1. Who we are
Driving License Tayari ("the app") is developed and published by Softshala Nepal ("we", "us"). This policy explains what information the app handles, why, and the choices you have. You can reach us any time at [email protected].
We are an independent developer. The app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Nepal or the Department of Transport Management (DoTM).
2. The short version
- You can use the whole app without an account. Quizzes, traffic signs, study material, the vehicle reminder book and games all work signed out, with data kept on your device.
- Signing in is optional and only exists to back your data up and to place you on the leaderboards.
- We do not sell your personal data, and we never publish your email address.
- You can delete everything yourself, from inside the app, in under a minute. See Delete my data.
3. What we collect
3.1 Data stored only on your device (no account needed)
Until you sign in, this information never leaves your phone. Uninstalling the app removes it.
- Quiz and test results, your progress per category, bookmarked questions and the questions you answered incorrectly.
- Vehicle Reminder Book entries: vehicle details, renewal/insurance/pollution dates, service and fuel logs.
- Photos of vehicle documents (bluebook, insurance, licence) that you choose to attach; these are saved as files in the app's private storage.
- Driving licence numbers you save for the smart card search.
- App settings: language, theme, notification preferences, first-run state, game settings and scores.
3.2 Account data (only if you sign in)
Sign-in uses Google Sign-In or Sign in with Apple. We never see or store your password. From your chosen provider we receive and store:
- a Firebase user ID (a random identifier),
- your email address,
- your display name and profile photo URL, where the provider supplies them,
- which sign-in provider you used, and the date the account was created.
If you use Apple's Hide My Email, we only ever receive the relay address Apple generates, not your real one.
3.3 Cloud backup (only if you sign in)
While signed in, the app keeps one document per user in Google Cloud Firestore
(users/{your id}) containing a copy of:
- your Vehicle Reminder Book (vehicles, reminders, service logs, fuel logs and the links to any uploaded document photos),
- your bookmarked questions and your mistake list,
- saved driving licence numbers,
- your game progress and best scores.
Document photos you attach are uploaded to Google Cloud Storage under a folder reserved for your account. Security rules restrict both the document and the folder so that only your signed-in account can read or write them.
3.4 Usage and diagnostics
| Collected by | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Firebase Analytics | Anonymous, aggregated usage events (screens opened, a quiz started or finished, a game played, language changed), plus device model, operating system version, app version, country/region and a randomly generated app-instance identifier. These events do not include your name, email or the contents of your reminder book. |
| Firebase Crashlytics | Crash and error reports: stack traces, device model, OS version, app version and the state of the app at the moment it failed. |
| Firebase Cloud Messaging | A push notification token for your device, so we can send exam news and app announcements. Removed when you uninstall or disable notifications. |
| Firebase App Check | A device-integrity token used to block abusive traffic to our backend. No personal data. |
| Google AdMob | Advertising identifiers, IP-derived approximate location, and ad views/clicks. See Advertising. |
3.5 What we deliberately do not collect
- Payment details of any kind. The app is free, has no in-app purchases and no subscriptions, so we never ask for or receive them.
- Precise GPS location, contacts, call logs, SMS, or your photo library beyond the images you pick yourself.
- Government-issued licence records. The smart card search opens the official DoTM website inside an in-app browser, and whatever you type there goes to the government portal, not to us.
4. Why we use it
- To run the app: show questions, track progress, schedule renewal reminders.
- To back up and restore your data when you sign in on a new device (only with an account).
- To show leaderboards for the in-app games.
- To keep the app working: fix crashes, understand which features are used, and plan updates.
- To fund the free app through advertising.
- To communicate: exam-related news, feature announcements and the reminders you set up yourself.
Where consent is the legal basis (notifications, personalised ads, uploading photos), you give it via the relevant system prompt and can withdraw it at any time in your device settings.
