Bowser is a fuel price comparison service operated by MJS Consulting (ABN pending), based in Brisbane, Australia. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you use the Bowser web application and any related services. We are committed to complying with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
2. Information We Collect
We collect the following types of information to provide and improve our service:
Location data — your device location, only when you explicitly grant permission. This is used to find nearby fuel stations and calculate routes.
Account information — your name and email address, collected through our authentication provider Clerk when you create an account.
Fuel price submissions — if you choose to report a fuel price, we store the price, station, fuel type and timestamp of your submission.
Vehicle information — if you add vehicles to your profile, we store the make, model and fuel type to personalise your experience.
Search queries — route searches and station lookups to improve our service and provide relevant results.
Usage data — anonymised analytics about how you interact with Bowser, including pages visited and features used.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
Displaying nearby fuel stations and prices based on your location.
Calculating the cheapest fuel options along your driving route.
Personalising fuel recommendations based on your vehicle and preferences.
Improving price accuracy through community-reported data.
Sending price alerts and notifications you have opted into.
Analysing usage patterns to improve features and fix issues.
4. Data Sources
Fuel price data displayed in Bowser is sourced from a combination of:
Government fuel price APIs — including the Queensland Government Fuel Price Reporting scheme and the NSW Government FuelCheck service (which also covers Tasmania).
Community price reports — prices voluntarily submitted by Bowser users, which are clearly labelled as community-sourced.
5. Data Sharing
We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties. We only share data in the following limited circumstances:
Anonymised and aggregated data — we may publish or share aggregate statistics about fuel prices and trends that cannot identify individual users.
Third-party service providers — we use trusted providers to operate Bowser, including Clerk (authentication), Mapbox (mapping and geocoding), Vercel (hosting), PostHog (analytics) and Sentry (error tracking). These providers only access data necessary to perform their services.
Legal requirements — we may disclose information if required by Australian law, a court order or a regulatory authority.
6. Data Storage
Your data is stored on servers located in Australia (Sydney region) via Supabase and Vercel. All data is encrypted in transit using TLS and encrypted at rest. We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide our services or as required by law. If you delete your account, your personal data will be removed within 30 days, except where retention is required for legal or operational reasons.
7. Your Rights
Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:
Access your personal information that we hold.
Correct any inaccurate or outdated personal information.
Delete your account and associated personal data.
Opt out of analytics tracking and marketing communications.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@bowser.au. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
8. Cookies
Bowser uses a limited number of cookies:
Essential cookies — required for authentication and session management via Clerk. These cannot be disabled as they are necessary for the service to function.
Analytics cookies — used by PostHog to understand how users interact with Bowser. You can opt out of analytics tracking at any time through your account settings or by contacting us.
We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational or regulatory reasons. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you via email or an in-app notification. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
10. Contact
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:
If you are unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.