Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
CARZyro is an online marketplace that connects car shoppers with independent dealers (see our Terms of Service). The service is operated by [LEGAL BUSINESS NAME], [BUSINESS ADDRESS] (“CARZyro”, “we”). This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and the choices you have. You can reach us at support@carzyro.com.
2. What we collect
If you browse or search
- Standard technical information that your browser sends to any website (such as your IP address and browser type). Our servers and our hosting provider keep ordinary server logs.
- When you open a vehicle page, your browser sends us an anonymous visitor ID (a random number that your browser makes up and keeps) so we can tell dealers roughly how many different visitors, and how many returning visitors, looked at their cars. We store only a scrambled (“hashed”) form of it, not your name, email or IP address. We ignore visits from search-engine robots and from logged-in dealers and staff. You can turn the visitor ID off with Cookie settings (choose “Essential only”): we then delete it from your browser, and your visits are counted only as page views, with no ID.
- We also count, for dealers, how often each car appears in search results, on dealer pages, on city and model pages, in “Similar cars” and in the Featured carousel; how often it is clicked from there; and how often the dealer’s phone number or “Visit dealer’s website” link is tapped. These are only daily totals per car (for example “shown 57 times on Oct 1”; a phone tap on a dealer’s own page is counted for the dealership). No visitor ID, cookie or IP address is used or stored for them, and nothing is kept in your browser. We don’t count robots, automated browsers, or people signed in as dealers or CARZyro staff. To apply a fair-use limit, our server briefly remembers a scrambled form of your internet address in memory (never saved) for up to an hour.
- Only if you turn it on in Cookie settings (“Analytics (Google Analytics)”, off by default): Google Analytics tells us how the site is used. Google’s script then records which pages and cars you view (by their web address, with nothing personal in it), searches (the keyword and filters, never your ZIP code), clicks on Compare, Save and Great Deals, and that a message to a seller was sent (not what it said), together with the kind of device and browser you use and your approximate location (city or region), which Google works out from your IP address. Google Analytics does not keep your IP address. We never send Google your name, email address, phone number, messages or street address, and we don’t use Google Analytics on sign-in, account, password-reset or other personal pages, or on dealer and staff pages.
If you contact a dealer (buyers)
- Your name, email address, optional phone number and message, and which vehicle you asked about. These are sent to the dealer and stored so the dealer can see them in their dashboard.
- To confirm your email address we send a 6-digit code. We store only a one-way fingerprint of the code, together with your email address, the time and the IP address the request came from.
- The IP address you used when you sent the message, the fact that your email was verified, and the version of the Terms you agreed to. This helps us stop spam and abuse.
- Bot-protection data handled by Cloudflare Turnstile (see section 4) when you complete the “I am human” check.
- Sale check. After a dealer marks the car you asked about as sold, we may send you one email asking whether you bought it. If you answer, we record your answer, the time and your IP address. We do not share your answer with the dealer. You can choose “Don’t ask me again”, and we then keep your email address on a do-not-ask list so we do not email you like this again.
- Review invitation. A dealer you contacted through CARZyro in the last 6 months can ask us to send you one email inviting you to review them. CARZyro sends it, not the dealer. It asks for an honest review, good or bad, and offers nothing for one. Each dealer can ask you only once. To make sure of that, we keep a scrambled fingerprint of your email address with the request (not the address itself) for as long as that dealer’s account exists. The dealer sees whether you were asked and whether you reviewed them. The email has a link to stop all review invitations, which puts your address on the same do-not-ask list. We don’t send invitations to people on that list, to addresses our emails can’t reach, or to people who used Delete my data.
If you chat in Messages
- With an account you can chat with a dealership or a private seller about a car. We store the conversation (who it is between, which car) and the messages, and email the other side when there is a new one.
- Messages are normally kept for 3 months; longer if needed for a report or dispute: a conversation linked to a report or dispute that is still open, or one our staff have marked to keep (“preserved”) while they look into something, is kept until that is over. See section 6.
- Staff may read conversations when investigating a report, a dispute or misuse: only the primary administrator and managers. Every time staff open a conversation it is recorded in our audit log, before anything is shown.
If you report a listing or a dealership
- What you chose as the reason, the details you wrote, which car or dealership it is about, and when. If you are signed in, the report is linked to your account (and your own conversation about that car or dealership, if you had one, is kept while the report is open); if not, your email address, so we can contact you about it, and the “I am human” check (Cloudflare Turnstile, see section 4).
