Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

• Account details: your email address, password hashes, account-verification and sign-in information, account status and credit balance. Passwords are hashed for account storage.
• Vehicle and report details: VINs, license plate and state details when that lookup is used, report types, lookup results, vehicle history or auction information, and stored or cached report content.
• Order and payment details: order and transaction identifiers, purchased reports or credits, amounts, payment status, payer contact details supplied by the payment provider, and refund or dispute correspondence. PayPal processes checkout payments; our checkout does not collect card numbers directly.
• Support communications: information you send by email or chat, including order details and attachments you choose to provide.
• Technical and usage information: IP addresses, browser and device information, session identifiers, visited URLs, referral and advertising campaign identifiers, website interactions, purchase events, and diagnostic or security logs. Some events are associated with your account email or order.

2. How we use information

We use information to create and verify accounts, authenticate users, check report availability, retrieve and present reports, maintain order history and credit balances, process purchases and refunds, send service notifications, and answer support requests. We also use it to investigate delivery failures and payment disputes, detect abuse, troubleshoot errors, understand website use, measure advertising performance and meet applicable obligations.

Vehicle identifiers are sent to relevant report providers to perform the lookup or retrieve the requested report. We store report results and order records so that reports can be accessed again and requests can be handled efficiently.

3. Service providers and other disclosures

Operating the service involves sharing relevant information with the following categories of providers:

• Hosting and technical infrastructure: website, database, static-file, storage, DNS and logging infrastructure, including DigitalOcean for DNS.
• Vehicle-data providers: third-party lookup and report APIs, including Autovin, Lot.report / BigDataSurf and CarSimulcast, depending on the requested report and provider availability.
• Payments: PayPal receives checkout information and returns transaction and payer details needed to fulfill and manage orders.
• Email and support: Amazon SES delivers transactional emails, Zoho handles mailbox correspondence, and Tawk.to provides website chat. These services receive the recipient, message or conversation information needed for their function.
• Measurement and advertising: Google Analytics, Google Ads, Mixpanel, Ahrefs Analytics and Meta Pixel receive browser, usage or event information according to the tools loaded on the page. Mixpanel can receive your account email and associate activity with it.
• Abuse prevention: Cloudflare Turnstile or Google reCAPTCHA may process technical and challenge information when enabled.

These providers handle information under their own terms and privacy policies as well as any applicable arrangements with us. We may also disclose relevant records when needed to respond to a lawful request, handle a payment dispute, or protect the service and its users. Information may be processed in countries other than where you live.

4. Cookies, browser storage and measurement

The website uses session cookies for sign-in and service operation. If you select remember-me sign-in, cookies containing your email address and an authentication token can remain for up to 90 days unless cleared earlier. We also use a short-lived stylesheet-cache cookie, advertising attribution identifiers, and browser local storage for interface behavior.

Analytics and advertising tools can use their own cookies or similar identifiers to measure visits, interactions and conversions. Some tools load when a page opens; others load after an interaction. Not sending marketing email does not mean that the website has no advertising or analytics tracking.

You can clear or block cookies and site storage in your browser and use the privacy controls offered by Google, Meta and other providers. Blocking necessary storage or scripts may prevent sign-in, checkout, chat or other features from working. This policy describes the tools in use; it is not a cookie-consent control.

5. Transactional email and delivery

We send account-verification and password-reset messages, order and credit confirmations, report notifications, refund updates and support responses. We do not send marketing emails or newsletters and do not operate a marketing subscription list.

Order notifications may be sent to your account email and to the payer email returned by PayPal when those addresses differ. Delivery providers process email addresses, message content and delivery information. Amazon SES uses bounce and complaint suppression for our sending account; suppression does not delete your customer account or order history.

If you receive a message in error or want to discuss service notifications, contact info@check-vin.org. There is no marketing-list unsubscribe process. Delivery to an inbox is not guaranteed; reports may still be available through the website when an email is rejected.

6. Retention, report links and security

Account, order, report, payment and support records are retained for providing access, handling support and disputes, security, and applicable recordkeeping obligations. Cache duration varies by record type and configuration. There is currently no single automatic deletion period covering all personal information. Contact us to request a review of information we hold and whether it can be deleted; some records may need to be retained for the purposes above.

Report links contain an order identifier and can allow access without signing in. Treat your report link as private: anyone you share it with may be able to view the report. Do not send passwords, full payment-card details or unnecessary sensitive information in support messages.

We use measures including password hashing and access checks, but no online service or method of storage can guarantee complete security.

7. Your choices and privacy requests

You can choose not to create an account or submit a lookup, log out, clear browser storage, and contact us about your information. Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, a copy of your information, or limits on certain processing, including advertising-related sharing.

Send requests to info@check-vin.org with enough information to identify the relevant account or order. We may need to verify your identity before acting. Available rights, exceptions and response requirements depend on applicable law. This page does not provide an automated account-deletion or advertising opt-out tool.

8. Contact and policy updates

For privacy questions or requests concerning Check-VIN at check-vin.org, email info@check-vin.org.

We may update this policy as the service or our practices change. The date at the top identifies the latest revision.

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