Towed in LA Privacy Policy

Effective date: [DATE] · Last updated: [DATE]

This policy explains what information Towed in LA collects, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and your choices. "We," "us," and "Towed in LA" mean TS Lagrange LLC, a Texas limited liability company doing business as Towed in LA, 7301 N FM 620 Rd, Ste 155-117, Austin, TX 78726. You can reach us at privacy@towedinla.org.

The short version

1. What we collect

We try to collect as little as we can. What we collect depends on which parts of the site you use.

a. If you only read the site and answer questions.

• Your answers, notes, and draft letters are saved in your own browser on your device (this is called "local storage"). They are not sent to us.
• Like every website, our server and our network provider see your internet (IP) address and basic browser details when your device loads our pages. See section 3 for how long these are kept.

b. If you check whether an address is in the City of Los Angeles.

• The address you type is sent to our server and then to the U.S. Census Bureau's address lookup. We don't save it.

c. If you use the AI document reader or "more questions" button. See section 4.

d. If you save a case with us (needed for reminders and "Send it for me"). Your case can hold:

• Tow facts you enter: dates (tow, notice, lien notice, sale, release, hearing decision), the agency, the kind of tow, the tow company's name, whether it was in the City of Los Angeles, and, if you choose, your license plate.
• Documents you upload to send: your letters, forms, and statements, and photos you attach as proof (like your invoice or a picture of a sign). These may show your name, address, vehicle, and other details.
• Recipients: the name and address of the tow company, property owner, storage yard, or lienholder, taken from your own documents.
• Contact information, if you add it: an email address and/or a mobile phone number, which you confirm with a code.
• Sending records: what was sent, to whom, how, when, tracking numbers, and delivery status.

e. If we send something for you. When you sign, we collect:

• your typed name and your drawn signature;
• the time, your IP address, and your device and browser type;
• the exact words of the authorization and notice you agreed to, and, for declarations, your confirmation that you sign under penalty of perjury.

We call this your signature record. See section 6 for why we keep it for one year.

f. If you use the feedback box ("Send my answers to the team (beta)"). Only if you press Send, we receive a copy of your answers and choices on the site, and the comment you type. Before it leaves your device, the site removes numbers like card, Social Security, driver's license, plate, and VIN numbers, and leaves out your name, address, and contact details unless you tick the box to include them. Our server removes the same kinds of numbers again. If you tick the box, a copy of your chat with the site's assistant is included (with personal details removed). Photos are never sent. We don't store your IP address or case link with it. [Added 2026-10-01 for the production feedback box; attorney to review with the rest.]

What we never ask for. We never ask for your Social Security number, bank or card numbers, or a password. Please don't type them into any box. If a photo shows your driver's license number or other private details, cover them before you upload.

Information about other people. Your tow papers may name other people, like the person who approved the tow or a yard employee. We ask you to cover names you don't need. Our letters leave out other people's personal details unless you type them in yourself.

Sources. Almost everything comes from you. We also get delivery updates from our mail and email providers (for example, "delivered" or "returned").

2. Why we use it

We use your information only to:

• run the site and show you the rules, questions, and letters;
• save your case so you can come back to it with your case link;
• send your letters and forms, only when you sign and tell us to;
• send you codes, your case link, and deadline reminders you asked for;
• check letters for safety before they go out (see section 5);
• keep the site secure and stop misuse, like someone sending letters in another person's name;
• follow the law and respond to legal requests.

We do not use your information for ads, marketing, or to build a profile of you. We don't use it to decide anything about you, like whether you "have a case."

3. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information, and we never "share" it for targeted ads (as California law uses those words). We haven't done so in the past 12 months.

a. The people you choose to send to. When you sign and authorize a send, we deliver your documents to the recipient you named:

• Government agencies (for example, LAPD's Official Police Garage Section, LADOT, or the DMV), by email or mail. Agency emails come from our address, show your name, and copy you so they can reply to you.
• Tow companies, property owners, storage yards, and lienholders, by mail only. We never email them.

