Privacy notice
This notice explains what personal information Forecourt collects, why, who we share it with and your rights. Forecourt NI is the “controller” of this information under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). Questions? Email info@forecourtni.com.
What we collect
| Who | What |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Which pages you visit and what you search for on Forecourt (for example make, model, budget and the first half of a postcode), whether you're on a phone or computer, the site that sent you to us, and your rough location (town or region) worked out from your internet connection. We count visitors with an anonymous code that changes every day, without cookies, and we don't store your IP address. If you search by postcode or location, we note the area (for example “Cullybackey, Ballymena”), and your browser remembers the first half of your postcode (for example “BT42”) so your later visits count under the right town. We use this to see how Forecourt is used and to show dealers what buyers are looking for, only ever as totals. Our hosting provider also keeps short-lived technical logs to keep the site secure. If you search by postcode or tap “use my location”, we use that location to show distances. Your exact position isn't stored: it's rounded to about 100 metres and only kept in the search address. |
| Buyers with an account | Name, email, password (stored scrambled, we can't see it), and optionally phone and postcode. Your saved cars, saved searches, part-exchange details, My Garage cars and dates, and your alert and marketing choices. |
| Anyone who contacts a dealer | The name, email, phone, message, test drive preferences and any part-exchange details you send. We also count taps on a dealer's call and WhatsApp buttons (without your details) so dealers can see how many enquiries they get. |
| Private sellers | Your advert, photos and registration, your postcode (only your town and a rough location, to about half a mile, are shown), your phone number if you choose to show it, your messages with buyers, and the results of our safety checks on your advert. |
| Anyone who messages a private seller | Your name, email, optional phone number and messages. The seller sees your name, messages and phone number (if you give one), but not your email address; we pass replies between you. |
| Dealers | Dealership name, town, postcode, phone, WhatsApp, website, login email, the people who manage the account, your listings and photos, billing details and marketing choices. |
Why we use it, and our legal basis
- To run the service you've asked for (contract): your account, saved cars and searches, sending your enquiry to a dealer, the alerts and reminders you've switched on, and dealer listings and billing.
- To keep Forecourt safe and working well (legitimate interests): preventing fraud and misuse, fixing problems, and understanding which features are used.
- To send news and offers (consent): only if you've ticked the box. You can untick it in your account or unsubscribe at any time.
- To meet legal duties (legal obligation): for example, keeping business and tax records.
Who we share it with
- Dealers. When you message a dealer or ask for a test drive, we send them your details (and your part-exchange, if you choose to include it). From then on, the dealer is responsible for how they use your information.
- Service providers who run parts of Forecourt for us, under contracts that require them to protect your information and use it only on our instructions:
- Supabase: our database, logins and photo storage (stored in London)
- Vercel: website hosting
- Resend: sending emails
- Twilio: sending text messages
- postcodes.io: turning postcodes into map locations (only the postcode is sent)
- Anthropic: an AI safety check on private adverts (the advert text and photos are sent, not your name or contact details)
- Google Fonts: the site's typefaces, which are loaded from Google
- Authorities, if the law requires it.
We never sell your personal information. Some providers may process information outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on protections approved under UK law, such as UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement.
Cookies and storage on your device
We only use what's needed for the site to work: login cookies that keep you signed in, and storage in your browser that remembers your saved cars, recently viewed cars, compare list and the first half of the postcode you last searched with on that device. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies. Clearing your browser's data removes the lists saved on that device, and the first half of the postcode you last searched with (cars saved to an account are kept in your account).
How long we keep it
- Account information: while your account is open, then deleted within 90 days of you closing it, apart from anything we must keep by law.
- Enquiries: up to 2 years, so dealers and buyers can look back at them.
- Dealer business and billing records: 6 years, as required for tax purposes.
- Records of alerts we've sent: up to 2 years, so we don't send you the same alert twice.
- Anonymous visit and search records: up to 2 years, used for totals and trends.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- get a copy of the information we hold about you;
- have wrong information corrected (you can change most of it yourself in your account);
- have your information deleted, or ask us to stop or limit using it;
- object to us using it for our legitimate interests;
- take your information to another service;
- withdraw consent at any time, for example to marketing emails or text alerts.
Buyers can delete their account and everything saved with it at any time from Your account. To use any of the other rights, email info@forecourtni.com. We'll reply within one month. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We'd appreciate the chance to put things right first.
Security
Information is sent over encrypted connections, passwords are never stored in readable form, and our database rules mean each buyer and dealer can only see their own account information.
Children
Forecourt accounts are for people aged 18 and over.
Changes to this notice
We'll update this notice if how we use information changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If there's a significant change, we'll let account holders know.
See also our terms and conditions.