Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This privacy policy explains how UK Reg Check (ukregcheck.co.uk), operated by Take Orders Now LTD (Company No. 16869591), collects, uses, and protects information when you use our vehicle registration lookup service. We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring transparency in how we handle data.

Our registered address is 250 Rossendale Road, Burnley, England, BB11 5DE.

2. What Data We Collect

When you use our service, we may collect the following information:

• Vehicle registration numbers entered into our lookup tool.
• Hashed IP addresses — your IP address is hashed using a one-way cryptographic function before storage. We do not store IP addresses in plain text.
• User agent strings — information about your browser and device, used for security and abuse prevention.
• Lookup statistics — aggregated, non-personal data about how the service is used (e.g. number of lookups performed).

We do not collect names or any other personally identifiable information unless you voluntarily provide it (for example, by contacting us via email or by purchasing our optional MOT and tax reminder service — see Section 3 below).

3. Optional Reminder Service

If you choose to purchase our paid MOT and tax reminder service, we collect the following additional information so that we can deliver the service:

• Email address — used to send you reminder emails before your MOT and tax expire, and to confirm your purchase.
• Mobile telephone number — collected only if you select a tier that includes SMS reminders, and used solely to send you those reminder text messages.
• Vehicle registration number — the registration the reminders apply to, together with the MOT and tax expiry dates retrieved from the official DVLA service at the time of purchase.

Reminder data is retained for the duration of your active subscription (12 months from the date of purchase) and for a further period of up to 24 months thereafter for accounting, tax and legal record-keeping purposes, after which it is permanently deleted. You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in every reminder email; cancelling does not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before cancellation.

4. Payment Processing (Stripe)

All payments for the reminder service are processed by Stripe Payments Europe, Limited (“Stripe”), our payment service provider. When you pay for a reminder subscription, you are redirected to a hosted Stripe Checkout page where you enter your payment details directly into Stripe’s secure environment.

We never see, store or process your full card number, CVC code, or any other sensitive payment credentials. Stripe acts as an independent data controller for the payment information you provide to it; we receive only a confirmation of payment, the amount paid, the currency, and a Stripe transaction reference, which we store for accounting and customer-support purposes.

For details of how Stripe handles your data, please see Stripe’s privacy policy at stripe.com/gb/privacy.

5. SMS Delivery (Twilio)

If you select a reminder tier that includes SMS, we use Twilio Inc. (“Twilio”) to deliver text messages to the mobile number you provide. Your mobile number and the contents of each reminder message are shared with Twilio solely so they can route the message to your network operator. Twilio acts as a data processor on our behalf and is contractually required to handle this data in accordance with applicable data protection law.

For details of how Twilio handles personal data, please see Twilio’s privacy notice at twilio.com/en-us/legal/privacy.

6. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process data under the following lawful bases as defined by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR):

• Legitimate interest — to provide, maintain, and improve the vehicle lookup service, and to ensure the security and integrity of the platform.
• Legitimate interest — to prevent abuse, detect automated scraping, and protect against malicious activity.
• Performance of a contract — to deliver the paid MOT and tax reminder service you have purchased, including processing your payment, sending the reminder emails and SMS messages, and providing customer support in relation to your subscription.
• Legal obligation — to retain transaction records for the period required by UK accounting and tax legislation.

7. Third-Party Data Sources

To provide vehicle information, we query the following official government APIs:

• DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service — provides vehicle details such as make, colour, tax status, and date of first registration.
• DVSA MOT History API — provides MOT test history, results, mileage readings, and advisory notices.

These are official UK government data sources. The data retrieved relates to vehicles, not individuals. When you perform a lookup, the registration number you enter is sent to these APIs to retrieve the relevant vehicle information.

8. Caching of Lookup Results

To improve performance and reduce unnecessary requests to third-party APIs, we cache lookup results for a configurable period, typically one hour. Cached data is automatically purged after this period expires, at which point a fresh request will be made to the relevant API if the same registration is looked up again.

9. Lookup History

We store a record of lookups performed on the service. This history includes the registration number queried, a hashed version of the requester's IP address, the user agent, and the date and time of the request. This data is used for:

• Abuse prevention and rate limiting.
• Service improvement and usage analytics.
• Investigating and responding to security incidents.

10. Cookies

UK Reg Check uses only essential session cookies required for the proper functioning of the website. We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party analytics cookies. The session cookie is automatically deleted when you close your browser or when the session expires.

11. Data Retention

Lookup logs, including hashed IP addresses and associated request data, are retained for up to 12 months from the date of the lookup. After this period, the data is permanently deleted. Cached lookup results are retained only for the duration of the cache TTL (typically one hour).

12. Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes. The only third parties we share personal data with are Stripe and Twilio, as described in Sections 4 and 5 above, where this is necessary to deliver the reminder service you have purchased. Data may also be disclosed where required by law, regulation, or lawful request from a competent authority.

13. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — you may request that we correct any inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure — you may request the deletion of your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we may have to retain it.
• Right to restrict processing — you may request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability — you may request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Right to object — you may object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interest.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within one calendar month.

14. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the data we process. IP addresses are hashed using a one-way cryptographic function and are never stored in plain text. All connections to our website are encrypted using TLS (HTTPS).

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Post: Take Orders Now LTD, 250 Rossendale Road, Burnley, England, BB11 5DE