We send nothing to anyone unless you sign and authorize that specific item. We don't tell tow companies or agencies that you are using our site, except that our emails to agencies and a one-line footer on your documents say they were prepared with a free self-help tool.

b. Companies that help us run the service ("service providers"). They may use your information only to do this work for us, not for their own purposes.

c. When the law requires it, or to protect people. We may share information if a valid law, subpoena, or court order requires it, or if we believe it is needed to stop fraud, protect someone's safety, or protect the service. If someone says a letter was sent in their name without permission, we may use the signature record to look into it. [ATTORNEY: confirm whether, and with whom, we may share the signature record itself. Draft position: only with you, or with a court or agency if the law requires.]

d. If our organization changes. If Towed in LA is moved to a new organization (for example, a nonprofit), your information may move with it. The new owner must follow this policy or ask for your permission.

4. AI processing

Some features use Claude, an AI made by Anthropic. You decide whether to use them. Nothing is sent to the AI unless you press the button.

The document reader. You can send photos of your invoice, tow authorization, notices, or signs. The AI reports whether each item the law lists is "Found," "Not found on this document," or "Can't tell." It does not decide whether anything was legal, and a person or computer does not use it to make decisions about you.

• What is sent: the photos you choose. They may show your name, address, plate, and other people's names, so cover anything you don't want read.
• [CONFIRM DESIGN: Photos sent for reading pass through our server to Anthropic. We don't keep them unless you add them to your case as proof.]

"More questions." If you press this button, we send a short summary of your answers so the AI can suggest up to 5 more questions. Before sending, the site removes your name, home address, phone, email, and plate, and removes anything that looks like a Social Security, driver's license, or card number. It does include the tow company, dates, amounts, and your own summary of what happened.

[PLANNED] Recipient check. Before we mail a letter to a tow company or property owner, we may ask the AI to confirm that their name and address appear on the document you uploaded.

How Anthropic handles it. We use Anthropic's paid business service under its commercial terms. Under those terms:

• Anthropic does not use this information to train its AI.
• [CHOOSE ONE after we know our account setup:]
  • [If we have "zero data retention":] Anthropic does not store what we send after it replies, except as described below.
  • [If not:] Anthropic deletes what we send, and its replies, within 30 days.
• Anthropic may keep information longer if the law requires it, or if its automated safety systems flag it for possible misuse. In that case it may keep the inputs and outputs for up to 2 years.

AI can make mistakes. Always check what it says against your own papers.

5. People on our team may review what you send

Before something goes out, a person on our team may read it to check that it goes to the right recipient and contains no threats. This happens for every send until our first 100, for letters to private businesses until our first 500, for anything our safety check flags, and when the day's mailing budget is used up. Reviewers must keep what they see confidential. Every time staff view your documents or signature record, it is logged.

6. How long we keep it

In your browser. Your answers stay on your device until you clear them (use "Clear" on the site, or clear your browser's site data).

On our server:

The one-year signature record. If we actually sent something for you by email or mail, we keep your signature record (your typed name, your drawn signature, the time, your IP address, your device and browser type, and the exact authorization and notice text) for one year from the day it was sent, even if you delete your case. Then we delete it. We keep it to prevent misuse: if anyone asks "who authorized this letter?" we can show that you did, and no one can send a letter in someone else's name and then erase the trail. This does not apply to drafts, items you canceled, items we did not send, or items you submit yourself. You see this notice and tick a box before you sign.

Other records:

• Security log. We keep a permanent, tamper-proof log of what happened in the service. It holds only a random case number, event names (like "sent" or "deleted"), and scrambled codes ("hashes"). It does not contain your name, address, or documents. [ATTORNEY: confirm "permanent" is acceptable, or set a period.]
• Anti-abuse counters. Scrambled versions of IP addresses and device codes, used to limit how many letters can be sent, are deleted after 3 days.
• Server logs. Our host keeps basic web logs (IP address and pages requested) for [X] days.
• Our providers. Postmark keeps email content for 45 days by default. Lob keeps mailed letters for [verify]. Anthropic: see section 4.