5. Device permissions
| Permission | Why the app asks |
|---|---|
| Camera / Photos | Only when you attach a document photo to a vehicle in the Reminder Book. Declining it simply means no photo. |
| Notifications | Renewal, insurance and service reminders you create, plus occasional exam news. You can turn these off in system settings. |
| Bluetooth | Local multiplayer games (for example Ludo) with a friend's phone nearby. Nothing is sent to our servers. |
| Location (Android 11 and older only) | Older versions of Android require the location permission before an app is allowed to scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. We use it only to find the other player's phone. The app never reads, stores or transmits your location. |
| Internet / network state | Loading updated questions, cloud backup, ads and videos. |
6. Advertising
The app is free and is funded by ads served through Google AdMob. AdMob may use device advertising identifiers and approximate (IP-based) location to select and measure ads, and to limit how often you see the same one. AdMob's handling of that data is governed by Google's privacy policy.
- On iOS, ads are non-personalised unless you have separately allowed tracking for this app in iOS settings.
- On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID under Settings → Google → Ads.
- There is no paid way to remove ads. The app has no in-app purchases and no subscriptions.
Some ads are house ads for our own apps; tapping one simply opens the relevant store page.
7. Third-party services
We share data only with the processors below, and only as far as each needs to do its job.
| Service | Purpose | Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Storage, Analytics, Crashlytics, Cloud Messaging, App Check, In-App Messaging) | Sign-in, cloud backup, diagnostics, notifications | firebase.google.com/support/privacy |
| Google AdMob | Advertising | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Sign-In | Optional account sign-in | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Apple (Sign in with Apple) | Optional account sign-in | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| YouTube | Playing the tutorial videos embedded in the app | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Department of Transport Management (dotm.gov.np) | The official licence-check and application pages, opened in an in-app browser | Governed by the relevant government website |
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers or advertisers for their own independent use.
8. What other users can see
If you play the in-app games while signed in, your display name, profile photo and best score are written to a public leaderboard visible to other players. Nothing else is published: not your email, not your reminder book, not your quiz results.
You can keep yourself off the leaderboards by playing while signed out, and removing your account removes your leaderboard entries.
9. Retention & deletion
- On-device data stays until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app.
- Cloud backup data is kept while your account exists, so that it is there when you sign in on a new device.
- Deleting your account immediately removes your user document, your uploaded document photos and your leaderboard entries, and wipes the matching data from the device you are using. See the step-by-step guide: Delete my data.
- After deletion we keep a minimal record (your former user ID, the email and display name on the account, the sign-in provider, and the dates the account was created and deleted) to prove the request was honoured and to prevent abuse. It contains no study data, no reminder book and no photos, and it is removed on request.
- Analytics and crash data is retained by Google for its standard retention period (up to 14 months for analytics events) and is not linked to your name or email.
10. Your rights
You may, at any time:
- Access a copy of the data held against your account,
- Correct it. Your name and photo come from Google or Apple, and updating them there updates them here on the next sign-in,
- Delete it, in the app or by emailing us,
- Withdraw consent: turn off notifications, revoke camera access, or sign out to stop cloud backup,
- Object or complain: write to us first, and, if you are in a region with a data protection authority, to that authority.
Email [email protected] from the address on your account and we will respond within 30 days.
11. Security
Data in transit is encrypted with HTTPS/TLS. Cloud data is held in Google Cloud infrastructure and protected by security rules that allow a signed-in user to read and write only their own document and files. Firebase App Check rejects requests that do not come from a genuine copy of the app.
No system is perfectly secure. Please keep your Google or Apple account protected, and tell us promptly if you believe your account has been misused.
12. Children
The app prepares users for a driving licence exam and is intended for people old enough to apply for one in Nepal. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us data, contact us and we will delete it.
13. International transfers
Our backend runs on Google Cloud and Firebase, so your data may be processed on servers outside Nepal, including in the United States and the European Union. Google applies standard contractual clauses and equivalent safeguards to those transfers.
14. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when the app changes, and revise the "last updated" date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced in the app. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.
15. Contact
Softshala Nepal
Email: [email protected]
App: Driving License Tayari (com.softshalanepal.nepalidrivinglicense)
For deletion requests, please write "Account Deletion Request" in the subject line.