Effective September 21, 2026.
Vehicle Inspectors is run by Ketchup Consulting LLC in Temecula, California. This page explains what we know about you, why we have it, who else sees it, and how to get it changed or deleted. We wrote it to be read, not skimmed past, so it's short on legal filler.
If you use the site, book an inspection, or work as an inspector on our network, this policy applies to you.
1. What we collect
When you book an inspection
- Your name, email, phone number, and billing address.
- The vehicle: year, make, model, VIN, mileage, and the listing link if you have one.
- Where the vehicle is, including the street address, and the seller's contact details so our inspector can set up the visit.
- Any photos or notes you attach, and your preferred date and time.
- A card on file. Square handles the card itself; we never see or store the full number.
When you sign up as an inspector
- Your name, business name if you have one, email, phone, and the area you're willing to cover.
- Your experience, certifications, and the equipment you have access to.
- A tax ID (EIN or SSN) so we can issue a 1099, and where to send your pay.
- A government ID if we need to verify who you are.
When you contact us
Whatever you send us, plus the phone number or email it came from. Calls that go through our (888) 923-5890 line between a customer and an inspector are recorded; both parties hear that before they connect.
Automatically
Like every website, ours logs your IP address, browser, device, the pages you visit, and how you got here. We use cookies for sign-in sessions and for Google Analytics. Nothing is used for advertising.
2. What we do with it
- Run the inspection: match you with a nearby inspector, schedule the visit, deliver the report.
- Charge the card on file when the job is done, and pay the inspector.
- Send confirmations, updates, and the report by email and text. Marketing texts and emails only go out if you opted in, and every one has a way to stop them.
- Answer your questions.
- Keep the platform working and catch fraud, off-platform deals, and abuse.
- File taxes (1099s for inspectors) and respond when the law requires it.
- For inspectors: review your application, track how your jobs go, and figure out what you're owed.
3. Who else sees it
We don't sell your information. Here's who does see it.
The inspector on your job gets your name, phone, email, the vehicle details, the seller's contact info, and the full address. Nobody else in the dispatch pool sees the address; only the inspector who takes the job does. Since September 2026 we route most customer–inspector contact through our own line and message thread, so direct phone numbers are shared less than they used to be.
The customer, if you're the inspector, gets your name, business name, and your rating once you've claimed their job.
Companies that do work for us:
- Square for payments and payouts.
- Twilio for texts, calls, and call transcription.
- Supabase and Vercel, which host the database and the site.
- Google, OpenCage, and OpenStreetMap for turning addresses into map coordinates.
- Google Analytics for site traffic.
- uShip, if you click through to get a shipping quote after your inspection. What you enter on their site is covered by their policy, not this one.
- Google Places and Hunter, which we use to find mechanics to recruit. This is business contact data about shops, not customer data.
- Our accountant and lawyer when we need them.
Each of these is under contract to use the data only for the job we hired them to do.
When the law requires it. A subpoena, a court order, a fraud investigation, or a real safety issue.
If the business changes hands. If Vehicle Inspectors is sold or merged, your data goes with it, under the same protections.
We also share numbers that can't identify anyone, like how many inspections happened in Texas last quarter.
4. Cookies
We use cookies to keep you signed in and to run Google Analytics. There are no advertising cookies. You can block cookies in your browser, but sign-in will stop working. We don't respond to "Do Not Track" because no one agreed on what it means, but we do honor the Global Privacy Control signal from California residents.
5. How long we keep it
- Bookings, inspection reports, and payment records: 7 years. Taxes, audits, and the occasional dispute about what a report said.
- Inspector tax records: 7 years, because the IRS requires it.
- Customer account records: as long as the account is open, plus 3 years.
- Texts, emails, and call logs: 2 years.
- Call recordings on our line: moved off our phone provider after 90 days and kept with the job record.
- Analytics data: 26 months, Google's default.
After that we delete it or strip out anything that identifies you.
6. Security
Everything moves over TLS. Sensitive fields are encrypted where they're stored. Database access is locked down by role, admin logins need a second factor, and vendors sign data-processing agreements before they touch anything. No system is perfect; if a breach ever affects your data, we'll tell you as the law requires.
7. Your rights
If you live in California (or Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, or another state with a privacy law), you can ask us what we have on you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. We won't treat you differently for asking. You can also have someone ask on your behalf.
Email support@vehicleinspectors.com with the subject "Privacy request." We'll confirm it's really you, then answer within 45 days.
For the record, over the past 12 months we've collected the categories above: identifiers, contact and payment details, booking history, site activity, the locations you gave us, and professional details from inspectors. We don't collect biometrics, health or genetic data, or anything about race, religion, or immigration status, and we don't knowingly collect anything from anyone under 18.
If you're in the EU or UK, we process your data to fulfil your booking, because we have a legitimate interest in running the service, because you consented (marketing, cookies), or because the law requires it. You can access, correct, erase, restrict, port, or object to that processing, and you can complain to your local data authority. Our servers are in the United States.
8. Kids
This service is for adults. If you think a minor gave us their information, email us and we'll delete it.
9. Other sites
We link out to listings, Carfax, uShip, and manufacturer pages. Their privacy policies apply once you leave ours.
10. Texts and emails
Details of the text program are in Section 13 of the Terms. We keep a record of your opt-in (number, time, and the consent text) so we can prove it if we ever have to. That record is never shared.
11. Changes
If we make a change that matters, we'll post it here 30 days before it takes effect and update the date at the top.
12. Contact
Vehicle Inspectors, c/o Ketchup Consulting LLC, Temecula, California.
support@vehicleinspectors.com · (888) 923-5890