Your car's data stays on your phone
This policy explains what the ScanMyCar mobile app collects, what leaves your device, and who it's shared with. In short: almost nothing leaves your phone, and the only thing that ever does is what you send when you use an AI feature.
| Accounts | None. No sign-up, no login, no email required to use the app. |
| Stored on our servers | None of your vehicle data, questions, or attachments. |
| Leaves your device | Only when you use an AI feature — sent to Google Gemini. |
| Purchases | Handled by Apple. We never see your payment details or identity. |
| Location | Not collected. Speed and distance come from the car, not GPS. |
| Ads & trackers | None. No advertising, analytics SDKs, or third-party trackers. |
| Children | Not directed to children under 13. |
The short version
ScanMyCar is built to keep your data on your phone. Your drive history, sensor logs, trouble codes, trip statistics, AI conversations, attached photos and settings are stored only in the app's local storage on your device. There are no accounts, no sign-in and no cloud sync. Deleting the app deletes the data.
The one exception is the AI features. When you choose to use them, your question and the relevant vehicle data are sent — over an encrypted connection — to Google Gemini to generate an answer, and then returned to you. If you never use the AI features, nothing ever leaves your device.
What stays on your device
Everything, by default. The app reads data from your vehicle through a Bluetooth OBD-II adapter and stores it locally in a database on your phone. This includes:
- Live and logged sensor readings (the 139 parameters your car exposes);
- Diagnostic trouble codes — stored, pending and permanent — and freeze-frame snapshots;
- Emissions readiness status;
- Trip statistics and drive history;
- Your vehicle's identification number (VIN) and basic vehicle information, when the car reports them;
- Your AI conversations and any photos or files you attach to them;
- Your settings, dashboard layout and alert thresholds.
None of this is transmitted to us or to anyone else, except the specific data described below when you use an AI feature. We have no ability to see it.
What leaves your device — AI features only
ScanMyCar includes optional AI features, part of the ScanMyCar Pro subscription: the AI assistant chat, health check, ride analysis, and per-vehicle sensor tailoring. These are powered by Google Gemini. When, and only when, you use one of them, the app sends the following to generate the answer:
- your question and the conversation so far;
- the relevant vehicle data that grounds the answer — sensor readings, trouble codes, readiness status, trip statistics, and your vehicle's VIN;
- any photos or files you attach to the chat.
This is sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. It is used to produce the response you asked for, which is streamed back to your phone. If you don't use an AI feature, none of this is sent.
Our relay service and Google Gemini
AI requests pass through a small relay service we operate. It exists for one reason: so that no AI credentials are shipped inside the app. The relay forwards your request to Google Gemini and streams the answer back. It is designed to hold as little as possible:
- It does not store your questions, vehicle data, or attachments. They pass through in transit to Google and are not written to our storage or logs.
- To prevent abuse, the relay keeps a random per-install identifier (not tied to your name, email, or Apple/Google account) together with a running count of AI requests made from that install on the current day.
- These abuse-prevention records automatically expire and are deleted a couple of days after they're created.
Google processes the content of AI requests to generate a response, as a data processor, subject to Google's applicable API terms and privacy commitments. Because Google's infrastructure is global, this processing may occur on servers outside your country. We do not use your requests to train any model, and we do not sell or share this data.
Purchases — the ScanMyCar Pro subscription
ScanMyCar Pro is bought through Apple's App Store in-app purchase system. Apple handles the entire payment: we never receive your name, email, Apple ID, or payment details. To keep Pro working without an account, the app proves the purchase to our relay using Apple's signed transaction receipt, and the relay records the subscription's paid-until date against the same random per-install identifier used for abuse prevention — nothing that identifies you. That record exists only so your subscription keeps working, and expires with it.
Bluetooth
ScanMyCar uses Bluetooth solely to communicate with your OBD-II adapter. Your device's operating system asks for your permission before the app can use Bluetooth. The connection carries vehicle data between the adapter and your phone only — it does not carry personal identity information, and it is not used for location, beacons, or tracking of any kind.
What we never do
- No advertising, no ad identifiers, no third-party trackers or analytics SDKs.
- No selling, renting or sharing of your data with third parties, beyond the AI processing by Google described above.
- No collection of your location. Vehicle speed and distance are read from the car's own sensors, not from GPS.
- No user profiles, and no account you could be identified by — there is no account at all.
Children's privacy
ScanMyCar is a vehicle-diagnostics tool intended for drivers and vehicle owners. It is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your region), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Because the app requires no account and stores its data on the device, we do not knowingly hold any child's personal information. If you believe a child has provided information through an AI feature, deleting the app removes the local data; you may also contact us at the address below.
Your control over your data
Because your data lives on your device, you control it directly:
- Don't want anything to leave your phone? Simply don't use the AI features — every other part of the app works entirely offline against your adapter.
- Want to erase everything? Delete the app, and its local database and all attachments go with it. You can also clear logs and conversations from within the app.
- Regional rights. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access or delete personal data. Since we don't hold your vehicle data or questions on our servers, there is generally nothing on our side to retrieve; the abuse-prevention counter is anonymous and expires on its own. You can reach us with any request at the contact below.
How your data is protected
Data on your phone is stored within the app's private storage and protected by your device's operating system; sensitive settings use the platform's secure storage. Data sent for AI features is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we minimize risk by keeping data on your device and holding essentially nothing ourselves.
Changes to this policy
If we make a material change to how the app handles data, we'll update this page and note the change in the app's release notes, and we'll revise the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the app after an update means you accept the revised policy.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data? Email serene.aryal24@gmail.com and we'll get back to you.