Trust & safety

Everyone here is a verified coworker

iHopOn is not open to the general public: you need an account, you are never shown on the open web, and verifying a work email address is required before you can be matched with anyone or see the day board. Members whose domain we recognise carry a verified marker on their profile and on every match; a small number are awaiting a quick manual review of an eligible domain and can be matched while they wait.

We check the domain that address belongs to — not the contents of anyone's inbox. And we never store the work address itself: it is turned into an irreversible fingerprint the moment you verify. Nobody at iHopOn can read it back, and it never appears on your profile or anyone else's screen.

Your home address is never shared

iHopOn matches you on a broad corridor — an area like “Barrhaven/Manotick/Greely”, covering a whole part of the region — not on a street address. Other members see that corridor and the office building you're heading to. They never see your address, your postal code, or the exact point you set when you signed up.

There is no live location tracking anywhere in iHopOn. Not during a ride, not before one, not ever. The app has no way to know where you are right now, because it never asks.

Your phone number stays yours

Messages happen inside iHopOn. There is no phone number field anywhere in the app, and no email address changes hands when you connect with someone.

If you decide to swap numbers with someone you've agreed to ride with, that's your choice to make, later, once you've decided you want to.

Nothing happens until you both agree

Seeing someone in your matches does not connect you to them. You send a request, they accept, and only then can either of you send a message. Either side can decline, and a decline tells the other person nothing beyond that it didn't go ahead.

If you'd rather only be matched with women, you can turn that on in your profile. It applies in both directions.

Block anyone, instantly

Blocking takes effect immediately and works both ways. The person disappears from your matches, from the day board and from messaging — and you disappear from theirs.

They are not notified, and they can't tell from the app whether you blocked them or simply stopped using iHopOn.

Reports go to a real person

You can report anyone from their profile or from a message thread. Safety and harassment reports are read first, by a human — right now, that human is the person who runs iHopOn.

We can suspend an account, for a set period or indefinitely, and we can close one for good. Either signs the person out of every device immediately and ends their access. A closure also keeps the record of the work email attached to it, so that address can't be used to open a fresh account.

We commit to reading every report within two business days, and safety and harassment reports sooner than that. iHopOn is run by one person alongside a full-time job, so that is a promise we can actually keep — we would rather publish a number we meet than a faster one we miss.

Serious incidents belong with the police, not with us. We are not investigators and we have no authority: if something happened that the police should know about, report it to them. Tell us as well and we will act on the account, but do not wait for us first.

Reliability follows people

After a ride, members record what happened — on time, late, cancelled, or a no-show. That builds the reliability figure shown next to someone's name. It isn't a popularity score; it's a record of whether they turned up. Separately, someone you've actually ridden with can leave you a star rating, and a private written note that only you and an administrator ever see — never the person it's about.

If two people flag each other after the same trip, both flags are held for review instead of counted, so the system can't be used to retaliate against someone who flagged you first.

Before your first ride

• Agree the pickup spot and time in the app, in writing, so there's a record of what you both said.
• Meet somewhere public and well-lit the first time — a park-and-ride, a mall lot, a busy corner.
• Tell someone you know who you're riding with and when.
• You can cancel at any time, for any reason, and you never owe anyone an explanation.
• If something feels wrong, don't get in the car. That is always the right call, and it costs you nothing here.

Money and insurance

iHopOn processes no payments of any kind. Cost sharing is arranged directly between you, and any amount shown in the app is a note between members — not a charge, and not something we handle.

Cost-shared carpooling is normally fine on a personal auto policy in Canada, but policies differ and we can't speak for yours. If you'll be driving, take two minutes to confirm with your own insurer that carpooling with cost sharing is covered.

What iHopOn doesn't do

For completeness, because you should hear it from us rather than find out later: verifying a work email is the extent of the checking we do. We don't run criminal background checks, we don't check driving records, we don't verify anyone's insurance, and we don't inspect vehicles.

We're not in the car, and we're not a party to any ride you arrange. iHopOn introduces people who are already making the same drive; what you agree to after that is between you.

In an emergency

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 first. Report it to us afterwards at support@ihopon.com and we will act on it — but we are not an emergency service and cannot help you in the moment.

Getting in touch

Anything at all, including things that aren't quite a report: support@ihopon.com. A person reads it.