Privacy Policy
The short version
- We collect only what we need to collect, move and deliver parcels: names, phone numbers, addresses and delivery records.
- We do not sell your information. We do not show advertisements. We do not use advertising or analytics trackers on our website or apps.
- Public parcel tracking needs the parcel ID and the last 4 digits of the phone number, and shows only the parcel status, the area and the time. It never shows names, phone numbers or addresses.
- Our delivery agents' app shares their phone location with us while the app is open. Agents are told this inside the app.
- You can ask us to correct or delete your information. See section 11.
Contents
1. Who we are
Alpha Express is a parcel delivery business in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, based near Ram Mandir, Mayabunder. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Alpha Express. We decide why and how personal information is used for our deliveries, so we are responsible for it.
2. What we collect
Customers: senders and people who receive parcels
We usually get these details from the sender, from a shop, or from you.
- Contact and address: name, phone number, delivery address, landmark, pincode and area.
- Parcel details: parcel ID and QR code, size, weight, remarks, delivery charge, and whether it is paid.
- Delivery record: date and time of each delivery attempt, the result, and the reason if the parcel could not be delivered.
- Proof of delivery: the name of the person who received the parcel, and, if our agent chooses to capture them, a signature, a photo of the delivery, and the GPS position of the delivery.
- Payment record: how the delivery charge was settled (cash, UPI, online, already paid, or pay later) and the amount. We do not take or store card numbers, UPI PINs or bank passwords.
- Saved customer records: for regular customers we may keep name, phone, address, landmark, optional map position of the house, notes, and the agent who usually serves that area.
- Messages to us: what you send us by phone, WhatsApp or email.
Website visitors
- When you track a parcel, we receive the parcel ID and the last 4 digits you type, and your IP address, which our systems hold briefly in memory to limit repeated guessing (see section 6).
- We do not ask you to create an account on the website.
Delivery agents, staff and administrators
- Name, phone number, employee ID, home area, login username and a password that is stored only in scrambled (hashed) form.
- Work records: parcels handled, deliveries, cash collected, end-of-day reports, and the barcodes or QR codes scanned.
- Location of the agent's phone, as explained in section 5.
- Activity records for staff actions, for example who changed a price, with the old and new value, the time, and the type of device used.
Our mobile apps
- Camera: used only to scan QR codes and barcodes. Scanned images are not saved.
- Location: used by the Delivery app as described in section 5.
- Photos and files: the Delivery app can attach a delivery photo, and the Admin app can upload a code image or a CSV file, only when staff choose to do so.
- Data on the phone: the Delivery app keeps the parcels assigned to the agent on the phone so it works without internet, and sends new work to us when the phone is online again. Nothing is shared with advertisers, and our apps contain no third-party advertising or analytics tools.
3. How we use it
- To receive, label, route, deliver and track parcels, and to contact you about a delivery.
- To work out the delivery charge and record payment and end-of-day cash.
- To prove that a delivery took place, and to deal with complaints and disputes.
- To keep our systems secure, prevent misuse and keep an audit trail of staff actions.
- To keep accounts and meet our legal duties, for example tax and record keeping.
- To answer your questions.
We use personal information only for these purposes. We do not use it for marketing unless you have clearly asked to hear from us.
4. Who can see it
Inside Alpha Express
- Delivery agents see only the parcels assigned to them, with the recipient's name, phone and address, which they need to deliver.
- Area managers (sub-admins) see and change only the areas assigned to them.
- Main administrators see all records.
Service providers who help us run the service
| Provider | What it does for us |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosts this website, carries secure web traffic to our server, and protects the admin page with an email sign-in check. |
| Google (Google Drive) | Stores our nightly backup copies. See section 8. |
| WhatsApp, email and phone providers | Carry the messages you choose to send us. Their own privacy policies apply to those messages. |
Other cases
- When the law requires it, or a court or authority lawfully asks for it.
- To protect people or property, or to deal with fraud or abuse.
