Privacy Policy

Website and account privacy

This section applies when you use carvia.app, sign in to your Carvia account, book or host a trip, or send the contact form. Rent Cars LA LLC, which operates Carvia, processes account and authentication security data through its authentication provider. For a support request, we collect the subject, message, and any name or email you choose to provide.

We use this information to authenticate your account, respond to your message, prevent abuse, operate the website, and comply with law. An IP address may be processed for authentication security or to create a rate-limit identifier, but it is not placed in your support message. We use service providers for authentication, website hosting, database and support-ticket storage, transactional email, and network security. They process data for those services; we do not sell this information or share it for targeted advertising.

Authentication records are kept while needed to secure and administer the account, subject to the account and legal retention rules below. Contact records are kept while needed to answer and document the request, then deleted or deidentified unless security, fraud, or legal obligations require longer retention. To access, correct, or delete a website submission, email privacy@carvia.app.

Do not submit driver's-license images, payment-card numbers, medical records, or other sensitive documents through the contact form. Use the secure account, checkout, trip, or claims workflow that requests the information instead.

Marketplace privacy disclosures

The short version: we collect what we need to verify you, run bookings, process payments, and keep the marketplace safe. We don't sell your personal information. This page explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the controls you have.

This policy covers the personal information Rent Cars LA LLC, the California company that operates the Carvia service ("Carvia," "we," "us"), collects when you use our app, website, or related services (together, the "Platform"), whether you're browsing, booking a trip as a guest, or listing a vehicle as a host.

1. Information we collect

You give us directly:

Account info: name, email, phone number, password, profile photo, date of birth.
Verification info: a live driver's-license capture and matching live selfie processed by Stripe Identity and — for hosts — vehicle title/registration and bank details for payouts.
Payment info: collected and stored by our payment processor, not by Carvia directly (see Section 4).
Trip content: messages to other users, reviews, support tickets, recordings of in-app voice calls, and the check-in/check-out photos taken during a trip (exterior, interior, odometer, fuel/charge gauge — timestamped and geotagged). An in-app call connects only after both people agree to recording.
Anything else you choose to submit: listing descriptions, host bios, customer-support attachments.

We collect automatically:

Device and usage data: IP address, browser/app version, device identifiers, pages viewed, features used, crash logs.
Location data: approximate location for search/browse, and precise location during an active trip's check-in/check-out flow (to geotag the required photos) — you can decline precise location, but it will limit check-in/check-out functionality.
Cookies and similar technologies: see our Cookie Policy.

We receive from others:

Driver-verification results, including document details and the verification status associated with your license.
Payment and payout status from our payment processor.
Information you provide when you contact support through our helpdesk vendor.

2. How we use your information

Operate the marketplace: create your account, show you listings, process bookings, run check-in/check-out, calculate and collect fees, pay out hosts.
Verify identity and eligibility, and screen for fraud, safety risk, and policy violations.
Communicate with you: booking confirmations, trip reminders, receipts, safety notices, and (if you opt in) marketing.
Resolve safety reports, disputes, claims, and support tickets, including reviewing relevant in-app call recordings or check-in/check-out photos.
Improve the Platform: analytics, product development, testing.
Comply with legal obligations, including tax reporting (1099s for hosts) and responding to valid legal process.

We do not use your check-in/check-out photos or messages for advertising or sell them to data brokers.

3. Biometric data

The active identity-verification flow uses Stripe Identity to compare a live selfie with the photograph on a live-captured driver's license. Stripe processes the raw document and selfie images directly. Carvia receives the verification result and limited license details needed for driver eligibility. See our Biometric Data Policy for the purpose, disclosure, consent, retention, and deletion terms.

4. Payment information

Carvia uses a PCI-compliant third-party payment processor to handle card details and payouts. We don't store full card numbers on our servers. The processor shares limited transaction data back to us (amount, status, last 4 digits) so we can show you receipts and manage payouts.

The other party on a trip: a host and guest see each other's first name, profile photo, verified-status badge, trip-relevant messages, and recordings of in-app calls they both agreed to record. Call recordings remain access-controlled. Full legal name and license details are used for verification and insurance/claims purposes but are not shown to the other user unless required for a claim or legal process.
Service providers: identity verification, payments, cloud storage/hosting, email/support, analytics — under contracts that limit their use of your data to providing the service to us.
Insurance/claims partners: if Carvia finalizes a carrier relationship, relevant trip and claim information may be shared with the underwriting or claims partner as needed to administer coverage. See Insurance Disclosure.
Legal and safety: when required by law, subpoena, or to protect the safety of our users or the public.
Business transfers: if Carvia is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your information may transfer as part of that deal, subject to this policy.

We do not sell your personal information, as "sell" is understood under the CCPA and similar state laws.

6. Your rights and choices

Depending on your state, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to opt out of certain processing (e.g., targeted advertising, if we ever run it). Submit requests to privacy@carvia.app or through your account settings. We won't discriminate against you (denial of service, price changes, or reduced service quality) for exercising these rights.

You can also:

Update your profile and account info any time in Settings.
Manage marketing email/push preferences in Notification Settings.
Manage browser cookies and storage through your browser settings. The current marketing site does not enable optional cookie categories or a cookie-preferences control — see Cookie Policy.
Request account deletion through account settings or by emailing privacy@carvia.app. See Closing Your Account and Data Deletion.

7. Data retention

We keep personal information while the account is active and then apply the purpose-specific rules below. We do not use a single indefinite retention period for every category.

After we verify a deletion request, we delete eligible personal information and keep only information reasonably needed for active trips, claims, disputes, security, fraud prevention, tax or payment records, or another legal obligation.

For example, check-in and check-out records may remain while a claim or appeal can be filed or remains open, and tax-relevant payout records may remain for the period required by applicable recordkeeping law. When an exception applies, we limit the retained information to the purpose that requires it.

In-app call recordings are kept while they remain relevant to the account, a safety report, claim, or dispute. We delete them after a verified deletion request unless we must preserve them for an active claim, legal obligation, or legal process.

8. Data security

We use encryption in transit and at rest for sensitive data such as verification records and payment tokens, access controls limiting who at Carvia can view verification results, and monitoring for unauthorized access. Raw license and selfie images in the active verification flow go directly to Stripe rather than Carvia storage. No system is 100% secure, and we'll notify affected users and regulators as required by law if a breach occurs.

9. Children

Carvia isn't for anyone under 18. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13 (or the relevant age in your state), and we'll delete it if we learn we have.

10. International users

Carvia is a US-market service at this stage. If that changes, this policy will be updated with region-specific terms (e.g., GDPR).

11. Changes to this policy

We'll post updates here and, for material changes, notify you by email with at least 14 days' notice before the change takes effect (30 days if it affects how we handle payment or biometric data), consistent with our Terms of Service.

12. Contact

privacy@carvia.app Rent Cars LA LLC (operator of Carvia) 2108 N ST STE N, Sacramento, CA 95816