Privacy Policy

1. Overview & Our Commitment

At XchangeCar ("we," "our," or "the Platform"), we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal and vehicle data you entrust to us. This Privacy Policy explains how information is collected, used, and safeguarded when you visit our website, submit vehicle details for trade valuation, or register an account.

Zero Data Brokering: We do not sell, rent, license, or monetize your personal information or phone number to third-party telemarketers, lead aggregators, or dealership call centers.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories:

• Account Registration: When you register, we collect your username, full name, email address, password hash, home location state, and account type (private owner or dealer).
• Vehicle Listing Information: Year, make, model, trim, mileage, location state, target swap states, description, uploaded vehicle photos, video tours, and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
• Instant Trade Value Inquiries: Vehicle details entered into our valuation calculator (VIN or make/model/mileage) to generate trade power comparisons.
• Trade Proposals: Messages, vehicle pairings, and proposal statuses initiated between swapping parties.
• Technical & Log Data: IP address, browser user-agent, operating system, and timestamp data collected automatically for traffic security, anti-bot protection, and rate limiting.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected data strictly for operational and platform security purposes:

• To display your vehicle listings to matching traders and compute swap compatibility.
• To cross-reference VINs with national government registries (NHTSA VPIC) to verify specifications and detect fraudulent listings.
• To send transactional emails such as email verification links, password resets, and trade proposal notifications.
• To prevent bot abuse, rate-limit API calls, and maintain platform trust and safety.

4. Public vs. Private Information

Publicly Visible: Your listing title, vehicle photos, stated condition, mileage, state location, and username are visible to visitors to facilitate trading.

Private & Protected: Your full email address, password hash, and exact street address are never made publicly visible. Swap proposals and direct messaging are only accessible to the respective parties involved.

5. Cookies and Local Storage

We use strictly necessary session cookies to maintain your authenticated login state and remember your pending trade valuation selections. We do not use intrusive third-party cross-site tracking cookies.

6. Your Rights and Data Control

You have full control over your data on XchangeCar:

• You may edit, unlist, or permanently delete any vehicle listing at any time from your Garage/Profile screen.
• You may update your profile details and change your account password at any time.
• To request account deletion or data removal, submit a request via our Contact Us page.

7. Contact Information

For privacy-related inquiries, please contact us via our Contact Us page.