Privacy policy

This is a plain-English summary intended to be clear and honest. It is not legal advice — please have your own solicitor review it before you rely on it.

Who we are

ForecourtOnline ("we", "us") provides websites, stock management and record-keeping software to UK independent car traders. For the personal data in your account and your dealership's records, we act as the data controller. For the buyer enquiries and customer details you collect through your ForecourtOnline website, you (the dealer) are the controller and we act as your data processor.

What we collect

• Account data — your name, business name, email, phone and password (stored hashed).
• Business records — your stock, photos, sales, VAT margin scheme records and related documents.
• Billing data — subscription and payment status. Card details are handled by Stripe; we never see or store full card numbers.
• Buyer enquiries — the name, contact details and message a customer submits through your site, stored against your dealership.
• Technical data — server-side, cookieless page-view counts for traffic stats, plus security and error logs.

How we use it and our lawful basis

• To provide the service (performance of our contract with you).
• To take payment for your subscription (contract).
• To keep the service secure and working, and to improve it (legitimate interests).
• To send service and account emails such as trial reminders and security notices (contract / legitimate interests).
• To meet legal obligations, including tax and accounting records.

Who we share it with

We don't sell your data. We use a small set of trusted sub-processors to run the service, each under a data-processing agreement:

• Hosting & CDN — for running the application and serving sites.
• Database — managed Postgres hosting for your records.
• Stripe — subscription billing and card processing.
• Resend — transactional and account emails.
• Cloudflare — image and file storage and delivery.
• Sentry — error monitoring to keep the service reliable.
• DVLA, DVSA and vehicle-data providers — to look up vehicle and MOT details from a registration.

How long we keep it

We keep account and business records for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period afterwards to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations (some records, such as VAT and sales documents, must be kept for several years). Buyer enquiries are retained according to your settings and your own obligations as the controller of that data.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can request access to your data, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, and you can object to certain processing. You can export much of your data yourself from your account, or contact us. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Security

Access is protected by authentication with optional two-factor, data is encrypted in transit, and every dealer's data is strictly scoped to their own account. See our security page for more.

Contact

For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, email hello@forecourtonline.co.uk.