Last Updated: October 17, 2022
This page serves as the official privacy policy for FindMyElectric.com (potentially referred to in this document as, but not limited to: “company,” “we,” “us,” “website,” “site,” “our” “Find My Electric”). On this page, you’ll find a variety of information that pertains to how we collect, use, and store your data and non-personally/personally identifiable information.
We believe in being as transparent as possible, and therefore, we’ve made this page as thorough and complete as we can. If you have privacy-related questions that aren’t addressed on this page, please feel free to reach out via our contact page, or by sending an email to contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com.
The following table of contents summarizes the sections contained in this privacy policy:
- What type of information do we collect?
- How do we collect this information?
- How do we use this information?
- Do we collect any payment or financial information?
- Do we share this information with anyone?
- Do we maintain data logs or use analytics software?
- What types of cookies and tracking technology do we use?
- How do we handle third-party links and software?
- How do we keep your information safe?
- Do you make any guarantees about data loss?
- Do we collect information from minors?
- Do California residents have special privacy rights?
- Do we make updates to this policy?
- Information for EU Residents Regarding the GDPR
- Information About Your Consent
- Usage Restrictions for This Website
- Deleting Your User Account and/or Vehicles Listed
- Contacting Us
1) What type of information do we collect?
When you interact with this website in a variety of ways, we collect various pieces of both non-personally identifiable information and also personally identifiable information.
When users visit pages on our website, we use cookies to track their movement across the site and personalize certain features (to keep users logged in, for example, when they sign in and click on different pages). The cookies we use to enable site features like saved logins do not track user activity off of our website.
We also record information about user activity and visit sessions on our website in order to keep it secure, to enhance the user experience, and for other similar reasons. Information that we collect in these sessions includes (but is not limited to) browser version, OS, device type, pages views, time on site/specific pages, IP address, user search queries, etc. We collect this information about every user who visits the website regardless of whether or not they create an account.
In addition to standard cookies and visitor log information gleaned from automatically generated data, we also collect personally identifiable information when a user registers on our site. This includes, but is not limited to user names (first and last), phone numbers, email addresses and other information that may be personally identifiable. This is all information that is voluntarily submitted by users.
Because FindMyElectric.com is a website where users can create ads for their cars and list them for sale, we also collect a variety of user-generated content/information. This includes VIN numbers, pictures of user vehicles, vehicle descriptions, and other details about the vehicles that may include original purchase information and various relevant technical facts about a specific vehicle(s) or vehicle history information.
2) How do we collect this information?
This information is collected through our website, FindMyElectric.com and also through email and form correspondence when users provide it or use those features.
Most of the non-personally identifiable information is collected automatically through security and analytics software.
Most of the personally identifiable information is collected when user provides it via creating an account on the site, listing cars for sale, and through email and form correspondence.
3) How do we use this information?
We use most of the non-personally identifiable information for security purposes and to make improvements to the site. We also use this information to monitor site quality (uptime, availability, performance, etc.), engagement, user satisfaction, and to respond to support requests.
We use most of the personally identifiable information to display user ads or personalizations, create and manage user accounts, and also for security and fraud prevention purposes.
However, any of this information may be used for other marketing, training, sales, or other purposes. We may use this information to run ad campaigns, email campaigns, social media placements or campaigns, or other types of contests, advertising, promotions for the website or brand or for another purpose.
We will not knowingly expose your information to nefarious or malevolent sources and do our best to protect and secure it. We care tremendously about user privacy go out of our way to protect it.
With that said, any information submitted on this website is open to be used for various marketing or promotional or other purposes, and by using this site, you consent to these (and other similar or related) uses.
4) Do we collect any payment or financial information?
At this time, we do not collect any payment information directly for listings or other services. We use third-party vendors such as PayPal or Stripe to process payments, and those vendors securely handle all payment transactions. We cannot see or view bank account or credit/debit card information; this is done by our trusted payment processors. They also have separate and independent privacy policies.
Should you ever have ANY issue related to payment processing, payments, etc., please contact us immediately and we will work to resolve your issue and/or connect you with the appropriate company/business who can resolve the issue.
5) Do we share this information with anyone?
We do share your information in some ways with trusted third parties, but we do not make this information public at any time unless it’s part of your user public profile or a listing on the website that you’ve created.
