Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-07-05

I’m Manny Ruiz, and Car Real Talk is my publication. I built it to give car buyers straight answers, and that same standard applies to how I handle your information. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have. No legalese where I can avoid it. No games.

Car Real Talk (carrealtalk.com) is owned and operated by Real Talk Media Group LLC (RTMG LLC), a Georgia limited liability company. Our registered address is:

Real Talk Media Group LLC
c/o Northwest Registered Agent Service, Inc.
8735 Dunwoody Place, Ste N
Atlanta, GA 30350
Phone: 762-815-7105

Information We Collect

Here’s what we actually collect, and how:

• Email address and name — when you subscribe to the newsletter, join the F&I Products Database waitlist, or purchase a product. Our email and subscriber management runs through Kit (formerly ConvertKit) at car-real-talk.kit.com.
• Contact form submissions — whatever you type into the form, plus your email so we can write back.
• Comments — if you leave a comment on an article, we collect the name, email, and comment text you provide, along with your IP address for spam prevention.
• Payment information — when you buy the Out-the-Door Audit, book a Buyer’s Advocate Call, or subscribe to the F&I Products Database, your payment is processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. Stripe handles that under their own security standards.
• Booking details — if you schedule a Buyer’s Advocate Call, Calendly collects your name, email, and the time you pick.
• IP address and analytics data — pages you visit, how long you stay, what device and browser you use, and roughly where you’re visiting from. This comes through Google Analytics 4 and our hosting/security stack.
• Tracking cookies — small files placed by us and by the advertising and analytics services listed below. More on cookies further down.

How We Use Your Information

We use what we collect to:

• Deliver the newsletter and content you signed up for
• Fulfill purchases — audits, advocate calls, and database subscriptions
• Respond when you email or use the contact form
• Understand what content is working so we can improve the site
• Measure advertising performance
• Prevent spam, fraud, and abuse
• Comply with legal obligations when the law requires it

How We Share Your Information — And What We Will Never Do

We do not sell your personal information. Full stop. We also don’t rent it, trade it, or hand it to data brokers.

We do share information with the service providers who keep this site running. These companies process data on our behalf and are bound by their own privacy commitments:

• Kit — email delivery and subscriber management. Newsletters come from [email protected]. Checkout and waitlist pages run on our custom domains checkout.carrealtalk.com and database.carrealtalk.com, which are powered by Kit.
• Stripe — payment processing for all products.
• Calendly — scheduling for the Buyer’s Advocate Call.
• Google Analytics 4 — site traffic and usage analytics.
• Google Ads and Google Tag Manager — advertising measurement, including Enhanced Conversions, which may involve hashed email data being matched by Google for conversion reporting.
• Google reCAPTCHA v3 — spam and bot protection. This runs only on pages that have forms, not sitewide. Use of reCAPTCHA is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
• Bluehost — website hosting.
• Google Cloud Document AI — extracts the text and line items from a Buyers Order you upload for the $49 audit so the rule engine can read it. Google processes the file as our data processor and does not use it for its own purposes.
• Postmark — sends transactional email (your audit PDF, receipts).
• Our own server — uploaded documents and audit files are stored on a server we control, not on the WordPress host.
• Cloudflare — content delivery and security. Cloudflare sits in front of our site and processes IP addresses and request data to block attacks and speed up page loads.

Beyond these providers, we’ll only disclose your information if the law genuinely requires it — a valid subpoena, court order, or similar legal process — or if it’s necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of RTMG LLC or our readers.

Affiliate Relationships

Car Real Talk earns money through affiliate partnerships in specific categories: extended vehicle service contracts, auto insurance, vehicle history reports, and pre-purchase inspection services. When you click an affiliate link, the affiliate network may set a cookie to track that the referral came from us. We accept zero money from car dealers or manufacturers.

Full details, including my own employment disclosure, are on our Affiliate Disclosure page. Read it — I wrote it to be read.

Cookies & Tracking

Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. Here’s how we use them:

• Essential cookies — required for the site to function, including security cookies set by Cloudflare.
• Analytics cookies — Google Analytics 4, so we know which articles people actually read.
• Advertising cookies — Google Ads, for conversion measurement only. We do not run display advertising on this site.
• Affiliate cookies — set by our affiliate networks (Awin, CJ Affiliate, LinkConnector, Rakuten Advertising, Sovrn Commerce, and Amazon Associates) when you click a partner link, so the referral is credited properly.

