Terms, privacy,
shipping and returns.

Privacy policy

Effective date: 20 September 2026

This policy explains what the Motarix mobile app collects, why, who it is shared with, and your choices. It replaces the version dated 11 September 2026, which was written before the app asked anyone to sign in or to give us a mobile number.

Motarix Automotive ("Motarix", "we") operates the Motarix app, which lets you find and buy genuine European car parts in Tanzania. You can browse the whole catalogue without an account and without giving us your name.

The short version

• We do not sell your data, show third-party ads, or track you across other apps or websites.
• Browsing is anonymous. No name, email or phone number is needed to look at parts, search, or fill a basket.
• An account is needed for two things: saving your first car to your garage, and asking us to identify a car from its registration or chassis number. The reason differs. Your garage stays on your phone either way — we do not copy it — but an account is how we can tell you when a part that fits the car you saved arrives. The second is a question a person here answers by hand, and we have to be able to send the answer back to you. You can sign in with Apple, with Google, or with a one-time code to your email address, and creating the account also means giving us a mobile number, because that number is where the answer goes. We do not send anything to that number to check it. See "Your mobile number" below.
• We record how the app is used — which parts you look at, what you search for, the car you pick, what you add to your basket — against the same anonymous account, so we can see what customers want and what to stock. It is deleted with your account. See "Usage" below.
• Paying requires an email address, a delivery name, a phone number and an area, because we have to know where to bring the parts and who to call.
• We never see your card number. It is typed into Stripe's own payment sheet and goes from your phone to Stripe. It does not pass through our systems.
• You can delete your account from inside the app at any time.

What we collect and why

Automatically, so the app works

• A silent app account. On first launch the app creates an anonymous account: a random identifier with no name or contact details attached. It exists so your notification settings, saved alerts and any orders belong to something without asking you to sign up.
• Your device. Each time you open the app we record the phone model, its operating system version, the app version and build, whether it is iPhone or Android, the language and country your phone is set to (for example "sw-TZ"), and when the app was first and last opened. This is what tells us which handsets to test on. It is not your location: we never read GPS, and the country comes from the locale you set in the phone, not from where you are. A random install identifier is stored on the phone and sent with this record and with every usage entry, so we can tell one install from another.
• Usage. We keep a log of ten kinds of action, each stamped with the time and your account identifier: opening the app, registering, viewing a part, searching (the words you typed and how many results), selecting a car, adding a part to your basket, starting checkout, placing an order, being asked to sign in at one of the two places that need an account, and going on to sign in after being asked. The last two carry only which of the two places it was; we keep them so we can see whether asking for an account is costing customers their answer, and drop the request if it is. Each entry carries the fact of the action, the part, car, quantity or amount involved, the install identifier and the app version. We do not attach your address, your card, a number plate or a chassis number to any action; if you type a number plate or chassis number into the search box, it is stored as your search words. We use the log to understand what customers look for and cannot find, and to see what the shop should stock.
• Notification token and device details. If you allow notifications we store the push token for your device, the platform (iOS or Android), the device name and the time it was last active. We use it to send you order and stock updates, and — only if you switch on Offers in Settings, which is off unless you turn it on — occasional deals and price drops. The device name is the one you set in your phone's settings and often contains your name.
• Technical data. As with any internet service, our providers receive your IP address and standard request information when the app connects to them.