- The report is seen only by CARZyro staff. The seller is never told who reported them.
- We keep your email address and the link to your account until 6 months after the report is closed, then forget them; what was reported and what we decided are kept. [Confirm 6 months with your lawyer.]
If you contact CARZyro (“Contact us”)
- Your email address, the topic and your message, your name and phone number if you give them, which page you wrote from, the time, and your IP address and browser details (to stop spam). Our team reads them to answer you, and a copy is emailed to our team’s inbox.
- Bot-protection data handled by Cloudflare Turnstile (see section 4) when you complete the “I am human” check.
If you are a dealer
- Account details: dealership name, contact person’s email address, phone number, city, state and ZIP, dealer license number and issuing state, and (if you give it) your website, and your password (stored only as a one-way hash, never in readable form). We also record when you agreed to the Terms and which version.
- Verification: when your email was verified, and when and by whom your phone number was verified after a call from our team. If our “I am human” check (captcha) could not be used when you signed up, for example because Cloudflare could not be reached, we let the sign-up through and store a note with your dealer account that the check was skipped and why, so our team takes extra care when verifying your dealership. [Confirm this note with your lawyer.]
- Sales you report: for each vehicle you mark as sold, the sale date and your answer to whether the buyer came through CARZyro, and when and by whom it was marked.
- Signed listing authorization: the exact text you agreed to, your typed name and title, your account email, the time, and technical details about the device you used (IP address, browser and device details, language, time zone, screen size). This is kept as a permanent, tamper-evident legal record.
- Your vehicle listings (VIN, make, model, price, mileage, description, photographs and similar), which are shown publicly, together with your dealership name, city, state and phone number. Your asking prices are also used, together with those of other similar cars, to show dealers a market range and a suggested price. Dealers see only totals worked out from many listings (how many similar cars there are and what they cost), never another dealer’s cars, name or details.
- Your team: if you invite employees, we store each person’s work email address, the role and permissions you gave them, whether they are switched on, who invited them and when, and a record of what they do (in the audit log, under their own name). The owner and managers (or anyone given the “Activity log” permission) see these actions, with each person’s name and email address, in the dealership’s activity log. You are responsible for telling them that we hold this information.
- Messages you receive from buyers, and reports built from your own data.
- Emails you ask for: if you turn on the weekly email in your dealer dashboard, we keep that choice with your account until you turn it off or use the stop link in the email. If you have a report emailed every week or month, we keep that schedule until you remove it; each email’s download link works for 7 days and is stored only in scrambled form.
- Billing: your subscription status, a customer reference from our payment provider, Stripe, and which billing emails we have sent you (for example about a failed payment), so each is sent only once. Card details, invoices, receipts and your billing email are handled on Stripe’s pages (“Manage card, receipts & billing email” in your dashboard’s Account section); we record when that page is opened, and we never see or store your full card number.
If you are a member of a dealer’s team, or a CARZyro team member
Your work email address, your role, the dealers you are assigned to, and a record of what you do in the admin portal. On a dealer’s team, the dealership’s owner and managers (or anyone given the “Activity log” permission) see what you do there, with your name and email address, in its activity log.
Security and activity records (everyone with an account)
We keep a tamper-evident audit log of important actions: sign-ins and failed sign-ins, account creation, email verification, approvals, password resets, listing changes (including what changed), consents, buyer messages (who sent one, to which dealer, about which vehicle, but not the message text), cars marked sold, sale questions sent to buyers and their answers, report downloads and payment status changes; reports about listings and what staff decided; staff opening a conversation; and account suspensions, with the reason and our staff’s notes (suspension notes are part of the “who” details below). When a vehicle listing is deleted, the log also keeps a summary of the buyer interest it had (which buyers messaged, and when, but not the message text).
The log is kept in two parts. What happened (the action, when, and account or record numbers) is kept permanently and cannot be changed. Who (email addresses, IP addresses, browser details, names, phone numbers and anything people typed) is kept separately for 24 months and then erased automatically. It is also erased earlier when you delete your account or use Delete my data, and when a closed dealer account is permanently deleted. The one exception: if we close a dealer account for fraud or a breach of our terms, we keep those details (still at most 24 months) because we may need them for a legal claim.
If a dealer or seller scans a VIN
The "Scan VIN" button in the car forms uses your device's camera to read the VIN barcode. The camera picture is read on your device only: it is never uploaded or stored, and only the VIN it finds is put in the form. The camera is used only after you press the button and allow it, and only on the pages with that button.
