Privacy policy
Last updated October 17, 2026
Impound Watch has no accounts, sets no cookies of its own, and runs no ads or analytics trackers. This page covers the little it does handle, and the public records it shows.
What we collect
Like any website, ours is served by a host, Vercel, which logs each request: your IP address, browser, the page asked for and the time. We use these logs to keep the site running and to stop abuse. Vercel keeps them for a limited time under its own policy. We do not use them to build a profile of you.
Saved cars
The cars you save are kept in your browser's local storage, on your device. When you open Saved, your browser sends those VINs to our server to fetch each car's details. We do not store that list or tie it to you. Clearing your browser's site data deletes it. A share link contains the VINs in the address, so anyone you send it to sees the same cars.
Other services you reach through the site
- Car photos load from Wikimedia Commons' servers, which see your IP address under the Wikimedia privacy policy.
- A history report link takes you to the company that sells the report. It handles your purchase under its own privacy policy, and may set a cookie that tells it we sent you, so we earn a commission.
- Links to NHTSA, nyc.gov and the Internet Archive take you to those sites under their own policies.
Public records on this site
The auction notices come from the City of New York, which publishes them so the sales are public. They print each car's VIN, license plate and lienholder. A lienholder is usually a bank or finance company, but it is sometimes a person. We show what each notice printed, and we never turn a name that looks like a person's into a search filter.
If your name appears in a notice and you want it hidden here, write to us with the car's VIN or the auction date. We will hide the name on this site. We cannot change the city's own notice.
What we do not do
We do not sell personal information, share it for advertising, or knowingly collect information from children under 13. The site is not meant for them.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and its date. The terms of use cover how you may use the site.
Contact
Questions or requests: hello@impoundwatch.com.