This Privacy Policy explains how Tendwa (“Tendwa”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, and shares information when you visit our website or use our services.
1. Who we are (Data Controller)
The data controller responsible for your information is MI INNOVATIONS LLC, registered in Sacramento, CA, United States. Our registered mailing address is available on request. You can reach our privacy team at privacy@tendwa.com.
2. Information we collect
Information you provide
- Account information — name, email, phone number, shop name and address when you sign up.
- Billing information — payment card details (handled by our payment processor; we do not store full card numbers).
- Communications — content of messages you send us via the contact form, email, or chat.
Information collected automatically
- Device and browser information (type, version, operating system).
- IP address, approximate location (city / region).
- Usage data (pages visited, features used, timestamps).
- Cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy).
3. How we use your information
- To provide, maintain, and improve Tendwa.
- To process payments and send invoices.
- To respond to your support requests and inquiries.
- To send transactional notifications (account, billing, security).
- To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud or abuse.
- To comply with legal obligations.
4. Legal bases (GDPR)
If you are in the European Economic Area or the UK, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:
- Contract — to provide the service you signed up for.
- Legitimate interests — to improve and secure our service.
- Consent — for non-essential cookies and marketing emails.
- Legal obligation — for tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
5. Sharing your information
We share information only with:
- Service providers who help us operate (hosting, email delivery, analytics, payment processing). They are contractually required to protect your data — see our Data Processing Agreement.
- Authorities when required by law, court order, or to protect rights, property, or safety.
- Successors in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (with notice to affected users).
A list of our current sub-processors is available on request from privacy@tendwa.com.
6. International transfers
We are based in the United States. If you access Tendwa from outside this jurisdiction, your information may be transferred, stored, and processed in countries with different data protection laws. Where required, we use Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards.
7. Data retention
We retain personal data only as long as necessary to provide the service and meet our legal obligations. Account data is deleted within 90 days of account closure, except where longer retention is required (e.g., tax records).
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Delete your data (subject to legal retention requirements).
- Restrict or object to certain processing.
- Receive your data in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time.
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@tendwa.com. We respond within 30 days.
9. Security
We use industry-standard technical and organisational measures — including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest, role-based access controls, and regular backups — to protect your data. See our Security Policy for details. No system is perfectly secure; if we become aware of a breach affecting you, we will notify you within the timeframes required by law.
10. SMS / text messaging
Tendwa (operated by MI INNOVATIONS LLC) provides SMS messaging to customers of automotive service shops that use our software. Messages sent through Tendwa are transactional only — appointment confirmations and reminders, vehicle ready-for-pickup notifications, service status updates, estimate-approval links, and payment receipts. We do not send marketing or promotional content via SMS.
Consent. A customer is opted in only after they provide their mobile number to a shop and affirmatively agree to receive service-related SMS. Customers of a shop do not create a Tendwa account: they give their number and their permission directly to the shop, by telephone or in person, and a shop employee records that consent in Tendwa before messaging is enabled. Each record stores the number, the consent status and method, the date and time, the employee who collected it, and the version of the disclosure read to the customer. Consent is never a condition of purchasing any goods or services, and a customer who declines still receives automotive service.
Providing a phone number alone does not enable messaging, and existing customers are not automatically opted in. The exact wording used and the full process are documented on our SMS Consent page.
Frequency.Message frequency varies, depending on the appointments, estimates, repair activity, and service requests involved. A typical visit results in 1–4 messages (confirmation, reminder, ready notice, follow-up).
Opt-out. Reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe. Tendwa honours STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, and QUIT. Opt-out takes effect within minutes and is confirmed with a single final message. Reply HELP at any time for assistance, or contact support@tendwa.com.
Carrier notice. Message and data rates may apply, depending on your mobile plan and carrier. Tendwa does not charge customers for SMS. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
How mobile numbers are protected. Mobile phone numbers and SMS consent records are treated as personal data under this policy: encrypted in transit and at rest, reachable only by authorised personnel under role-based access control, and retained under the schedule in section 7. Consent records are kept as an evidence trail for as long as required to demonstrate compliance, even after an opt-out.
No sale. No sharing for third-party marketing. Mobile phone numbers and SMS consent records collected by Tendwa are never sold and are never shared with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes. No SMS opt-in data is disclosed to any affiliate for any marketing purpose. Numbers are disclosed only to the messaging service provider used to deliver the message.
Service providers. Providers that support the messaging service — including our SMS carrier — act as processors on our instructions. They may process mobile numbers and message content only as necessary to deliver the messaging service and for no other purpose, and are contractually barred from using the data for their own purposes, under our Data Processing Agreement.
How consent is obtained and recorded is documented on our SMS Consent page, and the full program terms are in our SMS Terms. Our SMS practices follow the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices.
11. Children
Tendwa is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.
12. California residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion, opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information, and not be discriminated against for exercising your rights. We do not sell your personal information. To make a request, email privacy@tendwa.com.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We’ll post the updated version on this page and revise the “Last updated” date. Material changes will be communicated via email or in-product notice.
14. Contact us
Questions about this policy? Email us at privacy@tendwa.com. Our registered mailing address is available on request.