Privacy

This policy describes the live site. RailcarID does not run accounts, a newsletter, or photo hosting in this version. If those are added, this page will say what they collect before they open.

The photo you scan

When you use Scan, the browser sends the photo to RailcarID’s server. The server holds the bytes in memory only long enough to forward them to a vision model, then drops them. The photo is not written to a database, a file, or an application log. The car card that comes back is the reading, not the picture.

The forward hop is Vercel AI Gateway, which sends the photo to the configured vision model. The default model is a Google Gemini model. RailcarID does not control how long the gateway or the model provider keeps a request. The photo is sent only to read the lettering. Do not scan a photo you would not want those processors to receive, and do not scan a photo of a person.

Rate limiting

The server keeps a short in-memory count of scan requests per IP address so one visitor cannot run the model without a limit. That count is not stored in a database. It disappears when that server process stops. The IP address is taken from the forwarding headers the host sets.

Hosting logs

Vercel hosts the site and may keep its own request logs: an IP address, a time, a URL, and a status code. Those logs are the host’s. They are not a copy of the photo. RailcarID does not add its own analytics script and does not set its own cookies in this version.

What this version does not collect

• No account, email address, or password.
• No stored upload, and no EXIF file kept after a scan. The scan photo itself is not retained.
• No precise location. The site does not ask where the car is.
• No sale of personal information, and no advertising profile.

Children

RailcarID is not directed at children under 13. Do not send a photo or a message if you are under 13.

Processors

The live scan path uses Vercel to host the pages and Vercel AI Gateway to reach the vision model. With the default model, Google receives the photo as the model provider. No other processor receives a scan. A future database, email sender, or payment service will be named here before it is turned on.

Requests

TODO: once there is a stored account or a stored upload, this section will say how to ask for a copy or a deletion and how long that takes. Today there is no RailcarID account to delete. A scan photo is already gone when the request ends. Questions about this policy go to the TODO contact at the top of the page.