LS

LineSarthi
by LineBags

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 July 2026

LineSarthi ("the app", "we", "us") is a travel companion app for Indian rail and bus travellers, and powers the LineBags lost-and-found tag service. We are privacy-first by design: your trip information stays on your own device, and we collect the minimum data needed to make lost-and-found bag recovery, paid-tag purchases and cross-device restoration work. This policy explains what we store, where, and why.

1. Information stored only on your device

The core of the app is offline-first. The following is stored locally on your phone (using the device's secure storage) and is never sent to our servers:

• Trips, packing lists, expenses, budgets, and reminders
• Documents you add, including any files/images you attach to them
• Emergency contact numbers you save
• App preferences (language, light/dark theme)

Because this data lives on your device, uninstalling the app deletes it. We cannot access or recover it.

2. Information collected for the LineBags lost-and-found service

LineBags lets a finder who scans a bag's QR code send you a message so your lost bag can be returned. To make this work, when you activate a QR tag we store the following on our backend:

• A random, non-identifying tag ID (printed in the QR code)
• The bag name and finder note you choose to show on the public page
• The bag's status (safe / lost / found) and activation/expiry dates
• A device-held secret used to verify ownership of trial and backpack tags
• Optionally, a notification token and/or email address — only if you provide them — so we can alert you when a finder messages you
• Optionally, an emergency contact number — only shown publicly if you explicitly enable it

When a finder leaves a message on the public lost-bag page, we store:

• The message text and any contact detail (phone or email) the finder chooses to leave
• The finder's IP address and approximate location, used solely to prevent spam and abuse
• A timestamp

Owner personal details (name, address, documents, phone) are never shown on the public lost-bag page.

3. Google account and paid-purchase information

Google Sign-In is requested when you purchase or restore a paid LineBags tag. The rest of LineSarthi can be used without signing in. When you connect a Google account, we receive and store:

• Your stable Google account identifier, email address, display name and profile-picture URL
• The Google Play product ID, purchase token and verification time for a paid-tag purchase
• The relationship between your LineSarthi account, its paid tags and their entitlement/expiry status

A Google identity token is transmitted securely to our backend and verified with Google to authenticate each account request; we do not store that token as an account field. We use account data only for authentication, purchase verification, fraud prevention, service notifications and restoring valid paid tags across your devices. Google Play processes payment-card and banking information; LineSarthi does not receive or store those payment details.

4. Device permissions

• Camera — to scan a LineBags QR tag. Images are not uploaded.
• Microphone / speech recognition — to add packing items by voice. Audio is processed for that purpose only and not stored by us.
• Notifications — to alert you when a finder reports your bag, or when a tag is about to expire.
• Biometric / device lock — to optionally lock your in-app document vault.

5. Service providers we use

The backend that powers LineBags relies on these processors:

• Vercel — application and website hosting
• Neon — database for tag and finder-message data
• Expo Push & Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) — delivering notifications
• Google Identity Services — authenticating Google-linked LineSarthi accounts
• Google Play Billing — processing and verifying paid-tag purchases
• Cloudflare Turnstile — bot/spam protection on the public finder form

6. Data retention and account deletion

• Finder messages are automatically deleted after 365 days.
• A tag's protection lasts one year from activation; you can renew it.
• You can permanently delete individual finder messages and deactivate a tag's public service from the app.
• Google profile information is retained while your LineSarthi account exists and is deleted when you delete the account.
• After account deletion, minimal purchase-verification records may be retained without the Google profile link for up to seven years for fraud prevention, accounting and legal compliance.

You can initiate deletion inside the Android app under Settings → Privacy & security, or use our public account and data deletion page. Deleting a LineSarthi account does not delete your Google account or Google Play's own transaction records. It removes cross-device restoration for the deleted account's paid tags.

7. Sharing and selling

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with third parties for advertising. Data is shared only with the service providers above, strictly to operate the service.

8. Children

The app is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

9. Your choices and rights

• Delete on-device data by uninstalling the app.
• Delete individual finder messages or deactivate a tag from the app's Backpack section.
• Delete your Google-linked LineSarthi account from the app's Settings screen.
• Request complete or partial deletion through our account and data deletion page.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

11. Contact

For privacy questions or data-deletion requests, contact: linebagshub@gmail.com

LineSarthi · LineBags — Bharat-first travel companion. This policy applies to the Android app (package com.linesarthi.app) and the linebags.in website.