Privacy notice

Information TowChief handles

TowChief stores account and company details needed to sign people in and manage access. A towing company may also store job details, customer contact information, vehicle information, invoices, signatures, notes, and photos or videos.

The towing company decides what information it enters and is responsible for using it appropriately. Each company's records are separated from other companies' records.

How information is used

Information is used to dispatch jobs, help drivers complete work, communicate status to customers, prepare invoices and receipts, manage vehicles and lots, and keep an activity history for the towing company.

Public tracking, payment, and release pages use unguessable links and show only the limited details needed for that page. Driver location coordinates are never shown on public customer pages.

Photos and personal information

Job and lot photos may include vehicles, property, documents, or surroundings. Staff should avoid capturing information that is not needed. Sensitive identification numbers are masked where they are displayed, and access to owner information may be logged.

Photos, signatures and location in condition reports

When a company uses condition reports, we store the vehicle photos, damage notes, typed names and drawn signatures, the time of each step, and—only if the driver chooses to add it—the location where the report was made. Photos are stored privately and shown only through short-lived links. Hidden photo data such as GPS is removed before upload. Customers see their own signed report only through a private link, and those pages are not listed in search engines. Each company chooses how long reports are kept (3 years unless changed). No company can see another company's reports.

Optional driver location

Live driver location is off by default. It works only when TowChief and the towing company both turn it on, the company confirms it has provided required notice, and a driver accepts the notice and starts a shift. Owners and dispatchers can see the location while the driver is sharing it. The company chooses how long location history is kept.

Background location in the TowChief phone app

If a towing company uses the TowChief phone app for iPhone or Android, the app can share a driver's location while the screen is off or another app is open. This happens only when live tracking is on for the company, the driver has accepted the notice, the driver is clocked in, and the driver has started a shift. Clocking out, ending the shift, or turning off the company switch stops it right away. While it runs, the phone shows a notice that TowChief is using location. Only that company's owners and dispatchers can see the location, along with whether it came from the phone app or the website. Customers never see it. Location history is kept for the number of days the company chooses (30 unless changed) and then deleted. Drivers can turn off location permission for TowChief in their phone settings at any time.

Draft wording — pending attorney review.

Text messages

If a towing company turns on text updates, we store the customer's phone number, when and how they agreed to texts, who recorded it, the texts sent and received, and delivery results. Texts are sent only to numbers with permission recorded. Reply STOP to any text to stop them, START to opt back in, or HELP for contact details. Only that company's owners and dispatchers can see its message log. Texts are sent through our text provider (Twilio).

Motor club and roadside member information

When a towing company receives a call from a motor club or roadside program, we store the details sent for that call: the member's name, phone number, vehicle, location, member or reference number, and the club's notes. This information is used only to complete and bill that call. It is visible only to that towing company's staff, never to other companies, and it is not sold or used for marketing. The towing company is responsible for handling it according to its agreement with the motor club. TowChief is not affiliated with any motor club unless stated.

Recovery (repossession) case information

If a towing company turns on the optional Recovery add-on, it may store case details on behalf of the lenders, forwarders or dealers it works for: the debtor's name and last known addresses, vehicle details such as VIN and plate, photos with time and optional location, personal property found in the vehicle, notices sent, and billing to the client. Only that company's owners and dispatchers, and the driver assigned to a case, can see it. Drivers cannot see client prices or invoices. Recovery details are never shown on public tracking links. Turning the add-on off hides this information but does not delete it. Any notice checklist in TowChief is a checklist only, not legal advice; confirm with your attorney.

Texting: the company is the sender (draft)

Draft wording, attorney review pending.

Each towing company that turns on automatic texts uses its own account with a text provider (such as Twilio), registers its own business and number directly with that provider, and is the sender and responsible party for its texts. Beach Break Apps provides the TowChief software only.

Beach Break Apps does not hold a sending account for companies, does not register, review or approve their texts, and does not collect their business registration details or tax ID.

The company is solely responsible for getting and recording each customer's permission, honoring STOP requests, the wording of its texts, all provider and carrier costs, and following all laws and carrier rules that apply to it.

TowChief stores the company's provider login encrypted, only to send that company's texts and to receive replies such as STOP and HELP.

Questions and choices

Contact the towing company shown on your customer page if you have a question about a towing record. TowChief account users can ask their company owner to correct or remove company records when allowed by applicable recordkeeping requirements.