Privacy policy

ESSE WERKS PRIVACY POLICY

Effective date: May 16, 2026

Esse Werks ("we," "our," "us") respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your data.

By using essewerks.com or purchasing from us, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Account and order information:
- Name
- Email address
- Phone number (optional)
- Billing and shipping address
- Payment information (processed by Shopify Payments — we do not store credit card numbers)
- Order history and customer service correspondence

Vehicle information:
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) — collected at configurator entry, configurator vehicle-identify step, and at order placement for tune products
- Year, make, model, trim, chassis code, engine code
- Current mileage and modifications (optional, entered by customer)
- Build history records — products purchased, calibrations delivered, license seat assignments

Account-enabled customer data:
- Saved vehicle "Garage" entries (chassis, year, VIN, nickname)
- Saved configurator build states (in-progress configurations)
- Tune license records (active licenses, license state, BM3 seat assignments)

Behavioral and technical information:
- Browser type, device type, operating system, IP address
- Pages visited, time on page, referral source
- Mouse movements, clicks, scroll behavior, and keystrokes captured via Microsoft Clarity session recording (see Section 4)
- Configurator state held in sessionStorage and localStorage on your device

Marketing engagement:
- Newsletter subscription status
- Email open/click behavior (via Klaviyo)
- Product browse behavior (via Klaviyo on-site tracking)

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use the information we collect to:

- Process and fulfill orders, including custom calibration delivery
- Maintain your customer account and saved builds/garage
- Send transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping notifications, tune delivery, account changes)
- Send marketing emails IF you have opted in (newsletter, post-purchase flows, win-back, etc.)
- Provide customer service and respond to inquiries
- Diagnose technical issues and improve site performance via Microsoft Clarity session replay
- Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud
- Comply with legal obligations (tax reporting, response to lawful requests)
- Improve our products and services through aggregated, de-identified analytics

3. THIRD-PARTY PROCESSORS

We share specific information with the following named third-party processors. Each processes data under their own privacy policy, which we recommend reviewing.

- Shopify Inc. — site hosting, order processing, customer accounts, Shopify Payments. https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy
- Klaviyo Inc. — email marketing, on-site behavioral tracking, post-purchase flows. https://www.klaviyo.com/legal/privacy-policy
- Judge.me — product reviews and review request emails. https://judge.me/privacy
- Microsoft Corporation (Clarity) — session recording, heatmap analytics. https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement
- Google LLC (Google Analytics 4) — aggregated website analytics. https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Bootmod3 / PTF Tuning — tune license seat assignment platform. Shared data: VIN, customer email, license tier.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Additional advertising processors (Meta Pixel, Reddit Pixel) may be added in the future. This policy will be updated and active customers will be notified when those are activated.

4. SESSION RECORDING (MICROSOFT CLARITY)

We use Microsoft Clarity to record visitor sessions on our site. This includes mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, and keystrokes entered into form fields. We use these recordings to:

- Diagnose usability problems
- Improve checkout flow and configurator UX
- Detect bot traffic or fraudulent activity

Clarity masks sensitive fields (credit card numbers, passwords, VIN entries marked as sensitive) by default. Recordings are stored on Microsoft's servers and retained for up to 12 months. We do not associate recordings with named customers in our internal analytics — they are reviewed in aggregate.

If you do not want your session recorded, you can opt out by enabling Do Not Track in your browser or by emailing privacy@essewerks.com to request manual exclusion.

5. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

We use cookies and similar technologies for:

- Maintaining your shopping cart and login session
- Saving configurator state across pages
- Analytics (GA4, Clarity)
- Marketing measurement (Klaviyo, future ad platform pixels)

You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but some site features (cart, configurator, account) require cookies to function.

Strictly necessary cookies (cart, session, security) cannot be disabled without breaking site functionality.

6. EMAIL MARKETING

If you sign up for our newsletter, you receive periodic emails about Esse Werks products, Tech Essays, and tuning content. You can unsubscribe at any time via the unsubscribe link in any email or by emailing privacy@essewerks.com.

Transactional emails (order confirmations, tune delivery instructions, license notifications) are not optional — they are sent in connection with your purchase regardless of marketing preferences.

7. DATA RETENTION

We retain personal information as long as needed to:

- Fulfill the purpose for which it was collected
- Comply with legal obligations (tax: 7 years; accounting: 7 years)
- Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements

Specific retention periods:

- Active customer accounts: retained until customer deletes the account
- Inactive customer accounts: retained for 5 years after last order, then anonymized
- Order records: 7 years (tax/accounting requirement)
- Tune license records: indefinitely while the license is active; retained 2 years after license revocation
- Marketing email subscribers: until unsubscribe + 90 days for suppression list
- Session recordings (Clarity): 12 months
- Analytics data (GA4): 14 months default

8. YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights:

- Right to access your personal information
- Right to correct inaccurate information
- Right to delete your information (subject to legal retention requirements)
- Right to opt out of marketing emails
- Right to opt out of "sale" or "sharing" of personal information (we do not sell, but you can request confirmation)
- Right to data portability (export your account data)
- Right to non-discrimination for exercising privacy rights

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@essewerks.com from the email address associated with your account. We respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing the request.

9. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act:

- We do not sell personal information.
- We do not knowingly share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. (This may change if/when we activate Meta Pixel or Reddit Pixel — see Section 3.)
- We do not use sensitive personal information for purposes outside what is reasonably necessary.

To submit a CCPA request, email privacy@essewerks.com with "California Privacy Request" in the subject line.

10. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Our site and services are intended for users 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it.

11. SECURITY

We use industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (TLS), Shopify's PCI-DSS-compliant payment processing, and access controls on customer data within our systems. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

12. INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

We currently sell only within the United States. If you visit our site from outside the US, your information may be transferred to and processed in the US, where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. By using our site, you consent to this transfer.

13. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to active customers via email and posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance.

14. CONTACT

Privacy questions, data requests, or complaints:

privacy@essewerks.com
Mailing address: Esse Werks LLC, 3090 NW 2nd Ave, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (754) 444-0722