Privacy
LionBus is a free app for CATA buses in State College, for Android and iPhone, made by students. It has no accounts, no ads and no analytics or tracking tools. Nothing is sold, and nothing is linked to who you are.
What leaves your phone
Trip plans and walks
To plan a trip and work out walking routes and times, the app sends the start and end of the trip and of each walk (for example, where you are and a nearby stop) to our server at busappapi.steadystatus21.com. The server answers and does not save these points, and it doesn't log requests.
Live buses
While the app is open or following a trip, it keeps a connection to the same server for live bus positions and CATA's alerts. To count how many phones use LionBus each day, the server keeps a scrambled code made from your internet address, with a key that changes every day, so a phone can't be followed from one day to the next. Only the daily totals are kept, for 60 days.
Place search
Most searches are answered by the list of places built into the app. When a place isn't in it, what you type goes to Photon, a place search run by komoot. It gets the text and a fixed point in downtown State College, never your position. On Android, if Photon finds nothing, the text goes to the phone's own place search (Android's geocoder, usually run by Google).
Maps and schedules
The app downloads map images from OpenFreeMap, CATA's schedule from catabus.com, and a list of places from OpenStreetMap through Overpass. These requests carry no personal data, but like any website, those services see your internet address.
Tips
On iPhone, tips go through Apple's In-App Purchase. Apple handles the payment, and we never see your payment details. Tips aren't available on Android.
Token Transit
On Android, the Open Token Transit button only opens the Token Transit app, or its Google Play page. LionBus sends it nothing.
What stays on your phone
- During a trip, your physical activity (Physical activity on Android, Motion & Fitness on iPhone) tells the app when you get on and off the bus. It is read on the phone and never sent anywhere.
- Saved places, recent searches, settings and the trip you're on stay on the phone.
- The stop alert, the spoken trip and the trip on your Lock Screen (Live Update on Android, Live Activity on iPhone) are made on the phone.
Location in the background
While you follow a trip, the app uses your location with the screen off, so it can tell when you board, when your stop is next and when you've arrived. It stops when the trip ends.
Turning things off
Each permission is optional.
- Location: on Android, Settings › Apps › LionBus › Permissions › Location › Don't allow; on iPhone, Settings › LionBus › Location › Never. You can still search and plan from any place you pick.
- Physical activity / Motion & Fitness: turn it off in the same place. Trips then follow your location alone.
- Notifications: turn them off. You won't get the stop alert or the trip on your Lock Screen.
Deleting your data
Deleting the app deletes everything it kept on your phone. The server holds nothing linked to you. If you have a question or a request, email lionbus@steadystatus21.com.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version goes on this page with a new date.