Privacy
Dipstick has no server, no account and no analytics. Every vehicle, service record, fill-up, document, warranty and shop you enter is written to localStorage on this device and nowhere else. Nothing is uploaded, synced, or seen by anyone but you.
The two exceptions
Two features call an outside service:
VIN lookup sends the 17-character VIN you typed to NHTSA's free public vehicle database (vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov) to fill in year/make/model/trim. Only the VIN is sent — no account, no key, nothing about you.
Recall check sends the year/make/model to NHTSA's recall database (api.nhtsa.gov) and returns safety recalls filed for that model. Same terms: no account, no key, nothing about you. It runs when you tap "Check NHTSA recalls," and also on its own about every 30 days when you open Dipstick, so you hear about new recalls. You can turn the automatic check off in Settings on the dashboard.
VIN lookup only runs when you tap it. Everything else on this site works with no internet connection at all.
Backups
The "Download backup" button on the dashboard writes a JSON file to your own downloads folder. That file is the only copy of your data that exists outside this browser's storage — localStorage can be cleared by the browser without warning, so take a backup once you have real records in here.
Deleting your data
Clearing this site's data in your browser (or clearing localStorage) deletes everything Dipstick knows, permanently. There is no server copy to recover it from.
