Location Services & Privacy

Your location is sensitive information. We take that seriously. Plowdesk uses location to help snow contractors manage their operations and document the work they perform—not to build advertising profiles or track people for unrelated purposes.

This page explains location features in the Plowdesk mobile app and supplements our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The location-specific commitments below apply to location and movement information used by these features.

1. Why Plowdesk Uses Location

Location helps a contractor coordinate crews, follow route progress, understand travel and time on site, and connect service activity to the property where work took place. These records also support proof of service that the contractor can provide to customers and insurance companies.

A location record supports documentation; it does not, by itself, prove that a particular service was completed or guarantee acceptance of an insurance claim.

2. Precise Location

With your permission, Plowdesk uses precise location to identify where the device is during tracked work. An approximate location may cover too large an area to distinguish one customer property from another. Precise location helps associate route activity and service records with the correct site.

Location records can include coordinates, the time of the reading, and information about its accuracy. GPS accuracy varies with the device, surroundings, permissions, and operating-system settings.

3. Why Background Location Is Needed

A plow route continues when the screen locks or a driver switches to navigation or another app. Background location permission allows Plowdesk to maintain the operational record during those moments while tracking is active, without requiring the Plowdesk screen to stay open.

Background permission is permission to support tracking when the app is not visible. It is not permission to use location for unrelated purposes. Restricting this permission can leave gaps in route history and proof-of-service records.

4. Movement Detection and Battery Use

Plowdesk uses the device’s movement-detection features to distinguish movement from being stationary. Depending on your device, the permission may be described as Motion & Fitness, Physical Activity, or motion/health access. This is movement recognition for location tracking, rather than a request to read your medical records.

Movement detection lets the tracking engine pause active GPS tracking when the device is stationary and resume it when movement is detected. Low-power movement monitoring may remain active so the app knows when to resume. This reduces unnecessary location readings and battery use; it does not switch off your phone’s system-wide Location Services.

The timing of these transitions depends on tracking settings, device behavior, and the operating system. Being stationary does not necessarily mean that no further location reading can occur.

5. Tracking Outside Cell Coverage

Plowdesk uses Transistorsoft’s Background Geolocation technology to help manage movement-aware tracking and offline location records. GPS can often determine location without cellular coverage. When a network connection is unavailable, records can be held on the device and synchronized to Plowdesk when connectivity returns.

This helps preserve the work history in areas with poor reception. The office cannot see newly recorded offline locations until they upload, and the technology cannot create a GPS fix where none is available. See Transistorsoft’s documentation for information about the underlying tracking technology.

6. Why Location Is Stored on Our Servers

Server storage makes route and service history available to the contractor beyond a single phone. It supports coordination between the field and office and preserves records for reviewing completed work and preparing proof of service.

These records are private, not public. They can be associated with the contractor’s account, crew activity, routes, and customer properties. For that reason, we do not describe them as truly anonymous: removing a name alone does not make precise location data anonymous.

Access is limited to authorized people who need the records for the contractor’s operations, and service providers or support personnel as needed to deliver and support these features. Contractors are responsible for sharing relevant proof-of-service records appropriately with their customers and insurance companies. Location history is not a public directory or a public live map.

7. Our Commitment to Limited Use

Plowdesk uses location and movement information only to assist the plow contractor in managing plow operations and providing proof of service, including the technical processing and support needed to deliver those features. We do not sell this information, use it for targeted advertising, or permit its use for unrelated marketing or profiling.

Any disclosure required by law is handled under our Privacy Policy. That obligation does not authorize unrelated commercial use of location information.

8. Your Permissions and Choices

You can review or change Plowdesk’s location, precise-location, background-location, and movement permissions in your device settings. Permission names vary by operating system. Turning permissions off may interrupt tracking, offline recording, or the completeness of operational records.

Changing a permission does not automatically delete records already saved. Contact your contractor’s account administrator or Plowdesk to discuss access, retention, or deletion. Records are retained only as needed for the stated operational purposes or applicable legal obligations, as described in our Privacy Policy.

Contractors are responsible for explaining work-related tracking to their crews and ensuring its use is appropriate for their operations.

9. Questions About Location Privacy

If you have questions about location permissions, who can access your records, or how your information is used, contact info@plowdesk.com.