Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to DealerApproved websites, accounts, profiles, reviews, community features, product submissions, and related services that link to this policy. It does not govern third-party websites or services that we do not control.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

Depending on how you use DealerApproved, you may provide your email address, name, professional title, organization or dealership, automotive experience, profile photo, biography, product-use history, verification information, reviews, comments, issue reports, proposed fixes, product suggestions, vendor information, demo or contact requests, and other information you choose to submit.

Sign-in information

If you choose to sign in with Google or another supported identity provider, we receive the basic account information you authorize, such as your email address, name, and profile image when available. DealerApproved does not receive your Google password.

Activity and technical information

We may process information about how DealerApproved is used, such as pages viewed, searches, comparisons, interactions with product pages, registration and contribution activity, referral information, timestamps, browser or device information, and standard network or security information associated with requests to the service.

Public content

Reviews, discussions, fixes, product suggestions after publication, and profile fields you choose to make public may be visible to other users and visitors. Please do not publish confidential, proprietary, or personal information that you do not want made public.

3. How we use information

We use information to:

• create, secure, and maintain accounts and sessions;
• provide professional profiles and verification features;
• publish and moderate reviews, discussions, issues, fixes, and submissions;
• operate product discovery, comparison, and community features;
• measure site usage, reliability, and feature performance;
• detect abuse, fraud, spam, manipulation, and security threats;
• communicate about accounts, submissions, service changes, and support requests;
• improve DealerApproved and its user experience; and
• comply with law, enforce our terms, and protect users, DealerApproved, and others.

4. Professional verification and moderation

Authentication, email verification, profile completion, and Automotive Verification are separate concepts. Signing in with an identity provider does not automatically make a user Automotive Verified. We may use account, professional, contribution, and verification information to assess eligibility for verification, investigate abuse, and protect the integrity of ratings and community content. Commercial relationships do not purchase or alter independent ratings, reviews, or moderation outcomes.

5. How information is shared

We may share information in the following circumstances:

• At your direction or publicly. Information you intentionally publish or choose to make public is visible as part of the service.
• Service providers. We may use companies that help us provide functions such as hosting, authentication, email delivery, analytics, security, support, and other operational services. They receive information only as needed to perform those services for us, subject to applicable agreements and law.
• Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information if reasonably necessary to comply with law, legal process, enforce our terms, investigate fraud or security issues, or protect rights and safety.
• Business transactions. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or part of the service, subject to applicable law.

DealerApproved does not currently sell personal information for money. Some privacy laws use broader definitions of “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” that can include certain advertising or cross-site data practices. Where those laws apply, we provide the choices required by applicable law.

6. Cookies, sessions, and optional analytics

DealerApproved uses essential technologies needed to operate and secure the service, including session cookies used to keep signed-in users authenticated. Essential functionality remains available when optional analytics are declined.

DealerApproved also supports optional Google Analytics 4 (GA4) measurement. Analytics consent defaults to denied and GA4 is loaded only after a user chooses to allow analytics. The Cookie Choices control can be reopened later to change that preference.

Analytics may measure information such as page or feature viewed, approximate device/browser information, referral information, timestamps and interaction events. DealerApproved does not intentionally send names, email addresses, review text, issue text, private profile fields or other contribution body content to GA4.

DealerApproved also records limited first-party operational events needed to understand feature use, maintain reliability, protect the service and diagnose problems.

7. Your privacy choices

The consent interface includes an Essential only choice for users who do not want optional analytics. You can reopen Cookie Choices from the site footer to review or change the supported analytics preference.

DealerApproved also recognizes supported Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals and applies the essential-only analytics state where our implementation supports that signal. You can separately control supported public profile fields through your DealerApproved profile settings.

You may contact us to make an applicable privacy request or to ask questions about information associated with your account. Where another legally applicable browser-based privacy signal or universal opt-out mechanism applies to a data practice used by DealerApproved, we will honor it as required by applicable law.

8. U.S. state privacy rights

Depending on where you live and whether a particular privacy law applies to DealerApproved, you may have rights to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a copy of certain personal information, and to opt out of certain sale, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling activities. Some jurisdictions also provide a right to appeal a denied privacy request.

We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests. Authorized agents may submit requests where permitted by law, subject to appropriate verification. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising applicable privacy rights.

To make a privacy request, contact us at support@dealerapproved.app.

9. Data retention

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, maintain account and contribution integrity, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent fraud or abuse, and maintain appropriate business records. Retention periods can vary depending on the type of information and why it is processed.

10. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information. No website, transmission, or storage system can guarantee absolute security, and we cannot promise that information will never be accessed, disclosed, altered, or lost without authorization.

11. Children

DealerApproved is a professional automotive-industry service and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly seek personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, contact us so we can review the matter.

12. Third-party services and links

DealerApproved may link to vendor websites, identity providers, and other third-party services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. We encourage you to review those policies before providing information to third parties.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as DealerApproved evolves or as legal requirements change. We will post the updated policy here and revise the “Last updated” date. Where required, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent for material changes.