12v.Biz ("we", "us") is a sole proprietorship operated by Tony Dehnke and based in British Columbia, Canada. We make the 12v.Biz Toolbox, business software for car audio and mobile electronics shops. This policy explains what personal information we collect through our website (https://www.12v.biz), the 12v.Biz service on the web, and the 12v.Biz Toolbox mobile app (together, the "Services"), how we use it, and the choices you have. Our Services are built for businesses, not consumers.

What we collect

Information you send us. When you fill in a contact, free-trial, or newsletter form, we collect what you enter — for example your name, email, shop name, phone number, and message. Phone numbers on the trial form may be used to verify your shop for text messaging.
Account information. If your shop uses 12v.Biz, we collect the details needed to run the account, such as staff names, email addresses, and login activity.
Billing information. We invoice shops through Wave, which processes card payments (Visa, Mastercard, American Express). We receive billing contact details and payment status, but not your full card number.
Support messages. If you use the Contact Support chat in the Toolbox or email us, we collect what you send and the details needed to reply.
Technical and usage data. Like most websites and apps, we and our providers automatically collect information such as IP address, approximate location, device and browser type, pages or screens viewed, and error, crash, and security logs. Some of this is collected using cookies or similar technologies (see below).

How we use it

To reply to you, set up your free trial or account, and provide support.
To operate, maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the Services.
To protect the Services and our users, including preventing spam, fraud, and abuse.
To measure and improve our marketing, including our advertising.
To send you service messages about your account, trial, or support requests.
To comply with the law and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal information for money.

Your shop's customer data

When your shop uses 12v.Biz — on the web or in the Toolbox app — you may store information about your customers, for example names, phone numbers, text-message (SMS) conversations, work orders, vehicle photos, and signatures. For that data, your shop is in control and we process it on your behalf to provide the Services. Your shop is responsible for having the right to collect it, for any notices and consents your customers need (including consent to receive text messages), and for responding to your customers' privacy requests. If a shop's customer contacts us, we'll refer them to the shop and reasonably assist the shop where required. We do not sell this data or use it for advertising.

If your shop connects QuickBooks Online, customer information — including names, phone numbers, and email addresses — syncs both ways between 12v.Biz and your QuickBooks account. Intuit handles that data in QuickBooks under its own privacy policy.

The 12v.Biz Toolbox app

The Toolbox app is a companion to your 12v.Biz account. You sign in with your 12v.Biz business account, and the app shows and works with the data already in that account.

Push notifications. With your permission, the app sends push notifications — for example when a customer texts your shop — through our push provider, OneSignal. It processes a device push token, basic delivery and interaction data (such as when a notification is opened), and standard device details (device model, operating system, app version, and an IP address used to derive approximate country). You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.
Crash and performance diagnostics. The app uses Sentry to report crashes, hangs, and performance problems. Reports can include device and app details and the signed-in staff member's account ID, name, and email, so we can fix problems for the right person.
Camera and photos. If you add a photo to a work order, the app uses your camera or photo library for that purpose only.
No advertising tracking in the app. The app contains no advertising SDKs and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

Support chat

The Contact Support chat in the Toolbox and our help center run on Chatwoot, which we host ourselves on a server in a US data center (Contabo), with encrypted backups stored with Cloudflare. Push notifications for chat replies go through Chatwoot's push relay service and then Apple or Google, and include the message text and sender name.

Cookies, analytics, and advertising (website)

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies, including tools such as these (this list may change):

Cloudflare Web Analytics — cookieless traffic measurement. It doesn't use cookies or build profiles, so it runs on every visit.
Google Analytics 4 — helps us understand traffic and which pages are useful. It uses cookies.
Meta (Facebook) pixel — measures and improves our advertising. It uses cookies and sends Meta information such as the pages you visit and whether you submitted a form. Meta may use this to show you ads on its platforms. Under some US state laws this may be considered "sharing" personal information for targeted advertising.
Cloudflare Turnstile — checks that form submissions come from a person, not a bot.

We also use cookies or local storage to remember basic preferences, such as your light or dark theme and your consent choice. You can clear or block cookies in your browser; some features may not work as well if you do.

Your choices

Privacy choices. Use the Privacy choices link (also in the footer of every page) to accept or decline Google Analytics and the Meta pixel, or to withdraw consent you gave earlier. If you decline, they won't load on this browser. Your choice applies to this browser only — if you clear browser storage or use another browser or device, you may need to choose again.
Consent banner. If you visit from Quebec, the European Union / European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom, Google Analytics and the Meta pixel don't load unless you accept them. Elsewhere, they load by default until you decline.
Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we don't load the Meta pixel.
Other controls. You can also contact us (see below) with questions about advertising sharing, and use Meta's ad settings and your browser's cookie controls.
Newsletter and marketing email. We don't currently send marketing email. If you subscribe to our newsletter, we keep your subscription details so we can send future newsletters, and you can withdraw your subscription at any time by contacting us. If we start sending, every marketing email will include an unsubscribe link.

Who we share it with

We share personal information only as described in this policy, including with:

Service providers who help us run the Services, such as hosting, storage, and security (for example Cloudflare and Contabo), customer relationship management (Zoho), invoicing and payments (Wave), email delivery, text messaging, push notifications (OneSignal), crash reporting (Sentry), in-app announcements, analytics, and spam checking (for example StopForumSpam, which receives the email and IP address from form submissions). They process personal information on our behalf for the purposes described here, subject to applicable contractual and legal requirements.
Advertising partners and services you connect — advertising partners such as Meta, and services your shop chooses to connect such as QuickBooks Online, may also process information for their own purposes, as explained in this policy and in their own privacy notices.
Professional advisers such as lawyers and accountants.
Legal and safety reasons — if we believe the law requires it, or to protect our rights, property, users, or the security of the Services.
Business transfers — if the business is sold, merged, or reorganized, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

Where your information is stored

We and our providers may store and process personal information in Canada, the United States, and other countries. When it's outside your province or country, it's subject to the laws there and may be accessible to courts and authorities in those places.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information for as long as we reasonably need it for the purposes in this policy — including providing the Services, security and spam prevention, record-keeping, and resolving disputes — and then delete or de-identify it. Deleted information may remain in backups and logs until they expire in the normal course.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live — including under British Columbia's PIPA, Canada's PIPEDA, Quebec's Law 25, and US state laws such as California's — you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information, to withdraw consent, or to opt out of "sharing" for targeted advertising. To make a request, contact us (see below). We may need to verify your identity or authority, and we'll respond within the time the applicable law requires. Some requests may be limited by law or by our need to keep certain records, and we'll tell you if an exception applies. We won't discriminate against you for exercising your rights. If your information is in a shop's 12v.Biz account, please contact that shop first.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you may contact the privacy regulator where you live — in British Columbia, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC.

Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we'll notify you as required by law.

Other websites

Our Services may link to or integrate with sites and services we don't control. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.

Children

The Services are intended for business users and are not directed at children. Information that shops store about their own customers is handled as described under "Your shop's customer data" above.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our practices or legal requirements change. We'll update the date above and give notice of material changes as required by applicable law. Where a change requires your consent, we'll get it before applying the change.

Contact us

Questions, or want to make a privacy request? Contact our Privacy Officer, Tony Dehnke, at tony@12v.biz or through our contact form.

Privacy Policy