Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Thatcarwebsite.com is a UK-based platform connecting car buyers with independent dealerships using AI-powered matching. We are the data controller for your personal information.

2. What Data We Collect

• Account information: name, email address, phone number.
• Quiz responses: vehicle preferences, budget, location (postcode), driving habits.
• Usage data: pages visited, search queries, vehicles viewed and saved.
• Communications: messages exchanged with dealers through our platform.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To generate personalised AI vehicle recommendations.
• To match you with relevant local dealers based on your postcode and preferences.
• To facilitate anonymised messaging between you and dealers.
• To improve our AI models and platform experience.
• To send important service updates (not marketing, unless you opt in).

4. Your Privacy Controls

Anonymous by default: Your personal contact details are never shared with dealers until you explicitly choose to reveal them. All initial communication happens through our anonymous messaging system.

Consent-based sharing: We only share your personal data with dealers when you click "Reveal Contact Details". You control this on a per-dealer basis.

5. Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored on secure servers within the UK and EU (Supabase infrastructure). We use encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest. Access to personal data is restricted to authorised personnel only.

6. Third-Party Services

• Google Gemini AI: Quiz answers are processed by Google's AI to generate recommendations. No personally identifiable information is sent to the AI — only vehicle preferences.
• Postcodes.io: Your postcode is resolved to geographic coordinates for dealer matching. This is a free UK government-backed API.
• Stripe: Payment processing for dealer subscriptions. We never store card details.
• Sentry: Error monitoring to improve platform reliability. No personal data is intentionally logged.

7. Your Rights (UK GDPR)

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access a copy of your personal data.
• Rectify inaccurate data.
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Restrict processing of your data.
• Object to processing.
• Data portability.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@thatcarwebsite.com.

8. Cookies

We use essential cookies to maintain your session and preferences. We do not use tracking or advertising cookies. Analytics cookies are only set with your consent.

9. Data Retention

We retain your account data while your account is active. Quiz results and AI reports are retained for 12 months. You can request deletion of your data at any time. Anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely.

10. Contact

For privacy enquiries, contact our Data Protection Officer at privacy@thatcarwebsite.com.