Effective date: July 1, 2026
The short version. Car VIN is an ad-free, on-device tool for decoding Vehicle Identification Numbers and looking up safety information. We do not run accounts, servers, analytics, ads, trackers, or any third-party SDKs, and we do not collect personal data. Car VIN is free to use; an optional Car VIN Pro membership unlocks premium features and is handled entirely by Apple we never see your payment details. The only information that ever leaves your device is the VIN, make, model, and year you ask us to look up, sent directly to the public government and reference services listed below.
This policy explains exactly what happens, in plain language.
Who we are
Car VIN ("the app", "we") is an independent iOS application. This policy covers the app, its widget, and its App Intents / Siri Shortcuts.
Information we do not collect
We do not ask you to register or sign in. The app contains no user accounts, no advertising or ad networks, no analytics or telemetry, no third-party tracking SDKs, no social-media SDKs, no location collection, and no address book, contacts, microphone, or health-data access. Our App Privacy declaration on the App Store is "Data Not Collected."
Information that leaves your device
When you ask Car VIN to decode a VIN or fetch vehicle information, the app makes direct HTTPS requests to public, free, government-operated or non-commercial reference services. Each request contains only what is needed to answer your query (a VIN, or a make / model / year string), together with the standard HTTP metadata any web request includes (your IP address and a generic user-agent).
The services contacted are: NHTSA vPIC (U.S. Department of Transportation) for VIN decoding; NHTSA Recalls for recall lookup; NHTSA SafetyRatings for NCAP crash-test ratings; NHTSA Complaints for owner-reported complaints; FuelEconomy.gov (U.S. Department of Energy) for fuel-economy data; the Wikipedia REST API for model summaries and images; and the Wikidata SPARQL endpoint for structured model facts.
Car VIN does not send these services any personal identifier, advertising ID, device ID, account, email, phone number, or precise location. We never see or log these requests, because they do not go through any server we operate there is no Car VIN server.
If you tap a regional recall link (for example DVSA in the United Kingdom, Transport Canada, the EU Safety Gate, the ACCC in Australia, or the NICB in the United States), your browser opens that authority's website directly, and their privacy policy then applies.
Information that stays on your device
Everything else lives only on your iPhone or iPad: your decode history; your garages (vehicles you have saved, with optional photos, notes, tags, and favorites); your app settings; and camera frames captured by the live VIN scanner, processed entirely on-device by Apple's VisionKit and never saved, transmitted, or shared. The app's lookup counters and minor preferences are stored in standard iOS storage.
Permissions we ask for
iOS prompts you the first time each is used; change them any time in iOS Settings Car VIN. Camera only to scan a VIN with the live scanner; frames are processed on-device. Add to Photos only when you explicitly export a generated VIN barcode image. Notifications only to deliver recall alerts you opt in to; scheduled and shown locally by iOS, never for marketing. Background App Refresh used occasionally to re-query NHTSA Recalls for vehicles in your garage.
Subscriptions and purchases
Car VIN is free to use. An optional Car VIN Pro membership unlocks premium features (the full vehicle report, exports, unlimited history, and more). It is offered as an auto-renewable subscription (billed monthly or yearly) and as a one-time lifetime purchase.
All purchases are processed entirely by Apple through the App Store using StoreKit. We never receive, see, or store your payment method, card number, billing address, Apple Account, or any purchase identifier. Your Pro status is verified on your device against Apple's receipt it is never sent to or stored on any server, because we operate none.
Because purchases are handled by Apple, our App Store privacy declaration remains "Data Not Collected." You can view or manage your purchases in Settings [your name] Subscriptions.
Data storage and iCloud
Car VIN stores your history, garages, and settings only on your device. A future update may add optional iCloud sync through your own private CloudKit container, stored under your Apple Account and encrypted by Apple, with no access by us; if we add it, we will update this policy first.
Children
Car VIN is a reference tool for vehicle owners, shoppers, and professionals. It is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from children.
International users
The app is available worldwide. Because we do not collect personal data, there are no international data transfers performed by us. The third-party services listed above are operated by their respective governments or organizations.
Your rights
Because we do not store any personal data about you on any server, there is nothing for us to look up, export, or delete on your behalf. Everything is under your control on your own device. To erase all data the app keeps, delete the app.
Terms of use
Car VIN is provided "as is" for informational purposes. Vehicle data comes from the public sources listed above; we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness, and it should not be your sole basis for a purchase, safety, or legal decision. Always confirm recalls and specifications with the manufacturer or the relevant authority.
Car VIN Pro subscriptions. Car VIN Pro is available as an auto-renewable subscription (billed monthly or yearly) or a one-time lifetime purchase. A free trial, where offered, automatically converts to a paid subscription unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. Subscriptions renew automatically for the same period and price unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Manage or cancel any time in Settings [your name] Subscriptions; deleting the app does not cancel a subscription. Prices may vary by region. Your use of the app is also governed by Apple's standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Changes to this policy
If we update this policy we will change the Effective date at the top and publish the new version at this URL.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent to galtuh@gmail.com.