Privacy Policy
Last updated: 24 August 2026
M5CS.org catalogs cars, not the people who own them. That principle shapes everything below.
The short version. There are no accounts and no logins. We don't sell data to anyone, ever. The only personal information we hold is what you send us yourself — an email, or the acquisition contact form. The public registry publishes vehicle facts and aggregate statistics; it does not publish owner names, addresses, license plates, or full VINs.
What we collect
Information you send us. If you email contact@m5cs.org or submit the acquisition contact form, we receive your name, email address, and whatever you write. We use it to reply to you and to maintain the registry — nothing else.
Vehicle information. The registry holds chassis-level records: VIN, model year, color, wheel and caliper specification, mileage, sale and auction listings, title status, and country. Much of it comes from public sources — auction results, dealer listings, forum posts — and some from owners who contribute directly. Full VINs and any private notes are held internally and are not published on this site. What the public pages show are counts, colors, distributions, price and mileage trends, and links to listings that are already public elsewhere.
Analytics. We use Google Analytics to see roughly how many people visit and which sections they read. It sets cookies and processes an abbreviated version of your IP address. We look at aggregate traffic; we don't use it to identify individuals, build advertising profiles, or run remarketing.
Server logs. Our host records standard request logs (IP address, timestamp, page, user agent) for security and reliability.
What we don't do
- We don't sell, rent, or trade personal information. There is no such business here.
- We don't run advertising or ad-tracking pixels.
- We don't publish owner identities, home locations, or license plates.
- We don't email you unless you contacted us first.
Third parties that process data for us
- Formspree — delivers the acquisition contact form to our inbox.
- Google Analytics — aggregate traffic measurement.
- Our static web host and email provider — serve the site and carry our mail.
- YouTube, jsDelivr, and Tailwind's CDN — the Site embeds video thumbnails, fonts, and stylesheets from these; loading them tells those services your IP address and browser, as any third-party resource does.
Each of these acts on our behalf under its own privacy terms. We share information with them only as needed to run the Site, and otherwise disclose personal information only if the law genuinely requires it.
How long we keep things
Correspondence stays in our inbox for as long as it's useful for the registry, and we delete it on request. Registry records are kept indefinitely — a chassis registry is only worth something if it's continuous — but any record can be removed at the owner's request.
Your choices and rights
Whatever your jurisdiction, you can ask us to tell you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it — including any registry entry for a car you own. One email is enough; there's no form and no fee.
If you're in the EEA or UK, our lawful basis is your consent (for the contact form) and our legitimate interest in maintaining an enthusiast registry and understanding site traffic. You also have the right to object, to restrict processing, to data portability, and to complain to your local supervisory authority. If you're in California, we do not and will not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by the CCPA/CPRA, and we won't discriminate against you for exercising any right.
You can block analytics cookies with browser settings, a content blocker, or Google's opt-out add-on. The Site works fine without them.
Children
The Site isn't directed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect their information.
Security
The public site is static and stores nothing about you in your browser beyond the analytics cookies described above. Registry data with full VINs is kept privately, off this site. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep the exposed surface deliberately small.
International visitors
The Site is operated from the United States and the services above may process data there. By using the Site you understand your information may be handled in a country with different data protection laws than your own.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, we'll update the date at the top and describe the change here.
Contact
Privacy questions, data requests, and registry removals: contact@m5cs.org. We're a small project — you'll be talking to a person.
Adapted from the Basecamp open-source policies, used under CC BY 4.0. This document is not legal advice.