7. Deleting your information

• Your case: open your case link and choose Delete. It is deleted right away. The only thing left is the one-year signature record for items we sent, and the security log in section 6.
• Your browser: use "Clear" on the site, or clear this site's data in your browser settings.
• Lost your link? If you confirmed an email, you can get a new link on the site. Or write to privacy@towedinla.org.
• Letters already sent can't be taken back. The agencies and businesses who got them keep their own copies under their own rules.

8. Security

We protect your information with:

• encrypted connections (HTTPS);
• encryption of your uploaded files when stored (AES-256);
• storing only a scrambled copy of your case key, so even we can't open your case without your link;
• scrambling IP addresses and device codes used for anti-abuse limits;
• removing hidden location data (GPS) from photos, and removing hidden code from PDFs;
• limiting staff access and logging every staff view.

Your case link works like a password. Anyone who has it can open your case. Don't share it or post it.

No system is perfect. If a breach affects your information, we will tell you as the law requires.

9. Children

Towed in LA is for vehicle owners and drivers. It is not meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If you are under 18, please get help from a parent, guardian, or trusted adult. Only people 18 or older may use "Send it for me." [ATTORNEY: confirm age rule, see Q3 below.] If you believe a child under 13 gave us information, write to us and we will delete it.

10. Your California privacy rights

Do these laws apply to us? The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), applies only to businesses above certain size limits. We are a free service with [no revenue], and we believe we are below those limits right now. [ATTORNEY: confirm.] We still offer the rights below to everyone, wherever they live.

Your rights:

• Know: ask what personal information we have about you, where it came from, why we use it, and who we shared it with.
• Get a copy of it.
• Delete it. The fastest way is the Delete button in section 7. We may keep the signature record for one year, because the law lets us keep information needed for security and to prevent fraud.
• Correct it. You can change most facts on your case page. Documents that were already sent can't be changed.
• Opt out of sale or sharing. We don't sell or share, so there is nothing to opt out of. We still treat a Global Privacy Control signal as an opt-out request.
• Limit use of sensitive information. We use sensitive information (like a driver's license number, if one shows in a photo) only to provide the service you asked for.
• Equal treatment. We will never treat you differently for using these rights.

How to ask. Write to privacy@towedinla.org or 7301 N FM 620 Rd, Ste 155-117, Austin, TX 78726. Because we have no accounts, include your case link (or the email you confirmed) so we can find your information and confirm it is yours. We will not ask for more than we need. You may have someone you trust ask for you. We will answer within 45 days.

Categories, in California's words (last 12 months):

Other California laws.

• "Shine the Light" (Civ. Code § 1798.83): we don't share personal information with others for their direct marketing.
• Do Not Track: Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal. We don't track you across websites at all, and we don't allow others to do so through our site, so we treat every visitor the same, whether or not the signal is on.
• Other companies tracking you: We don't let ad networks or analytics companies collect information about your activity over time and across websites through our site. [If Google Fonts and cdnjs are still used at launch:] When your browser loads fonts and code files from Google and Cloudflare, those companies receive your IP address.

11. Messages from us

We send email and texts only about your case: confirmation codes, your case link, deadline reminders, and sending updates. We never send ads. Reminders don't include your plate, company names, or case link. To stop reminders, turn them off on your case page, reply STOP to a text, or write to us. Message and data rates may apply.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and change the "Last updated" date. If we make a big change, like using your information in a new way, we will show a notice on the site, and we will email you if you confirmed an email and have an open case. We will not use information we already have in a new way without your permission.

13. Contact us

TS Lagrange LLC, a Texas limited liability company doing business as Towed in LA 7301 N FM 620 Rd, Ste 155-117, Austin, TX 78726 Email: privacy@towedinla.org

[Spanish version: to be added. See attorney question 9.]