Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information to provide, maintain, and improve our Service. The types of information we collect depend on how you interact with the platform:

• Dealership Account Information: Business name, contact name, email address, phone number, business address, and account credentials provided during registration.
• Team Member Information: Name, email address, and role (owner, admin, or member) for each user invited to a dealership account.
• Customer Information Entered by Dealers: First name, last name, email, phone number, and notes that dealership users enter into the platform about their customers.
• Vehicle and Claim Data: Make, model, year, mileage, trim, VIN, accident details, insurer offer details, comparable vehicle listings, valuation results, diminished value claim data, settlement events, and uplift guarantees.
• Billing Information: Payment method details and billing history processed through our payment provider, Stripe. We do not store full credit card numbers on our servers.
• Automatically Collected Data: IP address, device type, browser type, usage data (pages visited, features used, time spent), and analytics data collected through Vercel Analytics.
• Communications: Messages sent through our contact form or support channels.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and operate the Service, including generating valuations, running comparable vehicle searches, and producing claim reports.
• Manage dealership accounts, team members, roles, and permissions.
• Process subscription payments, manage billing, and send invoices.
• Send transactional emails such as welcome messages, team invitations, valuation reports, and account notifications.
• Improve the Service, fix issues, and develop new features based on aggregate usage patterns.
• Communicate with you about your account, respond to support requests, and provide service updates.
• Comply with legal obligations, enforce our terms, and protect the security of the platform.

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We share information only in the following circumstances:

• Within Your Dealership Team: Information entered into the platform, including customer records, valuations, and claim data, is accessible to all team members within your dealership account based on their assigned roles and permissions.
• Third-Party Service Providers: We use trusted third-party processors to operate the Service (see Section 4 below). These providers access your data only as needed to perform their functions and are contractually obligated to protect it.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, court order, or government request.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you of any such change.
• Safety and Rights: We may share information to protect the rights, property, or safety of AutoEquity Experts, our users, or the public.

4. Third-Party Service Providers

We rely on the following third-party services to operate the platform. Each provider processes data only as necessary to deliver their specific function:

• Supabase: Database hosting, authentication, and user management. All dealership data is stored in a PostgreSQL database with row-level security, which ensures that each dealership can only access its own data.
• Stripe: Payment processing, subscription management, and invoicing. Stripe handles all credit card and billing data in accordance with PCI-DSS standards.
• Resend: Transactional email delivery, including welcome emails, team invitations, and valuation reports sent to dealership customers.
• MarketCheck: Vehicle data services, including VIN decoding, comparable vehicle searches, and market valuations. Vehicle information submitted through our tools may be sent to MarketCheck to generate results.
• Vercel: Application hosting and analytics. Vercel Analytics collects anonymized usage data to help us understand how the Service is used and improve performance.

5. Data Isolation Between Dealerships

Each dealership account is logically isolated from all other accounts. Customer records, valuations, claims, team members, and billing data belonging to one dealership are never accessible to another dealership. This isolation is enforced at the database level through row-level security policies.

6. Your Privacy Rights (Including CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident (or reside in a state with similar privacy laws), you have rights including:

• Right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it.
• Right to access, correct, or delete your personal data.
• Right to data portability.
• Right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

Because we do not sell personal information to third parties, opt-out rights related to the sale of personal data do not apply. However, you may still exercise any of the rights listed above.

To exercise your rights:

• Submit a verifiable request via email to privacy@autoequityexperts.com.
• Dealership owners and admins may also delete customer records and team members directly from the platform.

We respond to verified requests within 45 days, with a possible extension of an additional 45 days if necessary.

7. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including encrypted data transmission (TLS), secure authentication through Supabase, row-level security policies for data isolation, and access controls based on team roles. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe and is never stored on our servers. While no system is 100% secure, we take reasonable precautions to protect the data entrusted to us.

8. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your dealership account is active or as needed to provide the Service. When a subscription is canceled, account data is retained for a reasonable period to allow for reactivation and to comply with legal and accounting obligations. You may request deletion of your account and associated data by contacting us at privacy@autoequityexperts.com. Fully anonymized and aggregated data may be retained indefinitely for analytics and service improvement.

9. Customer Data Entered by Dealers

Dealerships may enter personal information about their customers into the platform, including names, contact details, and vehicle information. Dealerships are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate consent or legal basis to provide this information to us. We process this data solely on behalf of the dealership and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We do not use customer data entered by dealers for our own marketing purposes, and we do not share it with other dealerships or third parties except as described in Sections 3 and 4.

10. Children's Privacy

The Service is designed for use by business professionals and is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such information, we will delete it promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. If we make material changes, we will notify active subscribers via email. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or your data? Contact us at: privacy@autoequityexperts.com.