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Last updated: 10 May 2026 Türkçe

TCLabs ("we," "our," or "the company") takes user privacy very seriously. This Privacy Policy explains the personal information collected, used, shared, and protected through the CarFix mobile application, in compliance with the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK) and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This policy applies to all users who download, use, or visit the CarFix application or website. Continued use of the application means you have read and accepted this policy.

1. Information We Collect

CarFix is a community-driven vehicle knowledge platform and processes the following personal data:

1.1. Account Information

• Email address: Required for account creation and sign-in. Processed by Firebase Authentication.
• Display name: The name shown to other users on the forum and in messages.
• Profile photo: The image you optionally upload. A separate permission is requested for access to your device's photo library.
• Identity provider data: If you use Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google, the name, email, and provider ID returned by the respective provider are processed.

1.2. Garage and Vehicle Information

• Make, model, generation, engine name, trim, year, horsepower, fuel type, and transmission of the vehicles you add.
• Optional: license plate, nickname, and mileage. License plate is visible only on your own device and is not shared with other users.

1.3. Community Content

• Text, date, and associated vehicle information of forum threads and replies you create.
• Comments you post on chronic issue reports.
• Content, send time, and read/unread status of private messages with other users.
• Topics you follow, replies you mark/like.

1.4. Referral and Invitation Data

• Your auto-generated 6-character invite code (e.g., AB7K9X).
• The code of the user who invited you (if you entered one during sign-up). This information is stored only for social statistics and future reward programs.

1.5. Usage and Engagement Data

• Your points, level, and earned badges.
• Daily streak (consecutive open) data.
• Question and answer counts, vehicle counts.
• Screens viewed (Firebase Analytics), application usage frequency, session durations.

1.6. Device and Technical Data

• Anonymous device model, operating system version, application version.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) device token for push notifications.
• Application performance data (Firebase Performance Monitoring).
• Crash stack traces and last screen information when the app crashes (Firebase Crashlytics).
• Approximate IP address (from server request headers, not stored persistently).

1.7. Advertising and Tracking Data (AdMob)

• On Apple devices, IDFA (advertising identifier) access subject to your App Tracking Transparency (ATT) permission. If you decline or revoke ATT, non-personalized ads are served.
• Ad impressions, clicks, and device type are processed by Google AdMob.
• This data is processed directly on Google's servers; we do not maintain individual user-level ad data archives.

1.8. Information Stored Locally on Your Device

• Onboarding screen seen marker.
• Ad frequency counters (purpose: protect users from ad bombardment).
• Store rating prompt last shown date.
• This data is stored only on your device (SharedPreferences) and is not sent to our servers.

2. Purposes of Data Use

The personal data collected is used for the following purposes:

• Service delivery: Providing account creation, sign-in, garage management, forum, chronic issues database access, messaging, and notification services.
• Community functions: Showing the names and profiles of users who answer your questions to other users; delivering updates on topics you follow.
• Personalization: Offering risk scores, engine-compatible chronic issues, and forum discussions specific to vehicles in your garage.
• Quality and performance: Error detection, crash analysis, latency monitoring, and general product improvement.
• Advertising and revenue: Showing banner ads to keep the application free. Personalized ads are served if you grant ATT permission; otherwise non-personalized ads are served.
• Legal obligations: Compliance with legal requests from authorities, crime prevention, and abuse detection.

3. Third-Party Services Used

CarFix uses the following third-party service providers. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging, Analytics, Crashlytics, Performance Monitoring, Remote Config) — Data is processed in Google Cloud. Firebase Privacy
• Google AdMob — Advertising service. AdMob Ads Policy
• Google Sign-In — Optional identity provider. No information is shared if not used.
• Apple Sign-In — Optional identity provider. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email," Apple generates a relay email address.
• Apple App Store (StoreKit) — In-app store rating prompts.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or commercially share your personal data for advertising or marketing purposes. Data is shared only in the following cases:

• Community content: Questions, answers, and the username with profile photo shown alongside them are visible to other users on the forum. The decision to share this content is yours.
• Service providers: The third-party services listed in section 3 (Firebase, AdMob, etc.) process data within their own contractual frameworks.
• Legal obligations: Court orders, prosecutorial demands, or competent administrative authority requests may require sharing within the scope mandated by law.
• Company transfer: In the event CarFix or TCLabs is transferred to another company, user data is transferred to the new company; you will be notified via in-app notification and email.

