What this site records.
Motoring Obsession (motoringobsession.com and mtrobs.com) is a one-person enthusiast site. This page says plainly what it records, why, and how long it keeps it. There are no ads, no ad trackers, and nothing is sold or shared for marketing.
last updated September 24, 2026If you just browse
The site uses a self-hosted, cookieless analytics tool (Counterscale, running on Cloudflare). For each page you load it records the page path, the referring site, your country, and your browser and device type. To tell new visitors from returning ones within a single day it keeps a hash that changes every day, so it cannot recognise you tomorrow. It stores no IP address and sets no cookie. Data is kept for about 90 days.
Cloudflare hosts the site and, like any host, sees your IP address while serving requests. Its handling of that is covered by Cloudflare's own privacy policy.
The stock finders draw their maps with Mapbox. Loading a map fetches tiles from Mapbox's servers, which see your IP address and basic map usage under Mapbox's privacy policy.
Daily games without an account
You can play every daily game without signing in. To remember your plays and streaks on this device, the game stores a random key in your browser's local storage. Your results are saved against that key. It is not linked to your name or email and is cleared when you clear site data.
If you create an account
You can sign in with an email link, Google, or Discord. The site never sees a password. What is stored:
- From you or your sign-in provider: your email address, and the name and avatar the provider shares, if any. Google and Discord share only basic profile details (an ID, email, name, avatar). The site does not read your contacts, messages, servers, or anything else.
- Created by the site: a screenname (auto-generated, you can change it), the date your account was created, the time of your last email sign-in, and a session cookie so you stay signed in for up to 30 days.
- Stock alerts you save: the model, trims, colours, price caps, ZIP code and search radius, how you want to be notified, and a log of which cars you were alerted about.
- Game results tied to your account: scores, streaks, and stats.
- Reports you submit on a stock listing (markups, comments). These are shown publicly with your screenname.
- Garage entries (vehicles, maintenance records, photos) if you use the garage.
How signed-in activity is used
When you are signed in, the site records which pages you view and when. This is used only to understand which features people come back to and whether the site is worth their time. It is never shared, never used for advertising, and never shown to other users.
- Individual page views are kept for 12 months.
- A daily count per account is kept for as long as the account exists.
The site sends email only for things you asked for: sign-in links, stock alerts you saved, and rare service notices. Alert emails carry a one-click unsubscribe link. There is no marketing list.
Who else sees data
- Cloudflare hosts the site and its databases, and sends its email.
- Google and Discord handle sign-in when you choose them.
- Mapbox serves map tiles on the stock finders.
No one else. Data is not sold, rented, or shared for advertising. The Motoring Obsession Discord server runs on Discord and is covered by Discord's policies.
Cookies and local storage
- authjs.session-token: keeps you signed in (30 days). Set only after sign-in.
- Auth.js CSRF and callback cookies: protect the sign-in flow. Short-lived.
- Local storage game keys (spot_session_key, cx_session_key, decode_session_key, grid_session_key, duel_session_key): remember your daily-game plays on this device.
No analytics or advertising cookies.
Your choices
- Alerts: edit or delete any saved search on your Alerts page, or use the unsubscribe link in any alert email.
- Screenname: change it from your account page.
- Sign out: ends the session on that device.
- Delete your account: email hello@motoringobsession.com from the address on the account and everything tied to it (profile, alerts, game history, reports, activity log) will be removed within 30 days.
- See your data: email the same address.
Retention
| Data | Kept |
|---|---|
| Anonymous analytics | About 90 days |
| Session cookie | 30 days |
| Account, alerts, game results, reports | While the account exists |
| Signed-in page views | 12 months |
| Daily activity count per account | While the account exists |
| Alert send log | While the alert exists |
Children
The site is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
Changes are posted here with a new date at the top. Material changes to what is collected will be called out on the sign-in page.