Privacy policy

PlainRecords does not have accounts. The only personal information we ask for is an email address, and only if you sign up for recall alerts.

Recall alerts

If you sign up on a brand page, we keep your email address and the brands you chose, and use them only to email you when those brands have a new recall. Alerts start only after you confirm by clicking the link we send. Every alert has a link to stop it, and stopping is immediate. We do not sell, rent or share your email address, and we send nothing else to it. To have your address deleted, write to us at the address below.

Forms and abuse limits

When you sign up for alerts or send a mistake report, we keep the network (IP) address the request came from for up to 24 hours, only to limit abuse such as mass sign-ups, and then delete it. A mistake report keeps what you wrote and, if you give it, your email address so we can reply.

Vehicle (VIN) check and barcode scan

If you enter a VIN, your browser sends it directly to NHTSA's free decoding service to find the make, model and year. The VIN is not sent to PlainRecords. If you scan a barcode, the camera picture is read by your browser on your device and is not uploaded; only the number found is sent to our search, like a typed search.

Forms and the anti-abuse check

Our sign-up and mistake-report forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to tell people from scripts. When you send a form, Cloudflare receives your network address and browser details for that check, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Cookies and browser storage

The site sets two small cookies only to remember which country edition you chose (pr_region, pr_cc, kept for up to a day). A VIN you type is kept in your browser's session storage until you close the tab. We set no tracking cookies ourselves; Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views without cookies and without storing your address for us.

Server logs

Our host and our network provider (Cloudflare) record standard server logs such as IP address, pages requested and browser type, to keep the site running and secure.

How long we keep data

A confirmed alert subscription is kept until you stop it; a stopped one is deleted within 90 days. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days, network addresses from forms after 24 hours, and mistake reports after one year. Subscriptions are stored on our hosting provider's server and in a daily backup copy held by the operator in the Republic of Korea.

Who is responsible

PlainRecords is published by Youngrok Kim, an independent publisher in the Republic of Korea, who is the controller of the personal data described here. Contact: the address below.

Your rights

You can ask us at any time to see, correct or delete the personal data we hold about you, by writing to the address below; we answer within 30 days. If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area you may also complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO); in Canada, to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The site is not directed at children and we knowingly collect no data from them.

Advertising

We may show ads served by Google AdSense or another ad network. These companies may use cookies to show ads, limit how often you see an ad and measure performance, and, where permitted, to show ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can turn off personalized ads at Google Ad Settings and learn more at how Google uses cookies in advertising.

Contact

host@plainrecords.com

Last updated: Oct. 11, 2026