Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly when using Crew Chief, as well as information collected automatically:

• Account information — name, email address, and authentication data managed through Clerk
• Vehicle information — VINs, year/make/model, mileage, service records, modifications, maintenance schedules, and vehicle specifications
• Diagnostic data — OBD2 trouble codes, freeze frame data, and engine parameters collected via Bluetooth OBD2 scanners or entered manually
• Photos and documents — vehicle photos taken with your camera or selected from your photo library, and documents such as registration, insurance, and service records that you upload
• Payment information — processed securely by Stripe; we do not store your credit card details
• Usage data — pages visited, features used, interactions with the Service, and session analytics collected through PostHog

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service
• Generate AI-powered diagnostic reports by sending vehicle data, trouble codes, and symptoms to AI providers (see Section 5)
• Decode VIN information and retrieve vehicle specifications from the NHTSA database
• Search for replacement parts and repair videos relevant to your vehicle
• Extract structured data from uploaded documents using AI vision processing
• Process subscriptions and payments
• Send service-related communications such as vehicle sharing invitations, gift subscription notifications, and vehicle listing alerts
• Detect and prevent fraud or abuse

3. Mobile Application

The Crew Chief mobile app requests the following device permissions:

• Bluetooth — to connect to OBD2 diagnostic scanners and read vehicle engine data. Bluetooth may operate in the background to maintain scanner connections during active diagnostic sessions.
• Camera — to take photos of your vehicle for documentation purposes
• Photo library — to select existing photos for vehicle documentation
• Location — used on Android to discover nearby Bluetooth devices, as required by the Android operating system for Bluetooth scanning

The mobile app stores data locally on your device using an encrypted secure store for sensitive information (such as authentication tokens) and a local database for offline access to your vehicle data.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate and improve the Service. Data shared with each service is limited to what is necessary for its function:

• Anthropic (Claude AI) — processes vehicle data, diagnostic codes, and symptoms to generate AI diagnostic reports. Also processes uploaded document images for automated field extraction.
• Groq — alternative AI provider used for faster diagnostic report generation on certain account tiers
• Clerk — manages user authentication and account security
• Stripe — processes subscription payments and gift code purchases
• PostHog — collects product analytics including page views, feature usage, and session recordings (with sensitive text fields masked) to help us improve the Service
• Vercel — hosts the web application and provides cloud storage for uploaded photos and documents
• NHTSA — U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database used for VIN decoding, vehicle specifications, and recall information
• eBay & Amazon — vehicle year, make, and model are sent to search for replacement parts. Results may include affiliate links.
• YouTube — vehicle and diagnostic code information is used to find relevant repair guide videos
• Mapbox — provides maps for the trusted shops directory
• Resend — delivers transactional emails such as vehicle sharing invitations, gift subscription notifications, and vehicle listing alerts

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers — the third-party services listed in Section 5, which process data on our behalf to provide their respective functions
• Vehicle sharing — when you invite collaborators to view or edit a vehicle, they can access the vehicle data you have chosen to share
• Legal requirements — when required by law, regulation, or legal process
• With your consent — when you explicitly authorize sharing, such as listing a vehicle for sale or publishing a diagnostic report

6. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. Data is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS), authentication is managed through Clerk's secure infrastructure, and sensitive data on mobile devices is stored in encrypted secure storage. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes such as resolving disputes. Uploaded photos and documents stored in cloud storage will be deleted along with your account data.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Export your vehicle data
• Opt out of non-essential communications

9. Cookies and Analytics

We use essential cookies required for authentication and session management. These are necessary for the Service to function and cannot be disabled. We use PostHog for product analytics, which may set cookies to track sessions and measure feature usage. We do not use advertising cookies.

10. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us so we can promptly delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by posting the updated policy on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at support@crewchief.cc.