If you use the chat assistant
The assistant answers from a fixed list of answers and searches current listings. [Confirm before publishing: what you type into the assistant is used to produce an answer on your device and is not stored by us or sent to an outside AI service.]
3. How we use it
- To run the marketplace: show listings, deliver buyer messages to dealers, and let dealers manage their inventory and reports.
- To verify people and reduce fraud, spam and abuse (email codes, phone verification for dealers, captcha and rate limits).
- To send you the emails the service needs: verification codes, password-reset and account notices, inquiry notifications, approvals, receipts and security alerts. Dealers can also ask for a weekly email of their numbers and for scheduled reports, and can ask us to invite a buyer to review them (see section 2). We do not send marketing emails.
- To keep evidence that a dealer authorized us to list its inventory, and to investigate problems or disputes, using the audit log.
- To look into reports about listings and dealerships, disputes between buyers and sellers, and misuse: we may hide a listing while we do (a “hold”), keep the conversations involved for longer than usual, read them (staff only, and every reading is recorded), and suspend an account. While a private seller is suspended, or their listing is held, its monthly fee is paused.
- To check that sales and reports are accurate, including asking buyers to confirm a purchase and comparing dealers’ sale reports with our records of messages and visits.
- To give dealers statistics about their own listings (visits, search appearances, clicks, phone taps, messages), and a market range for their prices worked out from similar listings (totals only).
- If you allow it, to understand how people use CARZyro (with Google Analytics) so we can improve the site: which pages are used, what people search for, what doesn’t work well.
- To take payments and manage subscriptions.
- To improve and secure the service, and to meet our legal obligations.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising. [LAWYER: confirm the required wording for U.S. state privacy laws such as California, and whether any other state-specific notice is needed.]
4. Who we share it with
With dealers. If you contact a dealer, that dealer receives your name, email address, phone number (if given) and message. Dealers must use it only to respond to you (see our Terms), but a dealer is responsible for what it does with information it receives, and we cannot control it. Dealer listings, and the dealership’s name, city, state and phone number, are public.
Your reviews. If you review a dealer, your review is public with your first name and the first letter of your last name (for example “Sarah M.”), the date, and whether you contacted or bought from the dealer. The dealer can reply publicly and is emailed about new reviews. You can edit or delete your review at any time; deleting your account deletes your reviews.
With service providers who help us run CARZyro and may only use the information for that purpose:
| Provider | What they do for us | Information involved |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database hosting | All information stored in our database |
| Hostinger | Server hosting for the website | Everything the website processes; server logs |
| Resend | Sending our emails | Recipient email address and the content of each email |
| ImprovMX | Forwarding email sent to our support address | Emails you send to support@carzyro.com |
| Cloudflare (Turnstile) | Bot protection on forms | Your IP address and browser signals during the check |
| Stripe | Subscription payments | Dealer billing details entered on Stripe’s pages |
| U.S. NHTSA vPIC service | Decoding vehicle identification numbers | The VIN a dealer or team member enters |
| Google (Gmail) | Mailbox that receives our support email and internal notifications | Emails you send to support@carzyro.com and our security or approval alerts |
| GoDaddy | Domain name and DNS | Not personal information about visitors |
| Google (Google Analytics) | Website statistics, only for visitors who turn it on in Cookie settings (see section 5). Google processes this data under its own privacy policy; we have turned off Google Signals and advertising features, so it isn’t used for ads. | Pages and cars viewed, searches, the clicks listed in section 2, device and browser type, approximate location (from your IP address, which Google Analytics doesn’t keep), and the random ID in the _ga cookies |
[Update this list whenever a provider is added or changed.]
For legal reasons. We may disclose information if the law, a court or a government authority requires it, or if we need to protect people, our rights, or the security of the service. If CARZyro is ever merged with or sold to another business, information may transfer to the new owner, who must honor this policy.
5. Cookies and similar technology
CARZyro does not use advertising cookies, and uses tracking cookies (Google Analytics) only if you turn them on. The site stores a few small items in your browser (a sign-in cookie, and a few items in your browser’s local storage), in three groups. When you first visit, a bar at the bottom of the page lets you choose Accept all or Essential only, or Manage your choice. You can change it any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.
