Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Browse Cars is a trading name of FindPlates Ltd (Company No. 17091909), a company registered in England and Wales. FindPlates Ltd is the data controller for personal data collected through browsecars.co.uk. If you have any question about how we handle your data, email info@browsecars.co.uk.

2. What data we collect

• Account and identity data: your first name, surname, home address (house, street, town, postcode), email address and phone number. We ask for your real name and address so we can support identity verification, which is central to keeping the marketplace free of fake profiles.
• Sign-in data: if you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address from Google. If you use a passkey, we store the credential identifier your device generates. We do not store passwords.
• Listing data: the vehicle details, description, photographs, asking price and approximate location you add when you advertise a vehicle.
• Messages and arrangements: the content of messages and photos you send to and receive from other users through the site, and the details of any offers you make or viewings you arrange (amounts, dates, times and meeting places). Photos have their location metadata removed when they are uploaded.
• Sales and reviews: when a seller marks a car as sold to a buyer, we record which listing was sold, to whom, and whether the buyer confirmed it. Reviews you give or receive — the star rating, your optional comment and the date — are stored with that sale.
• Your activity and choices: the listings you save or hide, the users you block, reports and contact-form messages you send us, your notification preferences, and the time you were last active on the site (used to show other people you are online).
• Notification subscriptions: if you turn on browser notifications, we store the address and encryption keys your browser gives us so that we can send notifications to that device. We do not store any other details about your device.
• Listing statistics: so sellers can see how their listings are doing, we record that a listing was viewed or shared by a particular visitor on a particular day. For signed-in visitors this is linked to their account; for everyone else it is a one-way code made from their IP address and browser details that changes every day and cannot be traced back to them or linked from one day to the next. We do not store your IP address in these records, and a seller only ever sees totals.
• Imported listings: if you use our import tool, the text and photos of the listing you choose to import from another website are sent to us from your own browser.
• Listing verification documents: if you choose to ask us to verify a listing, we collect a photo of your V5C logbook and a photo ID (such as a passport or driving licence). These are used only to check that you are genuinely the person named on the V5C for that vehicle, are stored separately from everything else on the site in a private location that only our staff can open, and are never shown to other users or made public. Once we've made a decision, we delete the documents themselves within 30 days — we keep only a record that the listing was verified (or not), and by whom, not the documents.
• Location data: we convert your postcode into an approximate latitude and longitude so buyers can search by distance. We do not track your live location.
• Technical data: standard server logs — your IP address, an approximate location worked out from it (country and town), your device type, and the pages you visit. This is separate from the listing statistics above: it is not linked to your account, and it exists to keep the site secure and understand our traffic (for example, telling real visitors apart from bots). Staff can look at this log through our internal admin tool.

3. How we use your data

• To create, secure and manage your account
• To publish your listings to buyers and connect you with interested parties
• To deliver messages between buyers and sellers
• To power search and filtering, including distance-based search
• To verify identity and to detect and prevent fraud, fake listings and abuse
• To send you notifications you have asked for — sign-in codes, new-message alerts by email and, if you turn them on, on your device, and reminders about viewings you have arranged
• To record completed sales and show buyers and sellers each other's reviews and track record
• To show sellers how their listings are performing
• To comply with our legal obligations
• To understand how the site is used and improve it

We do not sell your personal data to anyone.

4. What other users can see

Your phone number, email address and full home address are never shown to other users. Other users can see:

• your first name and the first letter of your surname, your profile photo if you add one, and when you joined;
• your approximate area (town) and your active listings;
• your rating, the reviews written about you (with the reviewer's first name and surname initial), and how many sales you have completed on Browse Cars — a review appears only once both people have reviewed each other or 14 days have passed;
• while you are chatting with someone, a green dot if you are currently online, and your messages, offers and any viewing you have arranged with them.

All contact happens through our messaging system.

5. Legal basis for processing

We process your personal data on the basis of: contract — to provide the account and marketplace services you ask for; legitimate interests — to keep the platform safe, prevent fraud and improve the service; consent — where you opt in to non-essential communications, such as browser notifications or marketing emails; and legal obligation — to comply with applicable law.

6. Third parties who process data for us

We use a small number of providers who process data on our behalf, under contract and on our instructions:

• Hetzner Online GmbH — server hosting (Germany, EU)
• Google Workspace — email delivery
• Google — sign-in, if you choose to log in with Google
• postcodes.io — postcode lookup; we send only the postcode you enter
• Stripe — payment processing, when paid features launch
• Cloudflare — storage and delivery of photos, and separately, a private (not publicly accessible) location for verification documents
• Your browser's notification service (Google for Chrome and Android, Apple for Safari, Mozilla for Firefox) — only if you turn on browser notifications. Notifications are encrypted before they are sent, so these companies deliver them but cannot read them.
• A vehicle history data provider — only if you buy a vehicle history check

The site loads some page code from the jsDelivr content delivery network, and — only if you accept it in the cookie banner — its typeface from Google Fonts. When those load, your browser contacts the services directly, so they receive your IP address and browser details in the same way any website you visit does. We do not send them any other information about you.

7. International transfers

Our server is located in the EU. Where a provider processes personal data outside the UK or EEA, that transfer is covered by an appropriate safeguard — a UK adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses.

8. How long we keep your data

• Account data: while your account is open, then deleted or anonymised within 12 months of closure, unless the law requires us to keep it longer.
• Listings: kept while live and for a period after they end so you can relist.
• Messages: retained while your account is open, to support dispute resolution and safety investigations.
• Sales and reviews: kept while both accounts are open. If an account is deleted, the reviews it gave and received are deleted with it.
• Listing statistics: kept for as long as the listing exists.
• Notification subscriptions: until you turn notifications off, or your browser tells us the subscription has expired, at which point we delete it.
• Server logs: 90 days, then deleted automatically.
• Verification documents: deleted within 30 days of a decision being made, whether approved or not. The record that a listing was verified is kept for as long as the listing exists.
• Records connected to a payment: 6 years, to meet tax and accounting requirements.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent. To exercise any of these, email info@browsecars.co.uk. We will respond within one month. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

10. Cookies and similar technologies

We use only essential cookies: a session cookie to keep you signed in, a security cookie to protect forms against cross-site request forgery, and a cookie that remembers your cookie choice for 6 months so we don't ask you on every visit. We do not currently use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. If we ever add any, they will stay off until you accept them.

The one optional thing we ask about is our typeface, Figtree, which loads from Google Fonts (Google receives your IP address when it does). If you reject, it is not loaded and your device's standard font is used instead. You can change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page.

The listing statistics described in section 2 are counted on our own server and do not use cookies.

We also store a small amount of information in your browser that is needed for features you use: which chat windows you have open, and — if you turn on browser notifications or install Browse Cars to your home screen — a small background program (a service worker) that lets your device show notifications. You can remove these at any time in your browser's settings.

11. Security

Sign-in is passwordless — an emailed code, a Google account, or a passkey. All traffic is encrypted in transit with HTTPS, and access to personal data is restricted. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Children

Browse Cars is intended for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always on this page. We will tell you about material changes by email or a notice on the site.