based in Germany. It counts which features you used that day (for example, how often you opened the map) and how often live times were available. Reports also include your device type, system version and language settings, as with most apps. Reports never include your location, the stations you view, your Last Ride Home settings, or anything that identifies you. Earlier versions also sent a separate report naming the one station you viewed most that day, not linked to you or to any other report. You can turn this off in Settings.
When you tap Contact Support in Settings, TransitWatch opens an email draft in your mail app that already includes a few details to help us look into your question: the TransitWatch version, your phone model and Android version, whether TransitWatch has location permission (and whether it's precise), and whether your phone's Location is turned off. These are shown in the draft, you can change or delete them, and nothing is sent unless you send the email. We use your email only to answer you.
Questions about privacy: transitwatchapp@gmail.com.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.