Essential (always on, because the site can’t work without them):
| What | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in cookie | Keeps you signed in. It holds only a random code that the page itself can’t read, and is sent only over a secure connection. | Until you sign out, or: buyers 30 days; dealers and their team 8 hours without activity (7 days at most); CARZyro staff 30 minutes without activity (12 hours at most, and ends when the browser closes) |
| Verified-email pass (buyers) | Remembers that you confirmed your email on this device so you are not asked for a code every time | 30 days |
| Terms version you agreed to | Avoids asking you to tick the box again | Until the Terms change |
| Compare list | Remembers the cars you picked to compare | Until you clear it or your browser data |
| Saved cars (not signed in) | Remembers the cars you saved before signing in, so they can be added to your account when you sign in | Until you sign in, remove them, or clear your browser data |
| Recently viewed cars | Shows the last 12 cars you opened, on this device only (never sent to us except to check they’re still for sale) | Until you press “Clear” or clear your browser data |
| Your payment numbers | Remembers the down payment, loan term and rate you entered, so monthly estimates use them on every car | Until you press “Reset” or clear your browser data |
| Your location | Remembers the ZIP code and distance you set with “Add location” in the search bar, so your next searches (and how many miles away each car is) use it on your next visit. Kept on this device; sent to us only as part of a search. | Until you press “Clear location” or clear your browser data |
| Your cookie choice | Remembers your answer so the cookie bar doesn’t keep asking | 12 months, then we ask again |
| Spam check (Cloudflare) | Our bot-protection provider may store limited information in your browser to run its “I’m human” check | Set by Cloudflare |
Visitor statistics (on unless you turn it off):
| What | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous visitor ID | Counts unique and returning visitors for dealers (see section 2). Never used for advertising. | Until you choose “Essential only” or clear your browser data |
If you choose “Essential only”, we delete the visitor ID from your browser and your vehicle-page visits are counted only as page views, without an ID. To tell a quick reload from a new visit, our server briefly remembers (in memory, for 30 minutes, never saved) that your internet address just viewed that car. The search appearance, click and tap counts described in section 2 use no browser storage, so they don’t depend on your Cookie settings. You can also clear local storage in your browser settings at any time; you will simply be logged out and asked to verify again. [LAWYER: this follows a US-style opt-out for visitor statistics. If you target visitors in the EU/UK, statistics must stay off until the visitor accepts.]
Analytics (Google Analytics) (off unless you turn it on, with “Accept all” or in Cookie settings):
| What | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|
Google Analytics cookies (named _ga and _ga_ followed by letters and numbers), set by Google’s script on carzyro.com | A random ID that lets Google Analytics count visits and tell a returning visitor from a new one (see sections 2 and 4). Not used for advertising. | Up to 2 years in your browser, unless you turn Analytics off or clear your cookies. The statistics are kept in Google Analytics for 14 months and then deleted. |
Until you turn Analytics on, Google’s script isn’t loaded at all and no Google cookie is set. If you turn it off again (Cookie settings, or “Essential only”), the script stops sending anything from then on and we delete the Google Analytics cookies from your browser. What was already sent stays in Google Analytics until it is deleted after 14 months. You can also use Google’s own browser add-on to block Google Analytics on every site.
6. How long we keep it
| Information | Kept |
|---|---|
| Signed listing authorizations | Permanently. They are tamper-evident legal records (proof that a dealer allowed us to list their cars) and cannot be edited or deleted, even by us. |
| Audit log | What happened: permanently. Who (emails, IP addresses, browser details, names, phone numbers, typed text): 24 months, or sooner when you delete your account or your data (see section 8), except for dealer accounts closed for fraud or a breach of our terms. |
| Buyer messages | While the receiving dealer’s account and the vehicle listing they are about exist. They are deleted if that listing or that account is deleted, or when the sender uses our Delete my data page. In any case they are deleted automatically 24 months after they were sent, together with the dealer’s notes and replies about them. [Confirm 24 months with your lawyer, and whether messages should survive a deleted listing.] |
| Chat messages (Messages) | Normally 3 months: each message is deleted automatically 3 months after it was sent, and the conversation once it is empty. Longer if needed for a report or dispute: a conversation linked to a report or dispute that is still open, or preserved by our staff, keeps all its messages until that ends; the normal rule then applies again at the next clean-up. If you delete your account while one of your conversations is kept like this, it stays anonymised: your account is unlinked and you are shown only as “Deleted user”, without your name or email address, and the other person no longer sees it. The messages themselves stay as evidence, and the whole conversation is deleted at the next clean-up once it is no longer needed. Every other conversation is deleted with your account. [Confirm with your lawyer.] |
