Introduction
This Privacy Policy describes how Car Summary ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our services. Effective Date: November 6, 2026. Version: 451c70bd.
If you have questions about this policy, please contact us at contact@carsummary.co.uk.
Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal data for the purposes described below. Under GDPR Article 6, we rely on the lawful bases shown for each processing purpose:
| Category | Fields collected | Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Registration | Vehicle registration mark (number plate) | Look up and generate the requested vehicle report (MOT history, tax, mileage, emissions and clean air / ULEZ charges). | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Device & Connection Information | IP address, Browser and device signals, Bot-protection challenge token | Protect the service from bots and abuse via the Cloudflare Turnstile challenge. | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Usage Analytics | Vehicle registration mark searched, Pages visited and whether a report loaded, Anonymous analytics identifier, IP address, Browser and device information | Understand how the service is used, including which vehicles are searched for, so we can improve it. | Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) |
Right to Withdraw Consent
Where we rely on your consent for any processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us at contact@carsummary.co.uk. Withdrawing your consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing we carried out before you withdrew it. Where consent is required to provide a particular feature or service, withdrawing it may mean we are no longer able to offer that feature or service.
Automated Decision-Making and Profiling
We do not engage in automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you within the meaning of GDPR Article 22.
Data Retention
We retain your data for the following periods:
| Category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Registration | Stored for 7 days from report generation. If you accept analytics, searched registrations are also kept as Usage Analytics. |
| Device & Connection Information | Not stored beyond verifying the challenge. |
| Usage Analytics | Stored for 1 year. |
Whether You Are Required to Provide This Data
For each category of personal data we collect, we set out below whether you are required to provide it — by law, under our contract with you, or as a precondition to entering into a contract — or whether provision is voluntary, together with the consequences of failing to provide it.
| Category | Requirement | Consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Registration | Voluntary | Without a registration we cannot generate a vehicle report. |
| Device & Connection Information | Required under our contract with you | If the bot check cannot run, you will be unable to submit a lookup. |
| Usage Analytics | Voluntary | Analytics is optional. The service works the same if you reject it, and you can withdraw consent at any time from Cookie settings. |
Third-Party Services
We share data with the following third-party services:
| Service | Purpose | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Application hosting (Workers/Pages) and Turnstile bot-protection / challenge verification. | View |
| Vehicle Data Provider | Receives the registration to return public vehicle records (DVLA/DVSA/VCA data). | |
| carVertical | Affiliate partner for optional paid vehicle history reports. Receives the registration only if you click the carVertical banner on a report. | View |
| PostHog | Product analytics, hosted in the EU. Receives usage data, including the registrations you search for, only if you accept analytics. | View |
Your Rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right to access your personal data
- Right to correct inaccurate data
- Right to request deletion of your data
- Right to receive your data in a portable format
- Right to restrict how we process your data
- Right to object to processing
UK Privacy Rights (UK-GDPR)
This section applies to individuals in the United Kingdom under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK-GDPR), as tailored by the Data Protection Act 2018.
Data Controller: Car Summary, -
We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer. Our processing activities do not meet the thresholds in GDPR Article 37(1) that would require one.
The supervisory authority for data protection in the UK is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). If you believe we have not handled your data in accordance with UK data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
If we transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the UK-GDPR, including the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable.
Contact Us
Contact us:
- Legal Name: Car Summary
- Address: -
- Email: contact@carsummary.co.uk