Privacy Policy
Effective September 29, 2026
The short version
- We don't sell your data, ever — including your car's data. Your VIN, trouble codes, scan history, and AI diagnoses are never sold, rented, or traded to data brokers, insurers, advertisers, or anyone else.
- The CarSense mobile app does not include third-party advertising or analytics SDKs. Public website analytics is explained below.
- We don't track you across other apps or websites.
- You can permanently delete your account and all its data from inside the app.
Slick Engineering & Consulting, Inc. ("Slick Engineering," "we," "us") operates the CarSense mobile application ("CarSense" or "the Service"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. If you have any questions, email ios-support@slick-engineering.com (iPhone) or android-support@slick-engineering.com (Android).
Public website analytics
Website section updated September 11, 2026.
This section applies to the public information pages at car-sense-app.com, not activity inside the CarSense app, the shop dashboard, or your account. Our website uses Cloudflare Insights for website performance and usage information. This is separate from optional Google Analytics.
We also use Cloudflare Analytics Engine for cookie-free counts of requests to public information pages. We store only a broad page category (such as support or code information), a coarse referral group (Google referral, recognized AI assistant, direct or unavailable, or other), and a count. We do not record the requested path, raw referrer, query text, IP address, user agent, cookies, or visitor identifiers in this dataset. Cloudflare adds an event timestamp and retains these records for up to three months. These counts operate independently of optional Google Analytics consent and do not identify unique visitors.
Requests with query strings and requests to account, reset, deletion, shop, API, and other private routes are excluded from these counts. Browser fragments are never sent to the server or recorded. Missing referrers are counted as direct or unavailable; Google referrals cannot reliably distinguish ordinary search, Google AI features, or ads. Automated requests and repeat visits can contribute to counts.
Google Analytics is currently not enabled. When configured, it will load only after you choose Allow analytics. It helps us understand public page visits and referring websites, using pseudonymous browser/session identifiers and analytics cookies lasting up to 90 days. Google also receives technical request information. We do not enable advertising personalization, Google Signals, or user-provided-data collection.
We do not send account identifiers, email addresses, vehicle records, VINs, submitted diagnostic information, form contents, password-reset tokens, or arbitrary URL parameters to Google Analytics. Account, shop, API, password-reset and account-deletion flows are excluded. Pages opened with a query string or URL fragment are not measured by Google Analytics; referrers are reduced to their website origin.
Declining keeps Google Analytics off. When analytics is configured, Analytics preferences on eligible public pages lets you allow or decline it later. Withdrawing consent disables further Google Analytics collection and removes this site's Google Analytics cookies; it does not retract data already sent. Your browser stores your preference locally. Blocking browser storage or analytics scripts may limit measurement. See Google's privacy policy and Cloudflare's privacy policy.
1. Information we collect
We collect only the information needed to make CarSense work for you.
| Category | What it is | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Email address, optional name, encrypted password | To authenticate you and sync your data across devices |
| Vehicle records | VIN, make, model, year, mileage, optional nickname | To run vehicle-specific diagnoses and recall lookups |
| Diagnostic history | OBD2 trouble codes, freeze-frame data, AI explanations, mileage at scan | To show your scan history and provide context for follow-up diagnoses |
| AI conversations | Messages you send to the diagnostic AI | To answer your questions about your vehicle |
| Subscription status | Tier (Free / Pro), plan, and expiry — from Apple / Google | To unlock paid features |
| Crash reports | Anonymized stack traces and device model when the app crashes | To find and fix bugs; emails, request bodies, and authentication tokens are stripped before transmission |
2. Information we do NOT collect
- Tracking across other apps or websites. The CarSense mobile app has no third-party tracking SDKs.
- Advertising identifiers. We don't show ads and don't read the IDFA / GAID.
- Contacts, photos, microphone, or camera — except when you actively use the camera to scan a VIN barcode (the image is processed locally on your device and is not uploaded), or the microphone for voice diagnostic input (audio is sent to our server only for the duration of the request and is not retained).
- Location. CarSense does not collect, store, or share your location. A "find a repair shop near you" feature is in development; if it launches it will request only approximate (coarse) location at the moment you tap it — never precise geolocation, never stored — and this policy will be updated then.
- Payment card numbers. Apple and Google handle all in-app subscription payments; we never see your card.
