Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Ridgeline Software Co. ("Ridgeline," "we," "us") handles information in connection with the TuneBench application on every platform (the "App"), the TuneBench account, credit and license service (the "Service"), and the website at tunebench.org and ridgelinesoftwareco.com/tunebench (the "Site").

1. Summary

• Reading, editing and logging work without an account. Your calibration files, definitions, datalogs and versions stay on your device. We never receive them.
• To write a tune to a vehicle you need a TuneBench account. The account holds your email address, your credit balance, your purchase history and the vehicles you have licensed (VIN, controller type and PCM identifiers).
• Payments are processed by Apple, Google or PayPal. We never see your card or bank details.
• Users with no credits see a banner ad from Google AdMob. Buying any credits stops ads.
• You can delete your account and its data at any time in the App or at tunebench.org/account.
• We do not sell personal information.

2. Information stored only on your device

The App stores the files you read or import (calibration "bin" files, definition files and datalogs), the projects, versions and settings you create, your adapter preferences, and your sign-in token. This stays in the App's private storage on your device and may be included in your device backups under your backup provider's terms. We do not have access to it. Deleting a project or the App removes it from the device.

When the App connects to a vehicle it reads information from the engine computer, including the VIN, hardware and software identifiers and live sensor data. This stays on your device unless you license that vehicle (Section 3).

3. Information we collect through the Service

Account. Your email address, a hashed password (we cannot read your password), whether your email is verified, one-time codes we email you for verification and password reset (stored hashed and expiring), and a record of signed-in devices or browsers (a label, created and last-used times) so you stay signed in.

Credits and purchases. Your credit balance and a ledger of every change to it. For purchases, the store (Apple, Google or PayPal), the product, the store's transaction identifier, the number of credits and, for web purchases, the amount. We use these to credit you exactly once, to handle refunds, and to show your history.

Vehicle licenses. When you license a vehicle for writing, the App sends its VIN, the controller family (for example P01/P59), and identifiers of the physical engine computer (serial or hardware numbers). We store these with the license so it works on all your devices and cannot be copied to other vehicles or controllers. We also store a signed copy of the license.

App integrity. When licensing, the App reports whether it passed its tamper checks. We use this to refuse licenses to modified copies.

Technical data. Our servers receive your IP address with each request. We use it for rate limiting and security. Server logs may record account identifiers, email addresses and VINs for security events (for example a refused license). Logs are kept for a limited time for security and troubleshooting.

Support. If you contact us, we receive what you send (such as your email address and message).

4. How we use information

• To provide the Service: sign-in, keeping your credits and licenses in sync across devices, issuing and verifying vehicle licenses.
• To process purchases and refunds and prevent fraud and license abuse.
• To send service email: verification and reset codes and important account notices. We do not send marketing email.
• To respond to support requests and keep the Service secure.

5. Who processes information for us

• Apple and Google process in-app purchases under their own privacy policies. We receive purchase confirmations and refund notices, not payment details.
• PayPal processes web purchases at tunebench.org/account under its own privacy policy. We receive the order status and amount.
• Resend (with Amazon Web Services) delivers our service email.
• Cloudflare provides network security and delivery for the Site and Service, and privacy-focused Web Analytics for the Site (no cookies, no cross-site tracking).
• Our hosting provider runs the servers in the United States.
• Google AdMob serves ads in the App to users with no credits (Section 6).

Each provider handles information only as needed to provide its service.

6. Advertising

If your account has no credits, the App shows a banner ad from Google AdMob. Google's Mobile Ads SDK may collect your IP address and coarse location derived from it, device and app information, ad interaction data, diagnostics, and, where available and permitted, advertising identifiers, as described at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. On iOS the App does not request App Tracking Transparency permission, so ads are not personalized using data linked across other companies' apps and websites. Where consent is required (for example the EEA, UK and Switzerland), the App asks before requesting ads, and you can change your choice in the App's settings. Buying any credits removes ads and stops ad requests.

7. The Site

tunebench.org does not use advertising or tracking cookies. If you sign in at tunebench.org/account, your sign-in token is kept in your browser's local storage until you sign out. The home and community pages load the TuneBench Discord member count directly from Discord, which receives your IP address under Discord's privacy policy. The checkout page loads PayPal's payment buttons from PayPal.

8. Sale and sharing

We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Information collected by Google through AdMob is collected under Google's policies; you can stop it by buying credits and adjust it in the App's ad privacy settings and your device settings.

9. Retention and deletion

We keep account, credit, purchase and license information while your account exists. You can delete your account at any time in the App or at tunebench.org/account; this permanently deletes your account, sessions, credit balance and ledger, purchase records and vehicle licenses from our database. Apple, Google and PayPal keep their own transaction records under their policies. Verification and reset codes expire after 15 minutes. Logs and backups are overwritten on a rolling basis.

10. Security

Passwords are stored as salted hashes, sign-in tokens are stored hashed on our servers and in your device's secure storage, all traffic is encrypted in transit, and every server response to the App is signed so it cannot be forged. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure.

11. Children

TuneBench is intended for adults and is not directed to children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age where you live). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR or U.S. state laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or port your personal information, to object to or restrict processing, to opt out of sale, sharing or targeted advertising, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You can see your account data at tunebench.org/account and delete it there or in the App. For anything else, email us. You may also complain to your local data-protection authority.

Where the GDPR applies, our legal bases are: performance of our contract with you (account, credits, licenses, purchases), our legitimate interests (security, fraud and license-abuse prevention, support), legal obligations (record keeping), and your consent where required (ads).

13. International transfers

We and our providers process information in the United States and other countries whose laws may differ from where you live. Where required, our providers use appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

14. Changes

We may update this policy. If we make material changes we will update the effective date and notify you in the App or by email. Continuing to use TuneBench after the effective date means you accept the updated policy.

15. Contact

Ridgeline Software Co., Kentucky, USA. Email [email protected] (attention: Privacy).