Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Wrenchli, Inc. ("Wrenchli," "we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit wrenchli.net and use our services — including our vehicle symptom assessment tool, repair shop matching, and repair financing features.

This policy covers two types of users:

• Consumers — vehicle owners who use Wrenchli to assess symptoms and find repair shops
• Shop Partners — repair shops that join the Wrenchli partner network

Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with its terms, please discontinue use of our services.

2. Categories of Data Collected

We collect the following data when you use Wrenchli:

• Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) — used for recall lookup via NHTSA.
• Vehicle year, make, and model — used to generate your symptom assessment.
• Symptom descriptions you enter — transmitted to Anthropic (Claude API) for assessment generation.
• Audio or video recordings if you use the audio feature — transmitted to Google AI (Gemini), not stored by Wrenchli after analysis.
• Email address if you create an account.
• Payment information if you subscribe to Pro — processed by Stripe, never stored by Wrenchli.

3. Information We Collect (Detail)

From Consumers

Information you provide directly:

• Contact information (name, email address, phone number)
• Vehicle information (year, make, model, trim, mileage, VIN)
• Symptom descriptions — what you report is wrong with your vehicle
• Photos uploaded for visual assessment
• ZIP code and location for shop matching
• Repair outcome information — what your mechanic actually found and charged, if you choose to report it

Information collected automatically:

• Browser type, version, and device type
• Operating system
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring website addresses
• IP address (anonymized for analytics)
• Session identifiers, including anonymous session IDs created before you sign in

Information from third-party sources:

• Vehicle specification data decoded from your VIN using the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) public API. This includes engine type, trim level, drive type, and factory configuration.
• Repair confirmation data from partner repair shops when they close a repair order associated with your session (see Section 5)

From Shop Partners

• Business information (shop name, address, owner name, contact details)
• Shop management system (SMS) credentials — stored encrypted and never accessible in plaintext
• Repair order confirmation data — what was found, what was charged, parts used
• Performance metrics derived from confirmed repair outcomes

From Anonymous Sessions

If you use Wrenchli before creating an account, we create an anonymous session to preserve your progress. This session stores your vehicle information and symptom description on our servers temporarily. If you create an account during or after your session, anonymous session data is linked to your account. If you do not create an account, anonymous session data is retained for 90 days and then deleted.

3. How We Use Your Information

To Deliver Our Services

• Perform vehicle symptom assessments and generate repair likelihood reports
• Decode VIN data to improve assessment accuracy
• Match you with local partner repair shops
• Enable repair financing through our lending partners (with your consent)
• Pre-populate repair orders at partner shops so service advisors start informed
• Send maintenance reminders and recall alerts (with your consent)
• Respond to your support requests

To Improve Our AI System

This section describes how Wrenchli uses data to train and improve its artificial intelligence models. Please read it carefully.

Wrenchli is building a proprietary AI system for vehicle symptom assessment. A core part of this effort is learning from real repair outcomes — comparing what Wrenchli predicted against what a professional technician actually found.

When you voluntarily report a repair outcome (what your mechanic found, what was charged, whether the problem was fixed), we use that information to:

• Score the accuracy of Wrenchli's symptom assessment for that session
• Improve the accuracy of future assessments
• Train and refine Wrenchli's AI models over time

What we use for AI training:

• Anonymized symptom descriptions
• Anonymized assessment outputs (predicted causes, likelihood scores)
• Anonymized repair outcomes (confirmed issue, cost range, resolution)
• Vehicle category data (engine type, mileage range, repair category)

What we never use for AI training:

• Your name, email address, or phone number
• Your VIN
• Your full address
• Any information that would identify you as an individual

Your VIN is used at intake to decode your vehicle's specifications. Those decoded specifications (engine type, trim level, etc.) may be used in AI training. Your VIN itself is never included in training data.

By using Wrenchli and voluntarily submitting repair outcome reports, you consent to the use of your anonymized data for AI training as described above. You may opt out at any time by contacting privacy@wrenchli.net. Opting out will not affect your ability to use Wrenchli.

To Compute and Display Accuracy Metrics

Wrenchli publishes aggregate, anonymized accuracy statistics — for example, "Wrenchli's symptom assessments matched actual repair findings in X% of verified cases." These statistics are computed from anonymized outcome data and no individual's data is ever identified in these displays.

To Operate the Shop Partner Network

• Share your vehicle and symptom data with the shop you select
• Receive repair confirmation data from that shop to close your outcome loop
• Compute shop performance scores used to rank shops in consumer recommendations
• Enable repair financing for consumers who need it

For Security and Fraud Prevention

• Detect and prevent unauthorized access to our systems
• Validate webhook signatures from shop management system integrations
• Monitor for unusual data access patterns

4. VIN and Vehicle Data

Your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is used to:

• Decode your vehicle's exact specifications via the NHTSA public API
• Improve the accuracy of your symptom assessment
• Enable recall lookup for your specific vehicle

VIN storage: Your VIN is stored in your vehicle profile if you save a vehicle to your garage. If you do not save a vehicle, VIN is retained only for the duration of your session.

VIN in AI training: Your VIN is never included in AI training data. Only decoded vehicle specifications (engine type, trim category, mileage range) are used for training purposes.

VIN sharing: Your VIN is shared with the partner shop you select, as part of the intake data that pre-populates their repair order. It is not shared with any other third party except as required by law.

VIN and repair financing: If you apply for repair financing, your VIN may be shared with our lending partner as part of the loan application. See Section 6 for details.

5. How Repair Outcome Data Flows

When you complete a symptom assessment and visit a partner shop, data flows in two directions:

Wrenchli → Shop

Your name, contact information, vehicle details (including VIN if provided), symptom description, and assessment summary are sent to the shop you select. This pre-populates their repair order. The shop receives this data to prepare for your visit — it is not used for any other purpose.

Shop → Wrenchli

When the shop closes your repair order, they may confirm what they found, what they charged, and what parts were used. This information:

• Closes your outcome loop so you can see how Wrenchli's assessment compared to what the shop found
• Contributes to the shop's Verified performance score
• Is used (in anonymized form) to improve Wrenchli's AI system
• May be shared with a lending partner if you obtained financing for the repair

Shop-confirmed cost data is used to improve Wrenchli's cost estimate accuracy. Individual shop pricing is never shared with other shops. Aggregate cost benchmarks are anonymized by zip code and repair category.

6. Repair Financing

If you use Wrenchli's repair financing feature:

• Your name, contact information, vehicle information, and symptom assessment summary will be shared with Wrenchli's lending partner(s) as part of the loan application process
• The shop's confirmed repair cost will be shared with the lender to verify the loan amount
• Lending partners are bound by their own privacy policies and applicable financial privacy regulations (including GLBA where applicable)
• We will identify our current lending partner(s) at the point of financing application and obtain your explicit consent before sharing your data with them
• Applying for financing is always optional and never required to use Wrenchli's other features

7. Third-Party Services We Use

The following third-party services receive data in connection with Wrenchli's operation:

Audio and video submitted through our vehicle sound and video analysis features are processed by Google AI. This data is subject to Google's privacy policy.

Wrenchli does not sell your personal information to any third party.

For a complete list of subprocessors with data handling details and compliance certifications, see our Subprocessors page.

8. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We share your information only in these circumstances:

• Partner shops — when you select a shop, your intake data is shared with that shop only
• Lending partners — when you apply for financing, with your explicit consent
• Service providers — who operate Wrenchli (listed in Section 7), under data processing agreements
• Legal requirements — when required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of Wrenchli and its users
• Business transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, in which case your data would transfer to the acquiring entity subject to this policy

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information with advertisers.

Wrenchli uses affiliate links for parts recommendations. When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. This does not affect our recommendations or the price you pay.

9. Shop Partner Data

If you operate a repair shop and join the Wrenchli partner network:

• Your business credentials and shop management system API keys are stored encrypted using AES-256-GCM encryption. API keys are never stored in plaintext.
• Your shop's performance metrics (symptom match rate, cost percentile, satisfaction scores) are computed from confirmed repair outcomes and are visible to consumers on the Wrenchli platform.
• Individual shop pricing data is never shared with other shops.
• Aggregate pricing benchmarks are anonymized by zip code and repair category.
• You may request deletion of your shop account and associated data by contacting privacy@wrenchli.net. Note that anonymized, aggregate data derived from your shop's confirmed outcomes may be retained in aggregate metrics even after account deletion.

10. Data Retention

Retention schedule:

• VINs and vehicle data: retained while your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account deletion.
• Symptom descriptions: retained for 12 months then anonymized.
• Audio/video: not retained after analysis.
• Payment records: retained 7 years per financial regulations.

Additional retention details by data type:

11. Data Security

We implement the following security measures:

• Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers uses TLS 1.2 or higher
• Encryption at rest: Sensitive data including shop API credentials is encrypted using AES-256-GCM
• Access controls: Row-level security policies restrict data access so each user can only access their own data
• API key protection: Shop management system API keys are encrypted before storage and decrypted only at the moment of use within secure server-side functions
• Audit logging: All data synchronization events are logged with timestamps and outcomes
• Principle of least privilege: AI training pipelines access only anonymized data and cannot access personally identifiable information

No method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we implement strong security practices, we cannot guarantee absolute security and encourage you to use strong passwords and protect your account credentials.

12. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access your personal information we hold
• Correct inaccurate personal information
• Delete your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Opt out of AI training — request that your data not be used for AI model training. This does not affect your use of Wrenchli.
• Opt out of marketing communications at any time
• Data portability — request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format
• Withdraw consent for data processing where consent is the legal basis

California residents (CCPA): You have the right to know what personal information is collected, to delete personal information, to opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information), and to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@wrenchli.net. We will respond within 45 days.

13. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 16, please contact us at privacy@wrenchli.net immediately and we will delete it promptly.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, our services, or applicable law. We will notify you of material changes by:

• Posting the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last updated" date
• Sending an email notification to registered users for significant changes

Your continued use of Wrenchli after a material change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Your Privacy Rights

Michigan and Ohio residents have the following rights regarding their personal data:

• Right to access: Request a copy of the vehicle and symptom data we have collected about you.
• Right to delete: Request deletion of your vehicle details, symptom descriptions, and assessment history at any time.
• Right to correct: Request correction of any inaccurate information in your profile.
• Right to opt out: Opt out of your assessment data being shared with partner shops at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@wrenchli.net. We will respond within 45 days.

We do not sell your personal information, including your VIN, symptom descriptions, or assessment history, to any third party.

Michigan Residents (MCDPA)

If we deny your privacy request, you have the right to appeal by emailing privacy@wrenchli.net with subject line MCDPA Appeal. We respond to appeals within 60 days.

16. Contact Us

For questions, concerns, or to exercise your privacy rights:

Wrenchli, Inc.
Delaware Corporation
Email: privacy@wrenchli.net

For security-related concerns or to report a vulnerability, please email security@wrenchli.net.