BusyBusy collects a small amount of location data. GPS breadcrumbing captures the GPS location of a mobile device for each time tracking session. However, BusyBusy's current breadcrumbing feature only captures GPS locations whenever the handheld device makes a significant change like switching cell towers or moving a significant distance from the previous location. It is not designed to track users 24/7.
Our goal is to help create transparency and quality documentation for our clients. Breadcrumbing is a great way to document where work has occurred and can protect the company from potential disputes with project owners regarding workforce attendance.
When Will Breadcrumbing Not Be Used?
For the protection and privacy of our users, here is a list of the situations when GPS breadcrumbing will NOT be used.
When using the Break button in BusyBusy to take an unpaid break. During the duration of the unpaid break, no location updates will be recorded.
When a user is off the clock. (clocked out)
When a supervisor or an admin clocks in another user. The user being clocked in won't have their location recorded.
Using the Clock In At and Clock Out At feature.
At BusyBusy, we work hard to create tools that work for our clients in the construction industry and at the same time we care about the privacy of everyone using our app. You can get more information by reviewing our Terms and Agreements and our Privacy Policy at busybusy.com. |  |
Good to Know about GPS & Location Services in BusyBusy
Breadcrumbing is only available for PRO customers. The GPS feature, historically, has not had a negative impact on the user's battery since our app does not make calls to pull GPS locations. Both iOS and Android systems already capture this data as known locations and our app records the data from there. Known locations are locations that Apple and Android already recognize based on places other iPhone and Android users have visited.
Breadcrumbing will begin as soon as the employees clock themselves in and will end when the employee clocks out or gets clocked out by another user. The breadcrumb pins will be displayed in gray in the employee's time entry map. This map will also show the green clock-in pin and red clock-out pin.
Keep in mind, if a user stays in the same place throughout the day, there will just be a single pin for that user until their location changes or they clock out.
If the project has a geofence and an employee goes outside the project's geofence, it will show both pins on the map with the project's geofence shown. Mobile exceptions reports show all the locations that were recorded outside the project's geofence.
GPS pins will often be recorded even if the user has no cell phone service and is offline. GPS systems are often still available even if cell service is not. The same goes for when the app is hard closed.
GPS Breadcrumbing will NOT record location changes if the device is turned off or GPS is deactivated.
What do the GPS icons on the Employees page mean?
On the Employees page, the icon under the GPS column header changes color depending on the employee's current GPS status.
Yellow – Out of bounds: The employee has gone outside the geofence while clocked in.
Grey – No issues: Everything looks good!
Red – GPS tracking disabled: The employee has turned off location services on their phone.
GPS Disabled Notification
An alert triggers if an employee manually turns off their GPS while clocked in. The employee will also receive a notification reminding them that GPS is required while on the clock.
Privacy First: BusyBusy never tracks or records GPS settings when an employee is off the clock or on an unpaid break.
Manual Settings Only: The system only triggers an alert if the employee manually turns off GPS in their phone's settings. It will not flag them for having poor cell service or dropping network connectivity.
Technical Accuracy: Detection relies directly on OS data provided by Apple and Google. While the algorithms are highly reliable for "trusting but verifying" attendance, they are bound by mobile operating system limitations and may occasionally miss an instance.
How to Restrict Clock-Ins to Specific Locations
To ensure employees can only clock in when they are physically at a project site, follow these steps:
Enable Project Requirements: Go to the main left menu and select Settings > Time Keeping. Click on Project and toggle Require to On. This ensures employees must select a project to clock in.
Set Up Geofencing: Ensure a geofence is active for your specific project.
Enforcement: Once these settings are active, employees will be required to select the project and must be physically located inside the geofence to successfully clock in.
We have a great video here that can get you even more info on how we use that GPS & location data! |
 | Locations can be viewed by administrators and supervisors in the following reports:
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