Because you chose to

• Your email address. Paying requires an email address on your account: you type it in and we email you a one-time code. You can also add one at any time from the Account tab. Until you do one of those two things, we hold no email for you.
• Signing in with Apple or Google. Instead of an emailed code you can use an Apple or Google account you already have. We ask them only to confirm that the account is yours. What comes back is an identifier for you, your email address, and your name where the account holds one. We never receive your password and we cannot see anything else in the account. If you use Apple's Hide My Email, we receive Apple's forwarding address instead of your real one, and everything we send you goes through it.
• Your mobile number. When you create an account we ask for your mobile number. We do not send anything to it to check it — no code, no message of any kind, and we do not pass it to anyone in order to send you one. We take the number as you type it, in the same way we take the delivery address you give us. What is checked when you create an account is the email address, or the Apple or Google account you sign in with; the number is not part of that. The number is required to save a car to your garage or to ask us to identify one from a plate or chassis number — the two things an account is for, and both of them end with a person here sending something back to you. We use it to reach you about a request you have made: what a part costs, whether we have it, and the car we identified from the number you gave us. We also use it to ask you, from time to time, what you would like us to keep in stock. We use it for nothing else. Everything else in the app — browsing, searching, filling a basket and messaging us on WhatsApp — works without an account and without giving us a number. Paying is the exception: it needs an email address and a delivery phone number, which is a different thing from this one and is described two bullets down. The number you give here is stored on your account next to the delivery number described below, which may deliberately be somebody else's.
• Your name, if you give one. Used to address you in the app and on order messages. Apple and Google usually give it to us with the sign-in, in which case we do not ask you for it again.
• Delivery details, when you save an address or place an order. A name for the rider to ask for, a phone number they call when close, an area, and optionally a street, a landmark and a note. These are saved both on your phone (so you type them once) and, when you order, against the order on our server. The phone number you enter is also saved to your account, so staff can reach you about an order without asking for it again. Only a Tanzanian mobile number is copied, and it is copied every time you change it — including when the number you enter belongs to somebody else, such as a relative receiving the parts for you. Treat the number on this screen as your own contact number. A phone number on your account also creates or updates an entry in our customer register (see "Deleting your account").
• Your mobile money number, if you pay that way. Stored with the payment record so the payment can be traced and reconciled.
• Orders. What you bought, the quantities, the prices at the time, the delivery fee and the status of the order.
• Stock alerts and notification preferences. Which parts you asked to be told about, and which kinds of notification you turned on or off.
• Requests you send us. When you tap a button that opens WhatsApp we save the message the app wrote for you, before WhatsApp opens: the text itself, including any chassis number or number plate you typed, the parts, quantities and prices it lists, the car saved in your garage, and your phone's platform and app version. We save it whether or not you go on to send it, because it is how we know what customers are asking for and what to stock. We also keep it when you ask us to identify a car from a registration or chassis number and then decide not to sign in: the number and the request are saved so our staff can still look it up, and the app says so on the screen at the time. It is marked as coming from somebody we have no way to reach, so that nobody here spends time trying. After you pay, we do the same automatically for any parts in your basket we still have to bring in.

What stays on your device

Your basket, your garage (saved vehicles) and your saved-for-later list live on your phone, and we do not copy them off it. One car can arrive the other way: when you ask us to find your car by chassis number or registration plate and we identify it, we save that car — the make, model and engine from our catalogue, never the plate or chassis number — on your account, so that the app can show it in your garage and a new phone signed in to the same account can see it. You can remove it from your garage like any other car. Two things about them do reach us: the usage log records each part you add to your basket and each car you select (see "Usage" above), and when you tap a WhatsApp button we keep a copy of the request we prepared, including the parts and prices in it and the car you had selected. See "Requests you send us" above.

What we do NOT collect

We collect no location data, no contacts, no photos, no health data and no advertising identifier. The usage log described above is kept by us, in our own database, and is not sent to any analytics company; we have added no third-party analytics or crash-reporting service to the app. Searches are recorded as the words you typed and the number of results, with the same stamps as every other usage entry, and nothing else.

Payment

Card. Card details are entered into Stripe's own payment sheet, which is provided by Stripe and runs inside the app. The card number and the security code go directly from your phone to Stripe. They never reach Motarix systems and we never store them. We send Stripe your email address, your Motarix account identifier, your order number and the amount, and Stripe returns a result, which we keep with the payment record. If a card is declined, that result can include the card's brand, expiry date and last four digits, and any billing details you entered in Stripe's sheet. If you choose to have Stripe remember your card for a future purchase, Stripe stores it against your Motarix customer record at Stripe, not with us.