We partner with a variety of trusted third parties that assist us in securing our website, managing emails, hosting our website, processing payments, providing analytics information, and other various businesses that provide a variety of services related to the operation of our website. And we do share information with these third parties. Any information obtained via this website could be shared with any of these third parties.
With that said, again, we do not publish your information publicly unless it’s part of a car listing, or it’s part of your public user profile (both of which you control).
We may also release any relevant information to comply with requests from law enforcement, government agencies, or similar entities.
6) How do we keep your information safe?
We have a variety of data security practices in place to keep your information safe that are in compliance with the GDPR (see more below) as well as other important standards and codes.
We are extremely careful about the third parties we do business with (PayPal, Stripe, email/hosting companies, etc.) to ensure that they are security conscious and have various active/passive security measures in place.
We also perform regular security audits and employ different methods of monitoring server activity and detecting fraud, misuse, and abuse, and we actively combat this type of activity on our website.
Please be aware, with that said, that no security practices are 100% effective and although we do our best to keep our site and your information safe and secure, submitting your information and data is done at your own risk.
7) Do you make any guarantees about data loss?
Data loss is something that can, on occasion, occur for a variety of reasons—and because of that, we make no guarantees about data loss in any way. Again, we do our best to prevent data loss, but it’s never 100% possible to prevent data loss, so please do not rely on our website to store or backup your data.
8) Do we maintain data logs and use analytics software?
We actively maintain data logs for information outlined in sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 on this page. Some of this data is stored securely on servers that we control, while other data is stored on third-party servers, some of which we have limited access to and others that we do not.
We may periodically or regularly review some of this data to make improvements on our website, for security reasons, and for other related purposes.
We do use analytics software such as Google Analytics in order to gain insights into the user activity on our site, for security reasons, and for other related purposes.
9) What types of cookies and tracking technology do we use?
This site may use various types of cookies to enable site features, to track or analyze user behavior on the site, and for other related purposes. These cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device in order to allow websites (including this website) to function properly. An example of this is when you login to the website to manage your ads, you are cookied so that you don’t have to log in again each time you refresh the page; the cookie stored on your computer or device tells the website that you’re already logged in, saving you time and hassle. While this is one example of how we use cookies, there are various other ways that may or may not be outlined here.
We may use cookies to display advertisements (such as DoubleClick DART cookies used in Google advertisements). These cookies may record information about various site preferences and may assist in serving ads that are relevant to your interests (known as interest-based advertising). These cookies don’t track your personal information, but you may opt out of ad serving via interest-based ads at YourAdChoices.com. You may also learn more about opting out at AboutAds.info/pmc. You may also change the settings on your browser or device to disallow cookies, but beware—this may disable certain desirable site features such as a saved login that prevents you from having to continuously login each time the page is refreshed.
We may also utilize other third-party cookies from time-to-time that use other cookie technologies not listed here. These cookies are governed by the privacy policies of their third-party owners and are not subject to the FindMyElectric.com privacy policy.
10) How do we handle third-party links and software?
You may see third-party links on this website for various reasons such as: to show our visitors additional resources, to display advertising, and for other related purposes. These third-party websites have separate and independent privacy policies and are not governed by or subject to the FindMyElectric.com privacy policy.
In the normal course of running this website, we use various third-party web-based software such as Google Analytics and other online/offline software. These software programs and vendors are carefully selected for function, privacy, and security, but still have separate and independent privacy policies—again, not governed by or subject to the FindMyElectric.com privacy policy.
11) Do we collect information from minors?
FindMyElectric.com is not targeted toward users under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, you may not use this website, and should not provide any information to us.
12) Do California residents have special privacy rights?
California residents have a special provision called “Do Not Track” that requires websites to state how they respond to “Do Not Track” requests. FindMyElectric.com does not itself track visitor activity off of this site, and therefore there is no way for this website to respond to “Do Not Track” requests from your computer or device. Therefore, if you need to be certain you are not tracked and need confirmation of that fact, you should not visit this website.
Additionally, California Civil Code Section 1798.83 contains a provision called the “Shine The Light” law, which permits users in California to request and obtain data from us once per year and free of charge. This includes details about various categories of personal information, how we used it (direct or marketing purposes, etc.), and other various pieces of information related to the previous calendar year.
