Privacy Policy
Last updated September 12, 2026
eBikeTrader is a marketplace for buying and selling used electric bikes, operated by Jeff Schoellerman as an individual ("we", "us"). It is available as a website at ebiketrader.net and as an iOS app. This policy covers both, and calls out the places where they differ.
The short version
- Your listings are public. Everything you put in a listing — photos, description, price, and the city and state you enter — can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in, and by search engines.
- Your email address is not public. It is never shown on a listing or to another user, and it is not included in the listing data the site serves publicly.
- Your messages are private between you and the other participant. We can technically access them, and we do so only to investigate a report or a safety issue.
- We never ask for your device location. The map is built from the city and state you type, not from GPS.
- The iOS app contains no advertising and no analytics or tracking software. The website does — see Advertising and analytics below.
- You can delete your account and its data at any time.
What we collect
Account information. Your email address and a display name. If you sign up with an email and password, the password is handled by Google Firebase Authentication and we never see or store it. If you use Sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your email address and name from that service; if you choose Apple's Hide My Email option, we receive only the relay address Apple generates.
Listing content. The make, model, year, price, condition, specifications, description, photos, and the city and state you enter, along with your display name as the seller.
Approximate location. To place listings on the map, a server-side process converts the city and state you type into rough coordinates. It does this by sending only that city and state to Nominatim, a geocoding service run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. Neither app requests location permission, and we do not collect your device's GPS position, IP-based location, or precise address.
Messages. The content and timestamps of messages you send through the app or site, and whether each participant has opened the conversation.
Saved listings and reports. Which listings you save, and the content of any report you submit about a listing.
Notification tokens. If you enable push notifications, we store the anonymous device token Apple and Google issue for your device, so a notification can be routed to it. It cannot be used to identify you outside this service.
A last-active timestamp. We record when you last used the service. This exists so that we do not email or push you about a message you are already looking at.
Photo metadata. Photos uploaded from the iOS app are re-encoded before upload, which removes camera metadata such as GPS coordinates. Photos uploaded from a web browser are stored as you provide them and may retain whatever metadata your camera recorded. Because listing photos are public, strip location data from a photo before uploading it from a browser if that matters to you.
Why we use it
To run the marketplace: to show listings to buyers, to let buyers and sellers message each other, to send you a notification or an email when someone messages you, to keep track of what you have saved, and to investigate reports and enforce our Terms of Use. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your messages or your email address for advertising.
Who we share it with
Other users. Your display name and your listing content, as described above. Nothing else.
Service providers, who process data on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes:
- Google Firebase — authentication, database, photo storage, server functions, push delivery, and hosting. Data is stored in the United States.
- Resend — sends notification emails on our behalf.
- OpenStreetMap Foundation (Nominatim) — receives only a city and state to geocode.
- Apple — delivers push notifications to iOS devices, and handles Sign in with Apple.
We may also disclose information if we are legally required to, or where we believe it is necessary to address fraud, a safety risk, or a violation of our Terms.
Advertising and analytics
The iOS app has neither. It contains no advertising software, no analytics software, and nothing that tracks you across other companies' apps or websites.
The website has both. ebiketrader.net uses Google Analytics to understand which pages get used, Google AdSense to show advertising, and Google Ads conversion measurement to see which ads lead to a listing being posted. These use cookies and similar technologies, and Google may use the data it collects this way for personalized advertising, which California law treats as "sharing" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. You can control this at myadcenter.google.com and google.com/settings/ads, or by using your browser's privacy controls.
Deleting your account and your data
You can delete your account from the iOS app under Account → Delete account, or on the website under your account settings. Deleting your account removes your profile, your listings and their photos, your saved listings, and your notification tokens.
Messages are shared records, so a conversation you took part in may remain visible to the other participant, with your messages attributed to a removed account. You can delete individual messages you sent at any time before deleting your account. Reports you have submitted are retained without your account identifier so that moderation decisions remain reviewable.
You can also email us to request deletion, or to get a copy of the data we hold about you. Backups and server logs may retain data for a short period after deletion before they age out.
How long we keep it
Listings and messages are kept until you delete them or delete your account. Your profile is kept while your account exists. The last-active timestamp and notification tokens are overwritten as you keep using the service, and are removed with your account.
If you are in California
California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use and disclose it, to request a copy of it, to correct it, and to have it deleted. You also have the right to opt out of the sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising described above, and not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights. To make a request, email us at the address below. We will verify the request against the email address on your account before acting on it.
Security
Traffic is encrypted in transit. Access to your private data is enforced by server-side security rules, so that only you can read your profile and only conversation participants can read a conversation. Passwords are managed by Google Firebase Authentication and are never visible to us. No service can promise perfect security, and we cannot guarantee it.
Age requirement
eBikeTrader is for people 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, email us and we will remove it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top, and for a significant change we will give notice in the app or on the site before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions, or a request about your data: support@ebiketrader.net.