3. Permissions the app requests
| Permission | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth | To connect to your OBD2 adapter and read vehicle data. CarSense scans for BLE devices in the foreground only. |
| Location | On Android, scanning for nearby Bluetooth OBD2 adapters requires location permission; CarSense uses it only for that Bluetooth scan and does not collect or store your geographic location. |
| Camera | To scan a VIN barcode when adding a vehicle. Processed locally; the image is never uploaded. |
| Microphone & Speech Recognition | Optional — to ask diagnostic questions by voice. Audio is sent to our server only when you initiate a voice request and is discarded after transcription. |
4. How we use your information
- To provide diagnostic explanations specific to your vehicle
- To save your scan history so it's available across your devices
- To process subscription purchases and unlock paid features
- To send transactional emails (account notifications, password reset)
- To detect bugs and improve the app via crash reporting
- To provide customer support when you contact us
We do not use your information to train AI models. Your trouble codes, vehicle details, and messages are sent to our AI provider only to generate your diagnosis or answer.
5. Third-party services we use
CarSense uses a small number of infrastructure providers, described here by category:
- Cloud hosting — Stores your account, vehicle records, and scan history. Located in the United States.
- AI diagnostic engine — Processes your trouble codes and vehicle context to generate explanations. Your AI conversations are sent to this provider for processing only.
- Object storage — Stores small public assets such as repair shop logos. Does not contain personal data.
- Email delivery — Sends password reset and transactional emails.
- Crash reporting — Receives anonymized crash data with PII stripped before transmission.
- Payment processing — Apple App Store handles iOS subscription payments; Google Play handles Android subscription payments. We never see card data.
Each provider is contractually bound to use your data only to provide their service to us, and only the categories of data listed above are shared with each.
Public vehicle databases. To decode your VIN and look up recalls, service bulletins, and fuel-economy data, CarSense sends your VIN or your vehicle's make, model, and year to U.S. government databases (NHTSA and fueleconomy.gov). No account or contact information is included.
Repair shops you choose. If you ask a repair shop listed in CarSense for a quote, that shop receives the vehicle and trouble-code details for that request so it can respond. This happens only when you send the request; shops cannot browse your data.
6. Data retention and deletion
We keep your data as long as your account is active. You can delete your account at any time from inside the app: Profile → Delete Account. Deletion is immediate and permanent — your account record, vehicles, scan history, AI conversations, quotes, and any reviews you've left are removed from our database. Backups are retained for up to 30 days for disaster recovery and are then permanently destroyed.
If you have an active Apple or Google subscription, you must cancel it separately in the platform's subscription settings (we cannot cancel it on your behalf). Deleting your CarSense account does not stop the platform's recurring charge.
7. How we protect your information
- All network traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or higher.
- Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes, never in plaintext.
- Authentication tokens are stored in the iOS Keychain or Android EncryptedSharedPreferences — never in user-readable storage.
- Our database is restricted to localhost access only and uses a non-superuser application account with minimum required privileges.
- We don't log emails, payment payloads, or authentication tokens; sensitive fields are redacted before any logs are written.
8. Children's privacy
CarSense is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact ios-support@slick-engineering.com (iPhone) or android-support@slick-engineering.com (Android) and we will delete it.
9. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data, and to object to certain processing. You can exercise these rights at any time by emailing ios-support@slick-engineering.com (iPhone) or android-support@slick-engineering.com (Android). Account deletion is also self-service from inside the app.
California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you may request to know, delete, or correct your personal information, and to not be discriminated against for exercising those rights. CarSense does not currently collect your location; a planned "find a repair shop near you" feature would request only approximate (coarse) location on demand — never the "precise geolocation" (location within about 1,850 feet) that California classifies as sensitive personal information — and we would not store it. We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise any right, email ios-support@slick-engineering.com (iPhone) or android-support@slick-engineering.com (Android).
10. International data transfers
Our servers are located in the United States. If you use CarSense from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that affects how we collect or use your data, we'll notify you in the app or by email before the change takes effect. The "Effective" date at the top of this page reflects the latest revision.
12. Contact
Questions, complaints, or requests under this policy: ios-support@slick-engineering.com (iPhone) or android-support@slick-engineering.com (Android)
Slick Engineering & Consulting, Inc.
Attn: Privacy