Privacy policy

Who we are

Carbinger (“we”, “us”) runs a car-shopping platform for the Qatar market. We decide how the personal data described here is used, and we handle it in line with Qatar’s Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (Law No. 13 of 2016).

This policy covers Carbinger’s website and the services we offer through it.

Information we collect

• Account details: your name, email address, phone number and password. Passwords are stored only in hashed form.
• Listings, if you post any: vehicle details, photos and the contact methods you choose to show buyers.
• Activity: searches, saved filters, saved listings, alerts, inspection reports you request and problems you report about listings.
• Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, page-load timings and error reports.
• Messages you send us, such as support or privacy requests.
• Listings from other sites: we collect vehicle ads that sellers publish elsewhere, which can include the seller’s name or contact details as published there.

How we use it

We process personal data only for the purposes below, and only with your consent, to provide a service you asked for, to comply with the law, or for a legitimate purpose that doesn’t override your rights:

• To run your account and the features you use, such as search, saved filters and alerts.
• To produce deal scores, price comparisons and market trends. These are built from listing data, not from your personal profile.
• To screen listings posted on Carbinger for prohibited or unlawful content.
• To keep Carbinger secure, prevent abuse and enforce usage limits.
• To measure how the product is used, in aggregate, and improve it.
• To answer your requests and meet our legal obligations.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell your personal data. We share it with service providers that process it on our behalf and only for the purposes above:

• Hetzner: hosts our servers and databases.
• OpenAI: turns free-text searches into search filters, screens the text and photos of listings posted on Carbinger, fills in listing details from text or an image you provide, and reads pages from other sites to collect listings.
• Mailgun: delivers our email, including sign-in codes, alerts and account notices.
• Sentry: receives error reports so we can fix problems. We configure it to leave out personal details where we can.
• Independent inspection providers: if you order an inspection report, the provider receives the vehicle and request details.

Other disclosures and transfers

We also share data when the law requires it, or to protect our rights or users’ safety.

Some of these providers process data outside Qatar, including in the European Union and the United States. We use providers that protect data to a standard consistent with this policy.

Cookies and similar technologies

We set only the cookies we need to run Carbinger and no advertising or tracking cookies, so we don’t ask for cookie consent. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but you won’t be able to sign in without them.

• Sign-in cookies keep you signed in and protect the sign-in process. They are removed when you sign out or when they expire.
• Our sign-in service sets its own cookies to manage your session with it.
• Your browser’s local storage remembers display preferences such as light or dark mode, and session storage keeps page state such as your last search while the tab is open.
• Our analytics, which we run ourselves, measure usage in aggregate. They don’t use cookies or follow you across other sites.
• When we show listings from other sites, their photos load directly from those sites. They can see your IP address and browser details, and may set their own cookies under their own policies.

How long we keep it

• Account data stays while your account is open. Deleting your account removes your profile and sign-in details along with the data tied to them: saved filters, listings and notification preferences.
• When a listing is reported, we keep the report and a copy of the listing as it was, including its contact details, so we can deal with abuse. These stay after the listing or either account is deleted.
• Logs and error reports are kept for a limited time for security and troubleshooting, then deleted automatically.
• We keep records longer only when the law requires it, and we may keep market statistics that no longer identify anyone.

Your rights

Under Qatar’s data protection law you can access the personal data we hold about you, correct it, ask us to delete it, withdraw consent, and object to processing that isn’t needed for the service.

• Correct your details from your account settings.
• Delete your account from the Privacy tab in your account settings.
• Turn notifications off from the Notifications tab at any time.
• Download a copy of your data from the Privacy tab in your account settings.
• Make any other request by emailing privacy@carbinger.co from the address on your account.

How we handle requests

Requests you can’t make from your account settings are handled by email. We confirm your identity, usually by replying to the address on your account, and respond within 30 days.

If your listing on another site appears on Carbinger and you want your details removed, email the same address with a link to the listing.

If you’re not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to Qatar’s data protection authority.

Security

We encrypt data in transit, restrict access to the people and systems that need it, and keep passwords hashed. No system is perfectly secure, so if we learn of a breach that affects your data, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

Children

Carbinger is meant for adults. We don’t knowingly collect data from anyone under 18; if you believe a child has given us data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product changes. We will post the current version here with its date and tell account holders about significant changes.

Contact

Questions or requests about your data? Email privacy@carbinger.co.