When you first visit the site, you’ll see a cookie consent banner where you can accept or adjust your preferences. You can also block or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking cookies won’t break the articles, but some features may not work as smoothly.

Do Not Track

Plain answer: some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal, but there’s no industry-standard way to interpret it, and this site does not currently respond to Do Not Track signals. Your best tools are our cookie consent banner, your browser’s cookie controls, and the opt-out links in the “Your Privacy Rights” section below.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you have specific legal rights over your personal information. We honor these requests regardless of which state or country you’re in, because it’s the right way to operate — but here’s what the law specifically grants:

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

You have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion, request correction, and opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. We do not sell personal information. Some advertising cookies may qualify as “sharing” under California law — you can opt out through our cookie banner. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), and Utah (UCPA) Residents

You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data, obtain a copy of it, and opt out of targeted advertising and profiling. Submit a request using the contact information below and we’ll respond within the timeframe your state’s law requires (generally 45 days).

EU and UK Residents (GDPR)

If you’re in the European Union or United Kingdom, you have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, and port your data, plus the right to object to processing and to withdraw consent at any time. Our legal bases for processing are: your consent (newsletter, cookies), performance of a contract (products you purchase), and legitimate interests (site security, analytics, fraud prevention). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected] with “Privacy Request” in the subject line. We may need to verify your identity before acting on the request — that’s to protect you, not to slow you down.

Uploaded Deal Documents

When you upload a Buyers Order or other deal paperwork for the $49 Out-the-Door Audit (or send one by text for a free QUOTE check), here is exactly what happens to it:

• Where it goes: the file is stored on a server Real Talk controls. Its text is extracted by Google Cloud Document AI. Payment runs through Stripe. The finished PDF is emailed to you through Postmark.
• Who sees it: Manny Ruiz and the audit software. It is never shared with any dealer, lender, marketer, or affiliate partner, and it is never used to train any model.
• How long we keep it: uploads that are never paid for are deleted after 48 hours. Paid documents (your upload and the extracted data) are deleted 90 days after your audit is delivered. The delivered PDF is kept 12 months for support, then deleted. Optional fee research: after your report is delivered you may separately consent to include an anonymized record of your deal in our fee research (state, new/used, financing type, fee totals, APR range, term and month only — never your name, contact details, VIN or the dealer’s name). Consent is off unless you choose it, it does not affect your report, and you can withdraw at any time by replying to any Car Real Talk email; the anonymized record is then deleted. No figures from this research are published today, and none will be until the method is published, an independent reviewer has checked it, and minimum sample sizes are met (at least 30 deals and 10 dealers per figure). Deletion runs automatically every night.
• Before you upload: you may redact your Social Security number, driver’s license number, and account numbers — the audit does not need them.
• Analytics: your deal figures and documents are never sent to Google Analytics, Google Ads, or any session-recording tool.

Data Retention

We keep data only as long as we have a real reason to:

• Email subscribers — as long as you’re subscribed. Unsubscribe and your address is removed from active mailing within Kit’s standard processing window.
• Purchase and transaction records — 7 years, for tax and accounting compliance.
• Contact form and email correspondence — up to 2 years, then deleted unless there’s an ongoing matter.
• Uploaded deal documents — see Uploaded Deal Documents above: 48 hours if unpaid, 90 days after delivery if paid, PDF 12 months.
• Analytics data — Google Analytics 4 is configured with a 14-month retention period.
• Comments — retained indefinitely as part of the published article, unless you request deletion.

Children’s Privacy

Car Real Talk is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us information, email [email protected] and we’ll delete it promptly.

Data Security

We use industry-standard protections: HTTPS encryption sitewide, Cloudflare security filtering, and payment processing handled entirely by Stripe so sensitive card data never touches our servers. No system is bulletproof, but we take this seriously and keep our stack lean on purpose — fewer places your data lives means fewer places it can leak.

Changes to This Policy

When we update this policy, we’ll change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we handle your personal information, we’ll notify email subscribers directly through the newsletter before or when the change takes effect. We won’t quietly move the goalposts.

Contact Us

Questions, concerns, or privacy requests:

• Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
• Phone: 762-815-7105
• Mail: Real Talk Media Group LLC, c/o Northwest Registered Agent Service, Inc., 8735 Dunwoody Place, Ste N, Atlanta, GA 30350

I read what comes in. If something in this policy doesn’t sit right with you, tell me and I’ll give you a straight answer.

— Manny Ruiz, Owner, Real Talk Media Group LLC