POLICE COMPANION
← Back to site
Police Companion is independently developed in the United Kingdom. This policy explains what the app stores, what it sends to other services and why. It applies to the Police Companion app for Android and iOS and to this website.
Police Companion does not need an account. The following are stored only on your phone and are never sent to us: your shifts and shift notes, overtime and pay settings, notes and drawings, to-do list, expenses, favourites, custody, bail and STL tracker entries, the contacts you add, Map Tools location log entries, Arrest Details entries, and your settings. We cannot see, recover or delete this data for you.
If you use Back up my data, the app creates a file on your phone and you choose where to save or send it. We do not receive a copy. Anyone with the file can read its contents, so keep it somewhere secure.
You can delete this data at any time by clearing it within the app, clearing the app's storage in your phone's settings, or uninstalling the app.
The app uses your location only when you open Find Me, use Map Tools or ask it to find your position. It is used while the app is open and never in the background. Location is not sent to us. To show your address, your coordinates are sent to an address lookup service. Map images are loaded from a map tile service, which receives the area of the map being viewed. If you search for a place or postcode in Map Tools, the search is sent to postcodes.io (postcodes) or the address lookup service (place names).
When you first open the app, it asks whether it may send anonymous usage statistics, such as which screens are opened. Nothing is sent unless you choose Allow, and you can change your choice at any time in Settings. We use PostHog, with data hosted in the EU, for this. It does not include anything you type, your shifts, notes, contacts or location, or your name or email address. We use it to decide what to improve.
If you send feedback from the app, your message, the type of feedback and, if you choose to give it, your email address are sent to us through Formspree, a form-handling service. We use them only to read and reply to your feedback. Please do not include operational details or anyone's personal information.
Police Companion Pro is bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Payment is handled entirely by Apple or Google under their own privacy policies. We do not receive your name or payment details. The app checks with the store whether your subscription is active.
When your phone is online, the app checks this website for updated legal content. This works like visiting a web page: the request includes your device's IP address, which our hosting provider (Netlify) may keep briefly in its server logs. No other information is sent.
We rely on your consent for usage statistics and for location, which you can withdraw at any time. We handle feedback because you have chosen to send it to us, and to reply. We do not sell your data, share it for advertising or use it to build a profile of you.
Feedback emails are kept for as long as needed to deal with your feedback and then deleted. Usage statistics are kept in aggregated form to show how the app is used over time.
Under UK data protection law you can ask to see, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, and object to or restrict how we use it. Email support@policecompanion.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Police Companion is intended for police officers, staff and people training to join the police. It is not aimed at children.
If this policy changes, the date at the top of this page will be updated.
By using Police Companion, you agree to use it as a personal reference and productivity tool only. You must not enter confidential, sensitive or case-identifiable information belonging to members of the public into any part of the app.
Police Companion Pro. Pro is an optional auto-renewing monthly subscription, bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play. New subscribers get a 14-day free trial. Unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial or current period ends, your store account is charged the monthly price shown in the store at the time of purchase, and the subscription renews each month. You can manage or cancel it at any time in your App Store or Google Play account settings. Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their policies. If a subscription ends, Pro features lock again but data stored on your phone is kept.
The app is provided "as is". We make reasonable efforts to keep it available and accurate but do not guarantee uninterrupted access, and we may update, change or remove features at any time.
You are responsible for how you use the information in the app in an operational context. See the Disclaimer below for the limits of what the app can be relied on for.
Police Companion is an independent reference and learning tool. It is not an official police, government, College of Policing, CPS or other law-enforcement application and is not intended to replace official systems, legislation, statutory guidance, force policy or professional advice.
Every effort is made to keep information accurate and up to date. However, legislation, case law, guidance, procedures and policing policy can change, and there may be a delay before changes are reflected in the app. Information may therefore be incomplete, inaccurate or outdated.
Police Companion must not be relied upon as the sole basis for operational decisions, including arrest, detention, search, seizure, use of force, bail, charging or other investigative decisions. Always verify the current law, applicable guidance and force policy before taking action.
The absence of an offence, power, procedure, defence or exception from the app does not mean that it does not exist or apply.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Police Companion accepts no responsibility for consequences arising from reliance on information contained within the app. Nothing in the app constitutes legal advice.
Police Companion is independently developed and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Metropolitan Police Service, College of Policing, Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service or any other police force or government body unless expressly stated.
For support, corrections or questions about this policy, email support@policecompanion.co.uk.
Legislation is reproduced from legislation.gov.uk and railway byelaw wording from the Railway Byelaws published by the Department for Transport, in each case containing public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Neither the Department for Transport nor any other government body endorses Police Companion.
Maps and address data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence. Postcode search by postcodes.io: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right; source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Airport byelaw entries are written in Police Companion's own wording. They are checked against the byelaws published by the relevant airport operator, but no part of the operator's publication is reproduced.