This privacy notice explains what personal data Expert Car Check (“we”, “us”) collects when you use expertcarcheck.com and the wider network of landing domains we operate, how we use that data, and the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who we are
Expert Car Check is operated from the United Kingdom and acts as a data controller for the personal data described below. You can reach us at hello@expertcarcheck.com for any privacy enquiry, including subject access requests.
2. What we collect
- Vehicle registration marks (VRMs) you enter to run a check. A VRM is not personal data on its own, but it can be combined with other data to identify a keeper.
- Email address and payment metadata when you purchase a paid report. Card details are processed by our payment provider; we never see or store full PAN data.
- Usage analytics — pages viewed, approximate location at country level, device type and referrer. We use a privacy-respecting analytics setup that does not build cross-site advertising profiles.
- AI Mechanic conversations are stored locally in your browser only. We send the conversation to our model provider to generate a reply; we do not retain it server-side beyond what is needed to return the response.
3. Why we use it (lawful bases)
- Contract — to deliver the report you ordered, send a receipt and provide customer support.
- Legitimate interests — to keep the service secure, prevent fraud, and understand aggregate usage so we can improve the product.
- Legal obligation — to meet our accounting, tax and consumer-law obligations.
4. Third parties we share with
We share the minimum data necessary with our data providers (DVLA, DVSA, MIAFTR, Experian), our payment processor, our email sender, our hosting provider and our analytics provider. All operate under written contracts that bind them to UK GDPR-equivalent standards.
5. International transfers
Some processors are based outside the UK. Where we transfer data internationally we rely on UK adequacy decisions or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
6. How long we keep it
Report orders are retained for six years to meet HMRC requirements. Analytics data is retained for 14 months in aggregated form. AI Mechanic chat history lives only in your browser’s local storage until you clear it.
7. Your rights
You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port and object to processing of your personal data, and to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk). To exercise any right, email us using the contact above — we respond within one month.
8. Cookies
See our cookie notice for the cookies and similar technologies we use.