Last updated: October 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Gaucho Keys (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects when you visit our website https://gauchokeys.ca or contact us about our mobile auto locksmith services, what we use it for, which outside services handle it, and how long we keep it.
Gaucho Keys is a mobile auto locksmith service based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We provide car key cutting, programming, and car lockout services.
Gaucho Keys is a one-person business. Andy, the owner, does the work, reads every enquiry and is the person responsible for your personal information — when this policy says “we”, in practice it means Andy. You can reach him at info@gauchokeys.ca, on WhatsApp or Messenger at any time, or by phone at +1 (204) 406-1801 (8 AM–9 PM). All contact details are in section 10.
When you send the contact form on our website, we receive:
Since September 2026 your enquiry is saved without your IP address. Section 2.4 explains the two places where the form still uses it, both to stop spam.
Many customers send a photo of their key, their VIN (the vehicle identification number) or other details by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, text message or email. These photos and conversations stay in the app or mailbox you used. We use them only to identify your key, give you a price and do the job — our page on why we ask for a key photo and VIN explains what each one is for. If you call, your number appears in the call history of the business phone.
WhatsApp and Messenger are run by Meta, and text messages are carried by your phone company; each of them handles your messages under its own privacy policy.
Before a key is made, Andy checks your vehicle registration and a matching photo ID in person, at the car (see our Terms of Service). Sometimes he takes a photo of them as a record that the key was made for the vehicle’s owner. Such photos are kept only on his phone, are never shared with anyone, and are deleted within 12 months.
Your IP address is the internet address your device uses. We do not keep it with your enquiry. The contact form uses it in only two places, both to stop spam:
Separately, like every website, our hosting provider’s servers automatically record basic technical information about each visit in standard server logs: IP address, date and time, the page requested and basic information about your browser. These logs are used for security and to keep the website running; we do not combine them with enquiries.
Our website uses a session cookie to support basic functions, such as protecting the contact form from spam (a security token and a check that the form was not sent by a bot).
We also use Google Ads conversion tracking, Google Analytics (GA4), and the Meta (Facebook) Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to understand how visitors use our website. These tags record the pages you view and actions such as tapping the call, WhatsApp, Messenger or text buttons, playing a video or sending the form. When the form is sent they learn only that an enquiry was made (Google Analytics also receives which type of service was picked) — not your name, phone number, vehicle or message. Google and Meta may set cookies and collect information through these tags (for example, to record when a call or form submission results from an ad, to measure website traffic, and to support remarketing audiences). You can learn more in Google’s Privacy & Terms and Meta’s Privacy Policy, and manage ad personalization in your Google Ad Settings.
We do not use Microsoft Clarity. It showed how visitors moved around the website (heatmaps and, in some cases, session recordings) until we switched it off in October 2026; since then our pages do not load it. What it collected before that date is held by Microsoft under its own settings and Microsoft’s Privacy Statement.
When you first visit, a cookie notice lets you accept or decline these advertising and analytics tools. We use Google Consent Mode. For visitors in Canada these measurement tools are on by default; choose Decline in the cookie notice to switch them off — it takes effect immediately and is remembered on this device. After a Decline, Google tags stop using cookies and advertising identifiers (Consent Mode may still send Google basic signals without cookies), and the Meta (Facebook) Pixel is switched off; on later pages it is not loaded at all. For visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google tags do not use cookies until you accept. This page itself loads none of these tools. Your choice is stored on your device, and you can change it at any time here:
Your current choice on this device: not chosen yet
Some pages show short videos of our work. Until you press play you only see a picture stored on our own website, and nothing is loaded from YouTube. When you press play, the video loads from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced address (youtube-nocookie.com); from that moment Google, which runs YouTube, receives the usual technical information from your browser, such as your IP address, under Google’s Privacy Policy.
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
We do not use your details for marketing lists.
We collect and use personal information in a way that is consistent with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), where applicable. In plain language, we only collect the information we reasonably need to respond to you and provide our services.
We do not sell or trade your personal information. We may share your information only in limited situations:
Some of these providers (such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and GoDaddy) may store or process data on servers located outside Canada, including in the United States. Where that happens, your information may be subject to the laws of those countries.
We keep personal information only as long as we need it. These are the limits we work to:
Where the law requires it — for example basic accounting or tax records tied to a completed job — we keep the minimum information needed for as long as that obligation lasts.
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse, or unauthorized access. The lead log and the anti-spam files cannot be opened from the web. However, no method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
You can choose not to submit personal information through our contact form. However, we may then be unable to contact you or provide certain services.
If you are located in a region that provides specific privacy rights (for example, certain Canadian provinces or other jurisdictions), you may have the right to request access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, or deletion of certain data, subject to legal and business limitations.
To make a request about your personal information, please contact Andy using the details below. You can also read our Data Deletion Request page for how to ask us to delete your information, and our Terms of Service for the terms that apply to our services.
Our website may contain links to external websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third-party sites. We recommend that you review their privacy policies separately.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, you can contact us at:
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.