Last updated: 16 August 2026
← Privacy policyPlain English, and short. HostKey gives you a temporary key to someone else’s car — these are the rules for using it.
The short version: the car belongs to the host, not to us. We hand you a key that expires. Anything about the car itself — damage, charges, insurance — is between you and the host.
HostKey is a tool that lets a car owner (the host) give a renter (the guest) a temporary key to a car. We are not a rental company, an insurer, or a party to your rental. The agreement about the car itself is between you and the host, usually through the platform you booked on.
You must be 18 or older. Guests must hold a valid driver’s license for the car they are driving.
Don't use HostKey to take a car you have no right to take, to get around a host revoking your access, or to interfere with the service. Your key works for one trip, on one device, and it ends when the trip ends.
A key link is personal to you. Treat it like a car key: don't forward it, post it, or share it. The first device to open a key link claims it, and later devices are refused.
A host can end your access at any time. If that happens the link stops opening the car immediately, and any questions about why are for the host.
During a trip a host can see where the car is, how it is being driven, and its battery and alarm status. This is the car's data, not yours — HostKey does not tell the host who you are. The privacy policy sets out exactly what is collected.
Where a trip includes a driving summary, it is generated from that same car data and shared with the host at the end of the trip.
Bring the car back where, when and in the condition the host asked. If a charge floor or a mileage allowance was set for your trip, it is shown on your key screen before you drive.
Charges for returning late, under the charge floor, over the mileage allowance, or for anything left in the car, are between you and the host under whatever you agreed when booking. HostKey does not set them, take them, or arbitrate them.
Insurance, roadside assistance, tolls, tickets and damage are handled by the host and the platform you booked through. HostKey has no part in any of it.
If the car is unsafe, do not drive it. Contact the host.
HostKey depends on things outside our control: your phone's signal, the car's signal, and Tesla's own systems. A command may be slow, may fail, or may not reach the car at all — in a parking garage or underground, it very likely won't.
Never rely on HostKey as your only way into or out of a vehicle, and never rely on it in an emergency. Where a car supports it, we recommend setting up the Tesla app as well, because it works over Bluetooth when there is no signal.
The service is provided as it is. We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free.
To the extent the law allows, HostKey is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability to you is limited to what you paid us for the service in the twelve months before the claim. If you paid us nothing, that limit is nothing.
Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
You can stop using HostKey whenever you like. Hosts can close their account in the app or by writing to privacy@gethostkey.com.
We can suspend or end access if these terms are broken, or if we have to for legal or safety reasons.
If these terms change we will update the date at the top of this page. Continuing to use HostKey after a change means you accept it.
These terms are governed by the laws of [JURISDICTION], and disputes go to the courts there.
Support — anything about a trip, a key or the app:
support@gethostkey.com
Your data:
privacy@gethostkey.com