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Privacy Policy

Effective date: February 6, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have when using FormerCars (“we,” “us,” “our”).

1. Information we collect

  • Account information: email address, username, and password (stored only as a secure hash, never in plain text).
  • VIN entries and vehicle details: a VIN plus optional year, make, model, color, trim, notes, and photo you choose to save. By default, vehicles you add are given a public, shareable page; you can mark any vehicle private at any time.
  • Basic logs: standard server logs (IP address, user agent, request timestamps) used for security, abuse prevention, and troubleshooting.
  • Cookies / session data: small identifiers used to keep you signed in, protect the site (e.g. CSRF/security checks), and remember preferences.

2. Public information

By default, each vehicle you add receives a public page (for example /vin/<id>) showing the VIN and any details you entered. You can make any vehicle private in one click when adding or editing it; private vehicles never appear in public pages, listings, or search.

FormerCars may also offer a public garage page (for example /garage/<username>) if you enable it. A public garage can display your username, join date, the number of vehicles you track, and the vehicles you have kept public. Vehicles you mark private are never displayed. You can disable public visibility anytime in your settings.

3. How we use information

  • provide and maintain the Service
  • authenticate users and secure accounts
  • store and display your VIN entries and vehicle details
  • protect the Service from abuse, fraud, and unauthorized access
  • debug, monitor, and improve reliability and user experience

4. Sharing of information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share limited information with service providers that help us operate the site (e.g. hosting, email delivery), only as needed to provide the Service, and for legal or safety reasons if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of FormerCars and its users.

5. Third-party links

FormerCars may include links to third-party services (e.g. search engines, vehicle history providers). If you click those links you leave FormerCars and are subject to the third party’s privacy policy. We do not control third-party sites.

6. Data retention

We retain your account information and VIN entries until you delete them or request deletion. We may retain limited log data for a reasonable period for security and operational purposes (preventing abuse, troubleshooting, backups). Administrators may remove content that violates our Terms.

7. Your choices

  • update your username in settings
  • make individual vehicles public or private at any time
  • disable your public garage visibility in settings
  • delete VIN entries you added
  • request account deletion by contacting us (if self-service deletion is not available)

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect your data. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

9. Contact

If you have questions or requests about this Privacy Policy, contact us.