Reader Asks Questions About Privacy When It Comes To The Parking App

We had a reader send us some questions about the new parking app that is in development and the questions surrounded the privacy of the app and what happens to any personal information you may share with the app.

How is your personal information being used? Is it being sold or used for marketing purposes? What is the end use of your personal private information you may have to share to use the app? Were the basic concerns the reader expressed. Concerns in our digital age many of us have.

We are happy to report after getting a response back to the reader’s concerns that any personal information is not being used for anything other than paying your parking meter fee and the app’s service charge.

So we wrote the questions out and sent them to Craig Hemingway (CH), communications manager for the City of Moose Jaw and received the following responses:

Question One - Can you tell me what are the privacy rules surrounding the new parking app given that personal information is going to a private company?

CH Response - No personal info is being collected. Only payment info for the 3rd party payment processor. (email address and payment info). This info is not collected or stored by the City.

Question Two - Is any of the information supplied being used for purposes other than paying parking fees in the Downtown area?

CH Response - No

 Question Three - And is this allowed as part of the agreement? 

CH Response - N/A

Question Four - If the information is being used for marketing or other purposes can you say what those are and if possible by who? 

CH Response - As stated, no info collected.

 Question Five — Will the parking information be used for any type of geo-location? 

CH Response - No. In the future there may be an option within the app software to show available parking spots, but there is no plan to use this feature at this time as it can’t detect when meters are in use via coin payment.

Do you have any questions you would like answered?

All we ask is you keep them clean, in good taste as well as do not libel others nor break any other laws.

Send your questions with your name and phone number to moosejawnews@gmail.com we just need to confirm your identity, and will if requested not publish your name.

We will do our best to get you answers.