5. Data Retention Period

• Active accounts: Data is retained as long as the account is active.
• Inactive accounts: Accounts that have not signed in for 24 months are deleted following an email warning.
• Account deletion request: You can delete your account yourself as described in section 8 below; data is irretrievably deleted within 30 days.
• Legal retention obligations: Data required to be retained for legal reasons is kept for the period mandated by the relevant law.

6. Data Security

• All sensitive data is transmitted over encrypted channels (TLS 1.2+).
• On the server side, data is stored in ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018 certified Google Cloud infrastructure.
• We do not store passwords; Firebase Authentication's hash + salt mechanism is used.
• With Cloud Firestore Security Rules, every read/write authorization is verified server-side; one user cannot access another user's private data.

7. Children's Privacy

CarFix is designed for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If a parent realizes their child has shared information, contacting support@tclabs.app is sufficient; data will be deleted within 7 days at the latest.

8. Account Deletion

There are two ways to permanently delete your account and all related data:

• From within the app: Profile screen → Account Settings → tap "Delete Account." Your account is immediately deactivated upon confirmation.
• By email: Send a request from your registered email address to support@tclabs.app. You will receive a response within 7 business days, and the account deletion will be completed.

Account deletion is irreversible. The following data is permanently deleted:

• Firebase Authentication identity record (email, provider information)
• users/{user ID} document (display name, profile photo, points, badges, streak, referral code)
• All vehicle records in your garage
• Forum threads you created and replies you posted
• Your private messages (the recipient can no longer see these messages)
• Topics you follow, invitation records
• Your uploaded profile photo (from Firebase Storage)

Note: Even after account deletion, logs or backups subject to legal retention obligations may be kept for the period required by law. Such data is retained anonymously, not linked to you.

9. Your Rights (KVKK and GDPR)

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Learn whether your personal data is being processed
• Request access to and a copy of the processed data
• Request correction if the data is incorrect
• Request deletion or destruction of data when the processing purpose has expired
• Object to data processing
• Request transfer of data to another data controller (data portability)
• Object to automated decision-making processes
• Lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority (in Türkiye, the Personal Data Protection Authority)

To exercise your rights, write to support@tclabs.app; you will receive a response within the legal timeframe after identity verification.

10. App Tracking Transparency (Apple)

On iOS 14.5 and later, Apple requires apps to obtain user permission for personalized advertising. CarFix applies this permission respectfully:

• The permission dialog is shown when the app is first opened or at any time from settings.
• If you do not grant permission, the IDFA (Advertising Identifier) is not shared with any advertising partner; non-personalized ads are shown.
• You can change your mind after granting permission: go to iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking and remove CarFix's permission.

11. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The CarFix mobile application does not use traditional browser cookies. However, it uses SharedPreferences and Firebase SDK internal caching mechanisms. Our website at tclabs.app uses only technical-purpose cookies (session, language preference).

12. Data Controller

Identity of the data controller:

• Name: TCLabs
• Location: Türkiye
• Contact email: support@tclabs.app

13. Policy Changes

This privacy policy may be updated due to legislative or service changes. Significant changes are notified through:

• An in-app modal pop-up
• A notification to your registered email address
• The "Last updated" date at the top of this page

If you wish to compare with previous versions of this policy, you can request the archive of relevant versions by writing to support@tclabs.app.

14. Contact

For all questions about our privacy policy, data use, or your KVKK/GDPR rights:

• Email: support@tclabs.app
• Web: tclabs.app