Privacy & Data
SOS Off-Road Rescue Team is a volunteer group that helps people stuck off-road in the UAE. We only collect what we need to get you out, and we never sell your data or use it for advertising.
This page covers @SOSRescue_BOT on Telegram, the live map and sosrescueuae.com. Last updated: 19 October 2026.
When you ask for help
To send volunteers to you, we save your case:
- your name and phone number
- your location (the GPS point or map link you send)
- what happened, and the photos or videos you send
- your Telegram name, @username and ID (if you report through Telegram)
- when the case was opened and closed, and how it ended
| What | Emergency group | Volunteer on your case | Admins | Public map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your name | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Your phone | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Location | Yes | Yes | Yes | The point only, no name |
| Photos and details | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
An admin may post a case for you when you call them. The admin's name is then saved with the case.
If you volunteer
When you take a case, we save your name, @username, Telegram ID, phone, vehicle and ETA with that case. The person you're helping gets your first name, phone and vehicle so they can reach you.
If you register (📇 My volunteer card), we also keep your first and last name, phone, vehicles, gear and up to 3 photos of each vehicle. Admins can see your card. You can edit or delete it at any time from 📇 My volunteer card; deleting removes your details and photos.
We count the cases you help with for the monthly and yearly rankings. Names appear in rankings inside Telegram and on the admin map, never on the public map.
Live location (volunteers on the way)
While you share, the bot saves your position, direction and GPS accuracy, with your name, vehicle and ETA. This is cleared when the case ends, after 30 minutes with no update, or when you stop sharing.
We also save your route for that case: a time and a GPS point every 30 metres or every minute, linked to your Telegram ID. Admins use routes to guide volunteers on future cases.
| Who | What they see |
|---|---|
| The person you're helping | Your live position and distance, during the case only |
| Admins | Your exact position and the saved route |
| Public map | A rough circle (about 1 km) marked "Volunteer on the way", no name |
Nothing about your phone or device is saved. Telegram doesn't give bots that.
Keeping the groups safe from spam
The bot protects our Telegram groups from spam and scam accounts. To do that it keeps:
- a list of people it has seen: name, @username, Telegram ID, app language and when and where they were last seen
- the text of messages it removes as spam, so admins can check and put back a message removed by mistake
- bans, mutes and warnings, and which admin made them
- your language choice (English or Arabic)
Joins, leaves, bans and removed messages are posted in a private log channel that only admins can see. The bot does not read or keep private messages between members.
The website and live map
Reporting on the website. The form asks for your name, phone, location, what happened and photos or videos. We also save your IP address and a random ID for your browser, for 90 days. These stop fake reports and limit one open case per phone. A private link lets only your phone follow, update or cancel your case. If an admin blocks a phone number, browser or IP address for fake reports, it stays blocked until they remove it.
What your browser keeps. A random browser ID (for 1 year) and your open case link (for 3 days). We use no advertising or tracking cookies and no analytics.
The public map shows where cases happened, how they ended and how long help took. It never shows names, phone numbers or photos. Admins sign in with a password to see case details.
Services we rely on:
- Telegram runs the bot and our groups
- Cloudflare protects the website and checks you're not a robot
- Esri and OpenStreetMap draw the map, so your browser loads map images from them
- Google Maps opens when you tap a location link
What we never do
- Sell your data or use it for advertising
- Show names, phone numbers or photos on the public map
- Save anything about your phone or device from Telegram
- Track your location outside a rescue you chose to share it for
- Read private chats between members
How long we keep things
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Case records (details, location, photos in Telegram, who helped) | Kept for the team's history and statistics |
| Volunteer routes | Kept for admins to guide future cases |
| Live position while sharing | Until the case ends or you stop sharing |
| Volunteer card and vehicle photos | Until you delete it |
| Website reports: IP address, browser ID, the website's own copy of your photos | 90 days |
| Removed spam messages | The latest 200 |
| People the bot has seen | Up to 40,000, oldest removed first |
| Website open-case link in your browser | 3 days |
You can ask us to delete your details at any time (see below).
Your choices
- Don't share live location: tap ✖️ Not now. Volunteering works the same without it.
- Delete your volunteer card: 📇 My volunteer card → 🗑️ Delete.
- Get a copy, correct or delete anything else: open @SOSRescue_BOT, send /privacy and tap 📩 Ask for a copy of my data or 🗑️ Ask to delete my data. If you reported on the website, the team may ask for the phone number you used. We'll reply within 14 days.
We may keep a case's date, area and outcome without your name or phone, so the team's statistics stay correct.
If this page changes, we'll post it in the SOS chat group.