| Reports about listings and dealerships | The report, the reason and what we decided are kept. The reporter’s email address and the link to their account are deleted automatically 6 months after the report is closed. [Confirm 6 months with your lawyer.] |
| Account suspensions | While the account is suspended, the account shows it. The reason and our staff’s notes are kept in the audit log, like other staff actions (the “who” part for 24 months, as above). |
| Dealer account and listings | Until the account is closed, plus 30 days. Dealers can close their account themselves in the dashboard (Account section); we may also close an account (for example at the dealer’s request, or for a breach of our terms). A closed account’s cars are hidden straight away and any paid subscription is cancelled; 30 days later the account, cars, photos and messages are permanently deleted. During those 30 days the account can be restored (by the dealer, if they closed it themselves). The signed listing authorization and the audit log stay, as above. |
| Verification codes | Codes stop working after 10 minutes and are stored only as one-way fingerprints. The records of each request (email address, time and IP address) are deleted automatically after 30 days. |
| Password-reset and invitation links | Valid for a short time only (60 minutes for reset links, 5 minutes for the primary admin, 48 hours for team invitations) and usable once. Used or expired links are deleted automatically a week after they were used or stopped working. |
| Sale confirmations (buyer answers) and the do-not-ask list | The questions and answers are deleted automatically 24 months after the question was sent. The do-not-ask list is kept for as long as the promise not to email you applies. [Confirm 24 months with your lawyer.] |
| “Contact us” messages | Deleted automatically 24 months after they were sent. [Confirm with your lawyer.] |
| Anonymous visit records | 13 months. Each record of a vehicle-page visit (which car, when, and the scrambled visitor ID, if any) is deleted automatically once it is 13 months old. Dealers’ Performance view only goes back 13 months, so it is not affected. |
| Search appearance, click and tap counts | Daily totals per car, deleted automatically once they are 13 months old. |
| Google Analytics statistics (only for visitors who turned Analytics on) | 14 months, then deleted automatically by Google (the data-retention setting of our Google Analytics account). |
| Server logs kept by our host | According to the host’s settings. [Confirm.] |
The periods above are kept by an automatic clean-up that runs every day. [Each period can be changed without a code change (see the README) if your lawyer advises different ones; this page must then say the same.]
7. How we protect it
We use encrypted connections (HTTPS); store passwords only as one-way hashes; keep sign-ins in secure cookies that the page itself can’t read, and ask for the password again before sensitive actions; store verification codes and reset links only as one-way fingerprints; limit what each team member can see and do, with each person having their own login; restrict direct access to our database; rate-limit sign-ins and forms; and keep a tamper-evident record of important actions. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Tell us straight away at support@carzyro.com if you think your account has been misused.
8. Your choices and rights
- Self-service. Dealers can download their data (as a file) and delete their account from the Account section of the dashboard. Anyone who sent a message to a dealer can delete it, and the other personal information we hold for their email address, at carzyro.com/delete-my-data after confirming a code sent to that address. After that, “did you buy it?” answers are kept without the person’s name or email, and a “do not email me” note is kept if they asked for one. Dealers may still have emails they already received.
- You can also ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by emailing support@carzyro.com from the email address involved. We may need to confirm it is really you.
- Dealers can edit or remove their listings at any time and can withdraw their listing authorization from the dashboard, which removes all their listings immediately.
- When you delete your account (or use Delete my data), your personal information is deleted as described above. The only thing kept is evidence we need for a report or dispute: a conversation kept for one stays anonymised (“Deleted user”, without your name or email address) until it is no longer needed, then it is deleted too.
- We cannot delete a signed authorization or audit-log entry, because their purpose is to be a permanent record. We can, where the law allows, remove personal details from other places.
- You can turn Google Analytics on or off at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page (see section 5).
- We send no marketing email. If you get a verification or notice email you did not ask for, you can ignore it.
- Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights. [LAWYER: add the specific U.S. state-law rights and how to exercise or appeal them, and any “Do Not Sell or Share” statement that is required.]
9. Children
CARZyro is not meant for people under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.
10. Where your data is processed
CARZyro is intended for the United States. Our providers process information in the United States and possibly other countries. [Confirm the hosting locations (Supabase region, Hostinger data center) before publishing.]
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. When we make a change that matters, we will update the version and date at the top and ask you to agree again the next time you sign up or contact a dealer.
12. Contact us
Privacy questions and requests: support@carzyro.com
[BUSINESS NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS]