Privacy Policy for CarFinder

Effective Date: 12/31/2025


The MIT Assistive Technology Club is dedicated to safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal data when you use our mobile app, CarFinder, and its services.

CarFinder is an assistive technology application designed to help blind and visually impaired users locate their vehicles. The app uses camera data, on-device object detection, compass data, and depth information to provide navigational assistance.

Data We Collect

When you use our mobile app, we collect the following types of personal information:

  1. Vehicle Information

    We collect information that you provide about your vehicle, including make, model, color, and license plate number.

    Example: When you input “Blue Honda Civic, license ABC123”, we store this information to help you locate your specific vehicle.

  2. Camera Data

    With your explicit consent, we access your device’s camera to capture images of your surroundings to identify vehicles.

    Example: When you scan your environment, the app captures images to detect and identify vehicles that may match your description.

  3. Sensor Data

    We collect data from your device’s compass and depth sensors to provide navigational assistance.

    Example: We use compass data to give you directional guidance like “Your car is 20 feet ahead to your right.”

  4. Device Information

    We gather technical data about your mobile device, such as device type, operating system, and app version.

    Example: We collect your device type (iPhone, Android) to ensure the app is compatible and runs smoothly on your device.

  5. IP Address

    When using our services, your IP address may be collected and shared with our third-party service providers.

    Example: Your IP address may be logged when making API calls to our vehicle recognition service.

How We Use Your Information

We use the data we collect for the following specific purposes:

  1. Vehicle Identification and Navigation

    We use your vehicle information (make, model, color, license plate) and camera data to identify your vehicle and provide navigational guidance.

    Example: When you scan your surroundings, we match captured images against your vehicle description to help you locate your car.

  2. Third-Party Processing

    We share images captured by your camera with Eydea Recognition (an external company) for vehicle make, model, and color recognition.

    Example: When you scan the parking lot, images are sent to Eydea Recognition to identify vehicles in the frame.

  3. AI-Powered Matching

    We share API results from Eydea Recognition along with your vehicle description with OpenAI to match detected vehicles with your specific vehicle.

    Example: OpenAI helps determine if the “blue sedan” detected in an image matches your “Blue Honda Civic” description.

  4. Service Improvement

    We analyze usage patterns and app performance to improve functionality and user experience.

    Example: We may analyze how often the app successfully identifies vehicles to improve our detection algorithms.

  5. Technical Support

    We use device information to troubleshoot issues and provide technical support.

    Example: If you report a problem, we may use your device information to diagnose compatibility issues.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data based on the following legal grounds:

  1. Consent

    We process your personal information when you have given us explicit consent, such as agreeing to receive marketing communications or enabling location tracking.


    Example: You can withdraw your consent at any time by changing your app settings or unsubscribing from emails.

  2. Performance of a Contract

    We process your data to fulfill the terms of service you agree to when using our app. CarFinder is provided free of charge, with no payment required.

    Example: When you use CarFinder, we process your vehicle information and camera data to provide the vehicle identification service as described in our terms of service.

  3. Legitimate Interests

    We may process your data for purposes aligned with our legitimate business interests, such as improving our app or conducting user analytics.

    Example: Analyzing app usage data helps us improve the user experience and develop new features.

  4. Compliance with Legal Obligations

    We may process your data to comply with legal requirements or respond to legal requests when required.

    Example: We may need to retain certain usage data for compliance with accessibility laws or respond to valid legal requests from authorities.

Data Transfer Outside the EU

In some cases, we may need to transfer your personal data to countries outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). These transfers may occur when our service providers or partners are located in countries outside of the EU/EEA or when we need to store or process data in global data centers. We ensure that any such transfer of your personal data is carried out in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To safeguard your data during these transfers, we rely on standard contractual clauses or other appropriate safeguards, ensuring that your data is protected in accordance with GDPR standards.


Use of Trackers

We may use tracking technologies to enhance your experience, understand how you interact with the app, and show personalized content or ads. You can manage your preferences in your device settings.


To view our full cookie policy, click [here].

Data Subject Rights

Under applicable data protection laws, you have the following rights:

  1. Access

    You can request access to the personal information we hold about you.

    Example: You can ask for a copy of the data we have collected, such as your vehicle information or usage history.

  2. Rectification

    You have the right to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold about you.

    Example: You can update your contact details or vehicle information through your app settings.

  3. Erasure

    You can request the deletion of your data under certain circumstances.

    Example: If you delete your account, we will erase all associated data, unless we are required to retain it for legal reasons.

  4. Restriction of Processing

    You can request that we limit how we process your data in certain situations.

    Example: You can request that we stop processing your data for marketing purposes.

  5. Objection to Processing

    You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, especially for marketing purposes.

    Example: You can opt out of receiving marketing emails or notifications by updating your app settings.

  6. Data Portability

    You can request a copy of your data in a format that allows you to transfer it to another service.

    Example: You can download a copy of your data to transfer it to another app if you choose to switch services.

Data Security

We implement a range of technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse.

  1. Encryption

    We use encryption to protect data during transmission between your device and our servers.

    Example: Images captured by your camera are encrypted during transmission to our vehicle recognition service.

  2. Image Processing

    Images captured by your camera are processed for vehicle identification but are not permanently stored by us or our third-party providers.

    Example: After processing your images to identify vehicles, the images are not retained in our systems.

  3. Access Controls

    We limit access to your personal data to only those team members who need it to perform their job functions.

    Example: Only developers working on improving vehicle recognition have access to anonymized usage data.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

Example: We may retain usage data for a reasonable period to improve our services and comply with legal requirements.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any significant changes will be posted within the app or on our website, and we will update the “Effective Date” at the top of the policy.

Third-Party Data Processing

Our app relies on the following third-party services to function properly:

  1. Eydea Recognition

    We share images captured by your camera with Eydea Recognition for vehicle make, model, and color recognition.

    Important: Eydea Recognition may store your IP address and request data, but does not store or train on the images you submit. Their processing is used solely for the purpose of identifying vehicles in your images.


    You can learn more about how Eydea Recognition processes your data by reviewing their

    Privacy Policy

  2. OpenAI

    We share API results from Eydea Recognition along with your vehicle description with OpenAI to match detected vehicles with your specific vehicle.

    Important: The data shared with OpenAI is limited to vehicle descriptions and detection results, not the original images. This data is used solely for the purpose of matching detected vehicles to your description. You can learn more about how OpenAI processes your data by reviewing their

    Privacy Policy

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at: