This Privacy Policy describes how Bear Knuckle Garage LLC ("Bear Knuckle Garage," "we," "us," or "our") handles information when you visit bearknucklegarage.com (the "Site"), text or call the shop, book service, or drop off a vehicle. This page is written and maintained by the shop owner and may be updated as our practices change.
Information we collect
- Contact information you provide: name, phone number, email, and mailing/service address.
- Vehicle information: year, make, model, VIN, mileage, service history, and photos you share with the shop.
- Service and payment records: estimates, invoices, authorizations, and payment status. Card details are handled by our payment processor; we do not store full card numbers.
- Account data if you sign in to the customer portal: email, phone number (optional), first and last name, sign-in provider (Google, Apple, or magic-link email), session tokens, and — if you choose to enroll — an authenticator (TOTP) secret used only to verify your two-factor codes. We do not store passwords; sign-in is passwordless.
- Messages you send us by SMS, phone, email, contact form, or Facebook.
- Basic technical data from your browser (IP address, device/browser type, pages viewed) needed to serve the Site securely.
How we use it
- Schedule, perform, and follow up on repairs, inspections, and pickup/delivery.
- Prepare estimates, invoices, and authorizations required by Maryland law.
- Reply to your messages and coordinate parts, appointments, and payment.
- Operate the Site, protect against abuse, and keep customer accounts secure.
- Meet legal, tax, warranty, and recordkeeping obligations.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Who we share it with
We share information only with service providers that help us run the shop and this Site, including:
- Hosting, database, and authentication providers for the Site and customer portal.
- Payment processors when you pay by card.
- Parts suppliers, sublet vendors, tow operators, and manufacturers when needed to complete your repair.
- Government agencies, insurers, or courts when required by law or to protect our rights.
Cookies and similar technologies
The Site uses a small number of strictly necessary cookies and browser storage entries to keep you signed in to the customer portal and to remember preferences. We do not run third-party advertising trackers on this Site.
Text messaging (SMS)
When you text the shop or ask us to text you, we use your phone number to reply about your vehicle, appointment, or estimate. Message and data rates from your carrier may apply. Message frequency varies. Reply STOP at any time to stop shop messages, or HELP for help.
No mobile information will be sold, rented, or shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Phone numbers and text message content are shared only with the vendors that deliver the messages on our behalf, and only to deliver them.
Full program detail — what we send, how to opt in, and how to stop — is on our Text Message Program page.
AI assistant ("Grease")
The Site includes an AI assistant nicknamed "Grease" that answers shop, parts, and machine questions. When you chat with Grease we process the text you send, and — if you are signed in — a scoped snapshot of your own garage data (machines you have added, service log entries, wishlist items, and prior questions) so the answer is relevant to your equipment. We do not send your payment details, government IDs, precise location, or other customers' data to the assistant.
- Model providers. Prompts and responses are processed by third-party large language model providers we access through the Lovable AI Gateway. Providers act as processors and are contractually restricted from training their public models on your inputs.
- Logging. We store your questions, Grease's answers, associated machine context, any actions offered (for example "Add to wishlist" or "Ask the shop"), and rate-limit metadata (session ID, IP, timestamps). Owners and admins can review these logs to improve answers, spot knowledge gaps, and route change requests.
- Anonymous use. If you use Grease without signing in we only see the message text, a session identifier, and coarse technical data used for abuse prevention and rate limiting.
- Accuracy. Grease can be wrong, out of date, or incomplete. Recommendations, part fitments, torque specs, and prices are informational only and are not a substitute for a hands-on inspection or the written estimate you sign at the shop.
- Do not share. Please do not paste passwords, full credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, medical information, or other sensitive data into Grease.
- No automated decisions with legal effect. Grease does not make binding decisions about you. A human at the shop reviews estimates, invoices, warranty calls, and account actions.
- Your rights. You may ask us to delete your Grease chat history tied to your account; some entries may be retained in de-identified form for safety and product-improvement analytics.
Analytics
We record a small set of first-party product events (page views, contact submissions, booking starts, outbound clicks to parts partners, and text/call button taps) in our own database to understand which shop pages help customers and which do not. Events are tied to a rotating session identifier and, when you are signed in, to your account. We do not use these events for third-party advertising and we do not share them with data brokers.
Affiliate links
Some product recommendations from Grease or the shop pages route through /go/affiliate links (for example eBay or parts retailers). If you buy through those links, the shop may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Clicking a /go/ link records the destination, timestamp, and — if you are signed in — your account, so we can credit Knuckle Bucks. Purchases on the retailer's site are governed by that retailer's own privacy policy.
Photos and camera use
Some portal features (for example attaching pictures to a ticket or machine record) ask your browser for camera or file access. Photos are uploaded to our private storage buckets, tied to your account, and used only for the ticket or machine record you attached them to.
Data retention
We keep customer, vehicle, and service records for as long as your account is active and afterward for the period required by Maryland tax, warranty, and consumer-protection laws. You may ask us to close your portal account at any time; some records must be retained even after closure.
Your choices
- Ask us to correct or update your contact or vehicle information.
- Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Ask us to delete information that we are not legally required to keep.
- Opt out of shop text messages by replying STOP.
To make a request, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before responding.
Children
The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Effective" date at the top shows when it was last changed.
Contact us
Bear Knuckle Garage LLC · 45844 Aberdeen Ln, Valley Lee, MD 20692 · (866)210-2327