Optionally, Stripe's sheet offers a "Scan card" button that uses your camera to read a card number instead of typing it. The image is handled by Stripe's software on your phone. Motarix never receives it, and the camera is used for nothing else in this app.

Mobile money. If you pay by M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Mixx by Yas or Halopesa, we send our payment provider Snippe your phone number, the name you entered for delivery, your email address, your Motarix account identifier, your order number and the amount. They send the payment request to your handset. We never see your PIN.

Who we share it with

We use a small number of service providers who handle data on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.

Who	What they receive
Supabase	Our database and account system. Holds everything described above that is stored on our server.
Stripe, Inc.	Card payments. Your email address, your Motarix account identifier, the order number, the amount, and the card details you type into their sheet.
Snippe	Mobile money payments. Your phone number, delivery name, email address, your Motarix account identifier, the order number and the amount.
Zoho Corporation	Our accounting system (Zoho Books) and the service that answers our WhatsApp line. From Books, after a payment succeeds: your name, your phone number, your email address, the order number, what you bought and what you paid — not your delivery address. From WhatsApp: your WhatsApp number and whatever you send us, including any chassis number or plate.
Expo push service (650 Industries, Inc.)	Relays notifications to your device: the push token and the text of each notification, which can name your order number, its status, the amount paid, or the part you asked about.
Apple Push Notification service and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging	Deliver notifications on iOS and Android. The same token and the same notification text.
Apple Inc. and Google LLC	Only if you sign in with them. They confirm the account is yours and return an identifier, your email address and, where they hold one, your name. They learn that a Motarix sign-in happened.
Vincario s.r.o. (Czech Republic)	Only if you identify your car by chassis number. See below.
Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA)	Only when you give us a registration number and our staff look it up in TIRAMIS, the national motor insurance register, to find your car's frame number so we can match parts. They receive the registration number and nothing else about you. We keep only the frame number their answer contains; the insurance details it also returns are discarded.
WhatsApp / Meta, and Zoho	Only when you choose to message us. Our WhatsApp line is answered inside Zoho, so both Meta and Zoho receive your WhatsApp number and what you send. What you send is also governed by WhatsApp's own policy. We keep our own copy of the message before WhatsApp opens — see "Requests you send us".

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We disclose information to legal authorities only where Tanzanian law requires it.

Chassis numbers (VIN)

Adding a car to your garage normally means picking the make, model and engine from a list, which sends no chassis number anywhere. You can instead type the chassis number from your registration card or windscreen. If you do, it is sent to our server and on to Vincario, which tells us the make, model, year and engine.

We keep the number and what it decoded to, so the same vehicle does not have to be looked up twice. That cached record carries no account, device or phone number.

One exception you should know about: if the decode fails, or if you send us a number plate or chassis number in a message, that text is stored with your enquiry, which is linked to your account. Enquiry records are kept as business records and are not removed when you delete your account, but the link to your account is cut: the record that stays no longer says who sent it.

Tracking and advertising

The app contains no advertising and no cross-app or cross-site tracking, and does not use Apple's Advertising Identifier. It therefore does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission. Recording how the app itself is used, described under "Usage", is not tracking across other apps or sites and is not shared with advertisers.

Deleting your account

In the app: Account tab, then Settings, then Delete account, then confirm. If your app still shows Delete account at the foot of the Account tab, you are on an older version; that route works too.

It works on an anonymous account too, with nothing to sign in to, and it cannot be undone.

What is deleted: your account and its identifier, your email address, name and phone number, your saved vehicles, your notification token and device details, your device records and your usage log, your notification preferences, your stock alerts and your notification history.

What is changed rather than deleted: your orders are kept, including any you started but never paid for, because Tanzanian tax and accounting law requires us to retain business records. Your phone number and delivery address, including any note you typed with it, are removed from the order itself, and orders carry no name field.

