Privacy policy

The short version

We collect only what we need to find a driver a tow or roadside truck, to run the partner tools for tow operators and repair shops, and to answer people who write to us. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for other companies' marketing. We do not text drivers.

Drivers who ask for help

When you ask for help we collect:

• your pickup location (from your phone's location if you allow it, or the address you type), and its zip code;
• the service you picked, your vehicle, what is wrong, and the shop you want to be towed to;
• your mobile number, which we require so the operator can reach you.

We use this only to quote a price and offer the job to tow operators, and to let the operator you are matched with see where to go. Your number is shown only to the operator who accepts your job, while the job is in progress. A live request is held in the running service's memory and your number is removed from memory when the job ends. We also keep a record of each request in our database so we can run and improve the service and resolve disputes: your mobile number, the pickup location, the vehicle and service, the shop you chose, the operator (if any) who took the job, the price, the times, and how it ended. That record is visible only to our staff who run dispatch, is kept for up to three years, and is not sold or shared for advertising. You can ask us to delete the record of your requests at [email protected].

Tow operators and repair shops

For operators and shops we keep a business record in our database (Airtable): business and contact name, phone, email, address, the zip codes and towns covered, prices, listing status, and a PIN stored only as a one-way hash. Operator and shop names, phones and addresses appear on our public pages and in the driver flow because that is how drivers find them. Notes, emails, PINs and internal fields are never shown publicly. For text alerts, see the text alert terms.

We may list a repair shop in our "Tow to" list from its public business details, such as its name, address and phone. A shop that does not want to be listed can email us and we will remove it.

Messages you send us

When you fill in a contact or invite form, we receive your name, business, phone, email and message by email through Resend, and we use them to reply. Mail sent to [email protected] is forwarded to our inbox through Cloudflare.

Cookies, analytics and logs

• Sign-in cookies. Operators, shops and our admin get a signed cookie that keeps them signed in. Drivers have no account and no sign-in cookie.
• Google Analytics. Our public pages use it to count visits and see which pages help people, with advertising features turned off. It does not run on the Operator, Service Center or admin screens, and we do not send it phone numbers, names or job details.
• Server and network logs. Our host and network provider keep routine request logs, such as IP address and page, for security and troubleshooting.

Who helps us run the service

These companies process data for us, only to provide their service:

• Railway hosts the app, and Cloudflare sits in front of it and handles our email forwarding.
• Airtable stores operator, shop and location records.
• Resend sends the emails from our forms.
• Twilio sends text alerts to operators who opted in.
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) turns a typed address or your location into coordinates. It receives the address or coordinates and our server's address, not your phone number.
• Google serves a small static map image of the pickup. Your browser loads it from Google, so Google receives the map location and your IP address. Google Analytics is described above.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.

Your choices

You can ask us what we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing [email protected]. Operators and shops can also ask to be paused or removed there. Drivers can use the service without allowing location by typing an address. To stop text alerts, reply STOP or turn them off in the Operator app.

Children and changes

The service is for adults who drive and for businesses; it is not directed to children. If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new date.

Contact

TowingNearMe, run by Mike Wenger. Email [email protected].