Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are and What This Covers

This Privacy Policy explains how TorqueTalk — an unincorporated venture operated by an individual founder (“we”, “us”) — collects, uses, shares, and protects your information when you use the TorqueTalk mobile app, visit torquetalkapp.com, or subscribe to our newsletter (the “Service”).

By using the Service you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. We will update this page if our practices change — see Section 11.

2. Information We Collect

Information you give us

• Account info: email, username, display name, password (stored hashed).
• Profile info you choose to add: bio, avatar, cover photo, location (city / state), social links, the cars in your garage (make, model, year, trim, VIN if you provide it, photos).
• Maintenance and fuel logs: service records, fuel fill-ups, odometer readings, costs, and any notes you attach. These are tied to a vehicle in your garage and visible only to you unless you choose to share them.
• Ownership-verification submissions: if you use the vehicle ownership-verification feature, the photos and documents you submit (e.g., VIN photos, document photos) so we can assign a verification tier.
• Content you post: posts, comments, reviews, photos, videos, forum threads and replies, direct messages, gallery photos.
• Feedback you send: bug reports, support requests, content reports about other users.

Information we collect automatically

• Device info: iOS version, device type, app version, language, time zone.
• Approximate location: only when you explicitly grant location permission. Used to surface nearby meetups and other location- aware features. You can revoke this in iOS Settings at any time.
• Camera and photo library access: only when you grant permission and only for the specific photos you choose to upload. We do not scan or index your full photo library.
• On-device image analysis (ownership verification): if you use the vehicle ownership-verification feature, the app performs image-quality and authenticity checks on your device — including sharpness, depth, motion, and specular-highlight analysis — to assign a verification tier (Bronze, Silver, or Gold). These checks run on your device. We receive the resulting verification score, tier, and the photos you choose to submit; we do not receive the raw intermediate analysis data. Photo location metadata (EXIF GPS) is stripped before storage.
• Push notification token: when you opt in to push notifications, Apple issues a token we use to deliver them.
• Crash reports and diagnostics: when the app crashes, we collect a stack trace, device info, and the app state at the time of the crash. We use this only to fix bugs.
• Usage information: aggregated, non-identifying information about how you use the app (which screens you visit, error rates) used to improve the product.
• Website analytics: when you visit torquetalkapp.com, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics to measure aggregate pageviews, referrers, and country-level geography. This service does not use cookies, does not store IP addresses, and does not track you across other sites.

What we do not collect

• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not run advertising on the Service or share data with ad networks.
• We do not track you across other apps or websites.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate the Service — show your profile and content to other users, rank your feed, deliver direct messages, send notifications you opted into.
• Maintain account security and prevent fraud or abuse.
• Respond to support requests, bug reports, and content reports.
• Improve the product (debugging crashes, identifying broken flows).
• Send transactional emails (password resets, email verification, account notices) and, if you opted in, our newsletter.
• Comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Share Information

With other users

Information you put on your profile (display name, avatar, bio, garage, posts, comments, reviews, gallery photos) is visible to other TorqueTalk users by default. You control what you post. Direct messages are visible only to you and the recipient.

For gallery photos, you choose a visibility setting for each gallery (Public, Followers-only, or Private). Private galleries are visible only to you.

With service providers

We use a small number of trusted vendors who process data on our behalf:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — hosting, databases, and photo storage (S3). Data is stored in the United States.
• Apple Push Notification service — delivery of push notifications you opted into.
• Sentry — crash reporting and error monitoring.
• Google Maps — map rendering when you view meetup locations or set your city. Subject to Google’s privacy practices.
• Cloudflare — content delivery (CDN) for torquetalkapp.com and privacy-respecting web analytics (no cookies, no persistent IP storage).
• An email service provider — delivery of transactional and newsletter emails.

These providers receive only the information they need to perform their function and are contractually required to protect it.

For legal reasons

We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that it is necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to valid legal process (e.g., subpoena, court order), protect rights and safety, or investigate violations of our Terms.

Business transfers

If TorqueTalk is acquired by or merged with another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you in advance if your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. Your Choices and Controls

• Edit your profile — update name, bio, avatar, location, and social links any time from Settings inside the app.
• Delete your account — in the iOS app, go to Settings → Account → Delete account. We hold your data for a 30-day grace period to allow recovery, then permanently delete except for records required by law (e.g., abuse-report records).
• Push notifications — toggle individual categories from Settings → Notifications inside the app, or revoke all push permissions in iOS Settings.
• Location — revoke location permission in iOS Settings → TorqueTalk → Location.
• Newsletter — unsubscribe from the link at the bottom of any newsletter email.
• Block and report — the app provides tools to block other users and report content that violates our community standards.

6. Data Security

We protect your data with industry-standard safeguards:

• All connections to the Service use TLS encryption in transit.
• Data is encrypted at rest by AWS using industry-standard ciphers.
• Passwords are stored hashed (we never see your raw password).
• Access to user data is limited to operational and support purposes and logged.

No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach affecting your data, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.

7. Data Retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. After you delete your account, we retain it for a 30-day recovery grace period, then permanently delete it except for:

• Records required to comply with law or respond to legal process.
• Records of abuse reports or safety actions, retained for a reasonable period for safety investigations.
• Aggregated, non-identifying analytics data.

Backups containing your data may persist for up to 30 additional days before they are cycled out.

8. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, contact hello@torquetalkapp.com and we will promptly delete it. Users 13–17 must have a parent or guardian’s consent to use the Service (see Terms of Service Section 3).

9. Regional Privacy Rights

California (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect and how we use it (this page).
• Request a copy of your personal information.
• Request that we delete your personal information (in-app account deletion satisfies this).
• Opt out of any “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information — we do not sell or share for advertising purposes, so there is nothing to opt out of.
• Be free from discrimination for exercising these rights.

To exercise these rights, email hello@torquetalkapp.com.

European Economic Area, UK, and Switzerland (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict processing of, or port your personal data, and to object to processing. Our legal basis for processing is your consent (for newsletter and optional permissions), contract performance (operating the account you signed up for), and our legitimate interests (security, debugging, product improvement). To exercise these rights or to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority, contact hello@torquetalkapp.com.

10. International Data Transfers

We are based in the United States and our service providers (e.g., AWS, Sentry) primarily process data in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the US, your information is transferred to and processed in the US, which may have different data-protection rules than your home country. By using the Service you consent to this transfer.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make a material change, we will notify you by email or in-app notice and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

12. Contact

Questions, concerns, or privacy-rights requests? Contact us at hello@torquetalkapp.com.