What we must be straight with you about. Six things are not reached by in-app deletion today:

• Our customer register. Saving a phone number to your account creates an entry there holding your name and phone number, and deleting your account deletes that entry. If the same number was already in the register because you had contacted us by phone or WhatsApp before, that earlier entry stays: the link to your account is cut and the name we copied from your account is removed, but the number and any note we made when you contacted us remain.
• Requests you sent us. Each WhatsApp request the app prepared for you is kept as a business record — the message text, including any plate or chassis number you typed, the parts and prices, and the car it was about. The link to your account is cut and the phone number you gave with it is removed, but the record stays.
• The delivery details saved on your own phone are not cleared by account deletion. Deleting the app removes them.
• If you have started a card payment, whether or not it completed, the customer record held at Stripe, which carries your email address, remains at Stripe.
• If you have completed an order, the name and phone number sent to Zoho Books as part of the accounting record remain there.
• The payment record attached to a retained order is only partly scrubbed. The mobile money number a request was sent to is removed, but the record still holds what our payment provider sent back, which for a declined card can include the name and billing details on the card and its brand, expiry and last four digits. Never the full card number.

If you want those removed as well, email [email protected] and we will do it by hand. If you have already uninstalled the app, email us the same way and we will delete your data.

How long we keep it

• Account data is kept while your account exists and is removed when you delete it.
• The usage log and device records are kept for as long as your account exists, and go when you delete it. We do not delete anonymous accounts on a timer: an install that never registers keeps its account, and its log, until you use "Delete account" inside the app or email us. Deleting and reinstalling the app creates a new account; the old one and its log stay until you ask us to remove them. The same applies if you sign in with an email address that already belongs to an account: the anonymous account this phone had is left behind with its log, and "Delete account" no longer reaches it — email us.
• Order and invoice records are kept for as long as Tanzanian tax and accounting law requires, currently five years, with your identifying details removed as described above.
• Enquiry records and cached chassis-number lookups are kept as business records.

We do not currently run an automatic deletion schedule for these records. Deletion happens when you ask for it, in the app or by email.

Your choices

• Notifications. Turn any type on or off in the app under Account then Settings, or turn them off entirely in your phone's settings.
• Your details. Change your delivery address at any time at Account → Delivery address.
• Depending on where you live you may have rights to access or correct your data. Contact us using the details below.

Children

The app is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new effective date.

Contact

Motarix Automotive [email protected] Samora, Mkwepu Street, Plot No. 27, Posta, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania WhatsApp +255 669 712 521 — Phone +255 790 828 723

Returns and refunds

You may return a product within 14 days of delivery if:

• The part is unused, in its original packaging and in resalable condition
• The part received is incorrect or does not match the product description
• The part is defective or damaged on arrival

What we cannot accept

• Parts that have been installed, used or modified
• Electrical components that have been connected or tested, for safety and warranty reasons
• Parts ordered incorrectly by the customer — wrong vehicle or wrong specification
• Fluids, oils and lubricants once opened

Please verify fitment before ordering.

How to return

Contact us by email or WhatsApp within 14 days of receiving your order. Include your order number, the products you wish to return and the reason. We will respond within 2 business days with return instructions.

If the return is due to our error — wrong part sent, or a defective product — Motarix Automotive covers the return shipping cost. For any other reason, including change of mind or a customer ordering error, return shipping is the customer's responsibility.

Refunds

Once we receive and inspect the returned item we process refunds within 7 business days, to the original payment method. Shipping costs are not refundable unless the return is due to our error.

Replacements and damage in transit

If you received the wrong part or a defective item we send the correct replacement at no additional cost once the return is received and inspected. Exchanges for a different product are processed as a return and a new order. If your order arrives damaged or items are missing, contact us within 48 hours of delivery with photos of the damage and packaging and we will arrange a replacement or refund promptly.