If you’re a California resident and would like to submit a “Shine The Light” request, please contact us via email at contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com and we will guide you through the process of submitting a written request to obtain this data.
In addition to the aforementioned California-specific privacy laws, there is also the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
If you are currently or previously a resident of California, you may be aware of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which is effective January 1, 2020.
Under this law, there are a multitude of provisions, rules, tests, and determinations that are used to decide whether a business is held to the rules of the CCPA.
After a detailed and careful review of a variety of statistics including website traffic, visitors (specifically from California), we have determined that FindMyElectric.com (as well as it’s parent company, owner(s), individual(s), member(s), affiliate(s), assignee(s), etc.) does not meet the qualifications to fall under the purview of the CCPA.
Because of these reasons, we have not created a formal/dedicated channel for requesting or limiting user data with respect to the CCPA.
With that said, we care deeply about our users and our #1 goal is to be the best site on the web for buying or selling a used EV, and we want our users to feel secure and have the absolute best experience possible. We also work very, very hard to be as transparent and helpful as possible; and, to be as compliant with local, state, and federal rules as possible.
So, while we don’t quality under the rules of the CCPA to have a formal channel for requesting CCPA-specific information, or qualify to be bound by the formal limits of the CCPA, we want to service our users as best as we possibly can.
With that said, if you ever have any issue, question, or concern related to privacy with this site, please do not hesitate to reach out by contacting us at contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com, and we will do our absolute best to resolve your concern.
13) Do we make updates to this policy?
Yes, we do periodically make updates to this privacy policy, and those updates are posted here on this page without any advance notice.
At the top of the page, you’ll see a line that says “Last Updated” with a date indicating the last time the privacy policy page was updated.
14) Information for EU Residents Regarding the GDPR
As of now, the target audience of FindMyElectric.com is geared toward residents in the United States, not the European Union. However, we have still taken steps to comply with relevant GDPR rules.
With that said, it’s important to note that the website itself, the web servers the site runs on, and some third-party software (such as Clicky Analytics) keeps IP address logs which are necessary to maintain the security of the website, web server, and to prevent and detect malicious activity from bots and real users.
Recital 49 of the GDPR states that “the processing of personal data to the extent strictly necessary and proportionate for the purposes of ensuring network and information security, i.e. the ability of a network or an information system to resist, at a given level of confidence, accidental or unlawful or malicious actions…” is permitted.
Explained in simple terms, it is necessary to log IP addresses to ensure people attempting to do harm to the site are able to be filtered and banned. It’s also important to be able to track visitors by IP address for a variety of firewall and network security concerns.
This information is stored on secure servers and many steps are taken to protect this data, but again, it is absolutely necessary to maintain the safety and security of our website and the data associated with it. Many U.S. companies such as Google and Apple log IP addresses for security concerns; it is a common practice. We do not sell, trade, or make this information public.
However, we may be compelled to release this data only in very serious situations by law enforcement, government agencies, or similar entities.
We want to be good stewards of privacy and protect user data, and in order to protect our website and our users, we need to log IP information.
15) Information About Your Consent
By using this website, you consent to the provisions, terms, restrictions, and limitations laid our in our privacy policy and terms of service. If you do not consent, you must leave this website immediately and not return.
16) Usage Restrictions for This Website
You must be 18 year of age or older to use this site—it is not meant for use by minors. You may not use this site if you are under the age of 18 and must leave immediately. If we become aware of any user under the age of 18 using this site we will deactivate that user account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete this information from our website and records. If you become aware of any data we have collected from minors, please email us at contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com so we can take the appropriate actions.
17) Deleting Your User Account and/or Vehicles Listed
Deleting your user account and/or personally identifiable information from the site is not an option that is accessible through the end user admin panel when logged in. Users are also not able to fully delete their vehicle(s) listed via the end user admin panel. However, we are happy to accommodate requests to delete vehicles and/or user accounts. Please note: deleting a user’s account will automatically delete their listed vehicle(s) as well, including previously listed vehicles which have since been marked as sold. If you would like to permanently delete your user account and/or vehicle listings, please email us at contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com so we can assist you.
18) Contacting Us
Please feel free to contact us at any time with questions, comments, or concerns via our contact page or by sending an email to contact[at]findmyelectric[dot]com.