- If our business is ever sold or merged, records would pass to the new owner, who must respect this policy.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
5. Location data
- Agent location. While the Delivery app is open and the agent has allowed location access, the app sends the phone's position to us about once a minute. We keep only the latest position for each agent, and it is replaced by each new one. Managers use it to see where deliveries are and to help customers. The agent sees a notice about this on the app's home screen, and can stop it by closing the app or turning off location for the app in Android settings.
- Delivery location. When an agent confirms a delivery, the app can record the position of that delivery as proof. This is stored with the delivery record.
- Customer map position. If staff add a map position for a customer's house, it is stored in the customer record and used only to help find the address.
We do not track customers' phones.
6. Public parcel tracking
- You must enter the parcel ID and the last 4 digits of the phone number saved on the parcel. If they do not match, we show a general "not found" message.
- The page shows only the status (such as "Out for delivery"), the area and the time of the last update. It does not show any name, phone number, address, payment amount or agent.
- To stop people guessing parcel IDs, our server counts lookups per IP address for a short time, about ten minutes, in its memory only. These counts are not written to a database and are cleared when the server restarts.
7. Where it is stored and how it is protected
- Our records are kept in a database on a computer operated by Alpha Express.
- Traffic between your device, our apps, our website and our server uses HTTPS (encrypted in transit).
- Passwords are stored only in hashed form. Staff sign-ins expire automatically. Each staff role can reach only the data it needs.
- The admin web page needs a one-time email code before the sign-in page appears.
- Staff actions such as price changes, status changes and end-of-day approvals are logged.
We take reasonable care, but no system is perfectly secure. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will act quickly and tell the people affected and the authorities where the law requires it.
8. Backups and Google Drive
Each night our server saves a copy of its database to its own disk, to a USB drive, and to a Google Drive account owned by Alpha Express. Backups older than 30 days are deleted automatically. Backups contain the same records described in section 2.
The backup tool connects to Google with a single permission, drive.file. With this permission it can see only the files it created itself, and cannot see any other file in the Drive account. It is used only to store and remove our own backup files. The access token is kept only on our server. We do not read, sell or share any other Google user data.
Alpha Express's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Access can be removed at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
9. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Parcel, delivery and payment records | As long as needed for the delivery, our accounts, complaints and disputes, and as the law requires. After that we delete or anonymise them. |
| Saved customer records | Until you ask us to remove them, or until we stop serving that customer. |
| Agent's latest location | Replaced by each new update. Not kept as a history. |
| Staff accounts | While the person works with us. Accounts are then disabled. |
| Backups | 30 days, then deleted automatically. |
| Website lookup counters | About 10 minutes, in memory only. |
10. Cookies and device storage
- Our website does not use advertising or analytics cookies. Our service provider Cloudflare may use strictly necessary security measures to keep the site online and safe.
- The Delivery and Admin apps keep a sign-in token and working data inside the app on the phone. They are removed when the person signs out or uninstalls the app.
11. Your choices and rights
We follow Indian law on personal data, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, as it applies to us. You can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information of yours we hold and how we use it;
- correct information that is wrong or out of date;
- delete information we no longer need. We may have to keep some records, for example accounts, where the law requires;
- stop using your information where you have given consent and now take it back. Withdrawing consent may mean we can no longer deliver to you;
- handle a complaint or grievance about our use of your information.
Write to us using the contact details below, and tell us the parcel ID or the phone number involved so that we can find your records. We may ask you to prove who you are before we share or change anything. We aim to reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our reply, you may take the matter to the Data Protection Board of India once it is open to complaints, or to another authority that has power over the matter.
12. Children
Our website and apps are not meant for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children through the website. If a parcel is addressed to a child, we use the details only to deliver it.
13. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our service or the law changes, and show the new effective date at the top. For a major change we will also tell our delivery staff inside the apps.
14. Contact us
Alpha Express
Near Ram Mandir, Mayabunder
Phone and WhatsApp: +91 94742 31911
Email: [email protected]
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm