Privacy notice

Who this is about

MQBone is made by MQBau Engineering in Australia. Questions about this notice, or about information we hold, go to support@mqb.au.

It covers the MQBone app for iPhone and iPad and the website at mqbone.app. It doesn't cover Apple, your tuner, your adapter supplier or the community Discord, which are run by other people under their own terms.

What stays on your device

Most of what you create in MQBone is stored on the iPhone or iPad itself and is not copied to MQBau:

• Vehicle profiles — the vehicles you add, including their VIN, and the details the app reads about them.
• Setups and settings — gauge layouts, chosen PIDs, any PID definitions you import, units and app preferences.
• Datalogs — the CSV files you record or import, including location points if the log contains them.
• Scan and fault-code history — the results of scans you've run on your vehicles.

There is no cloud sync and no server backup of this data, so deleting the app or its data removes it and we can't restore it for you. Copy out the logs you want to keep before you change devices.

Some vehicle information does reach us when an activation or a programming operation is authorised — see vehicle information we receive.

Permissions the app asks for

Each of these is optional and is asked for by iOS when a feature needs it. Declining one turns that feature off; the rest of the app keeps working.

Bluetooth

Needed to find and talk to your OBD adapter. Without it the app can't connect to a vehicle.

Location

Used when you want position recorded in a datalog and shown on a map, and for the weather and density-altitude widget. Logs recorded without it simply have no location data.

Motion

Used for motion-based readings and the motion widget.

Camera

Used to scan a QR code while setting up a flash. The frames are processed on the device to read the code; the app isn't taking or keeping photographs.

You can change any of these later in Settings for MQBone on your device.

The weather and density-altitude widget asks Apple's weather service (WeatherKit) for conditions at your location, so it depends on the location permission rather than a separate one. Apple's handling applies to that request.

Sign in with Apple, and purchases

MQBone uses Sign in with Apple in the app and on this website. From Apple we receive an identifier for your Apple Account, and your name and email address if you choose to share them — which may be an Apple private relay address rather than your own.

We use that identity to hold your MQBone account and the activations linked to it, and to show you the right account when you sign in.

For in-app purchases Apple takes the payment. We receive purchase information from Apple — such as the product bought, transaction identifiers and whether a purchase is completed, pending or refunded — so the app can grant and keep the matching activation. We don't receive your card or bank details. Website payments are switched off, so this website takes no payment information at all.

If you use a private relay address, please email us from an address you can receive replies at when you need support.

Vehicle information we receive

• When a VIN is activated, and when a new recording or a flash or unlock is prepared, the app sends the VIN and controller information — for example controller identifiers and software identification — so we can authorise your account and prepare the correct operation for that controller.
• Activation records are kept against your account so your purchases can be recovered and support can help you.
• VIN and controller details also come up when you ask us for support, or when we look into a purchase or activation problem for you.

Where we show a vehicle number back to you on this website, it is shown partly hidden rather than in full.

This website

The site sets two cookies. Both are strictly necessary for signing in, restricted to this site, sent securely and unreadable by scripts in your browser:

Sign-in flow cookie

Set only while you are signing in with Apple, to tie Apple's answer back to the request that started it. It lasts at most five minutes.

Session cookie

Set after a successful sign-in so the site knows it's you. A website session lasts up to 15 minutes, then you sign in again.

There are no analytics, advertising or tracking scripts in this website's code, and those two cookies are the only ones it sets. Cloudflare serves the site and therefore sees ordinary request metadata, including your IP address, and also hosts your account and vehicle records — see who processes information for us.

Your website garage

Signed in, you can save vehicles to a garage that belongs to your website account. We store what you type: the VIN, the name you give the vehicle and the date it was added. Those entries are private to your account.

This garage is separate from the garage in the app, which stays on your device. Nothing is synchronised between the two, and removing a vehicle here removes only that website record — it doesn't change the app or any activation on that VIN.

VINs are shown partly hidden; the full VIN appears only in the field while you are editing that saved vehicle. You can remove any entry yourself at any time, which deletes that record.

Deleting your MQBone account in the app revokes your sessions and removes your activations, but it does not currently remove these separate website garage records. Remove them here before you delete your account, or email support@mqb.au and we'll remove them for you.

Reading a datalog in the browser

The website can open a CSV log so you can read it back. The file you choose is not uploaded. It is read and drawn inside the browser tab: nothing is sent to us and nothing about the file is written to your browser's storage. Pressing Clear, or closing the tab, discards it. The web viewer opens files up to 10 MiB; the app's own viewer handles up to 50 MiB.

A VIN and name you save to the website garage are stored on your account. A log file you open in the browser is not sent anywhere at all.

Who processes information for us

• Cloudflare hosts this website and the MQBone backend, including the account, activation and vehicle records. Cloudflare's privacy policy.
• Apple provides Sign in with Apple, in-app purchases and WeatherKit. Apple's privacy policy.
• Our support email and the community Discord are external services, so anything you send through them is handled under their terms as well as ours.

These providers operate internationally, so information handled through them may be processed outside Australia.

Email and community

If you email support@mqb.au, we keep your message and our replies so we can answer you and handle any follow-up. Please don't send card numbers or other payment details; we don't need them.

The community Discord is optional. If you use it, you're also dealing with Discord under its own terms.

Deleting your account

• You can ask the app to delete your MQBone account. For your security it asks you to sign in with Apple again immediately beforehand.
• Deletion revokes your sessions — app and website — and removes the VIN activations held on that account.
• It does not remove your website garage entries. Remove them first, or ask us afterwards.
• It does not refund anything. Refund requests for charges made through Apple go to Apple: reportaproblem.apple.com. See the purchase terms.
• It does not restore or remove anything on your device. Data there goes when you delete the app or its data.
• It does not move purchases to another account, and a different Apple Account isn't automatically granted the activations you had. Ask us before deleting if that matters to you.

The practical steps are in deleting your account.

How long information is kept

We keep information for as long as the purpose it was collected for lasts:

• Account and activation records — while they support your access to the app and the recovery of purchases you've made.
• Saved website vehicles — until you remove them, or ask us to.
• Support correspondence — while it's needed to deal with your enquiry and any follow-up.
• Records we're required to keep — legal, accounting and security records are retained for as long as those obligations require.

You can ask us what we currently hold about your account at any time.

Access, correction and complaints

Email support@mqb.au to ask what we hold about your account, to have it corrected, or to have it deleted. Tell us the Apple Account email or relay address you use so we can find the right account, and we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled a privacy matter, tell us first and we'll work through it with you. General guidance on privacy complaints in Australia is published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: oaic.gov.au. You may also have rights under the law where you live.

Changes

This notice describes how MQBone and this website handle information today. If that changes, this page is updated and the change is noted in the release notes.