How to delete your Bolt account

About deleting your Bolt account

Bolt operates as a multi-modal mobility platform, facilitating ride-hailing, food delivery, and micro-mobility services. By centralizing travel history, payment methods, and food preferences, the platform maintains a significant cache of user behavior data. Users often seek to delete their Bolt accounts to minimize their exposure to potential data breaches, reduce targeted marketing, or disconnect from a service they no longer utilize.

Key reasons users choose to close their Bolt profiles include:

• Mitigating risks associated with past data security incidents involving the service.
• Reducing the volume of location-tracking data linked to their home and work addresses.
• Removing stored credit card information and transaction logs from the platform’s database.
• Opting out of the ecosystem after transitioning to competitor mobility services.

What happens to your data

When you request account deletion, Bolt typically removes your profile from its active database. However, data retention policies often necessitate the storage of certain transaction records for legal, tax, and anti-fraud purposes. The specific data types associated with a Bolt account include:

• Full name, email address, and phone number.
• Detailed GPS trip logs and precise location history.
• Saved credit card tokens and past invoice records.
• Food order history, including restaurant preferences and delivery instructions.
• Device identifiers and technical log data used for app performance analytics.

While Bolt attempts to anonymize or delete personal identifiers, regulatory requirements in specific jurisdictions (such as GDPR in Europe) govern the exact timeline for permanent data erasure from their internal backups.

Privacy considerations

Using a comprehensive mobility app like Bolt involves persistent data collection. Privacy-conscious users should be aware that Bolt utilizes location data to optimize dispatching and estimate arrival times, which essentially creates a detailed map of a user's daily habits. Furthermore, the platform integrates with third-party advertising partners to deliver targeted promotions.

To better manage your privacy while using or departing from the platform:

• Review the 'Data Privacy' section in your account settings to opt out of non-essential marketing communications.
• Download a copy of your personal data before requesting deletion to ensure you have records of your history.
• Revoke app permissions for 'Location Services' and 'Contacts' in your smartphone settings if you decide to keep the account active but wish to limit tracking.
• Monitor your bank statements for any recurring charges associated with Bolt subscriptions even after initiating a deletion request.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will deleting the Bolt app also delete my account?

No, uninstalling the Bolt application from your mobile device does not delete your account. You must explicitly request account closure through the settings menu or via support to stop data processing.

How long does Bolt take to process a deletion request?

While Bolt strives to process requests promptly, the duration can vary based on regional regulations; typically, account closure is finalized within 30 days after the request is verified.

Can I recover my Bolt account after deletion?

No, deleting a Bolt account is generally a permanent action. You will lose access to your ride history, vouchers, and account loyalty status, and you will need to create a new profile from scratch if you return.

Does Bolt keep my ride history after I delete the account?

Bolt is legally required to keep certain records for tax and financial auditing purposes, though they are usually removed from your personal profile view and anonymized over time.

Should I contact support if I cannot find the 'Delete Account' button?

Yes, if you do not see a self-service deletion option in your app settings, you must contact Bolt's support team directly to ensure your account is properly flagged for removal.