Privacy policy

Who we are

PartFinder is operated by Shocktopus Limited, a company registered in the United Kingdom under number 16857721, whose registered office is 2 Palmer Walk, Stockton-on-Tees, TS16 9JW.

We are the data controller for this website. You can reach us at karl.daw@shocktopus.co.uk.

This policy covers this website only. Shocktopus Limited's mobile apps are covered by a separate policy.

What we collect

Vehicle registrations

If you look up a vehicle by registration, we send that registration to the DVSA to identify the vehicle, and store the result for up to 30 days so repeat searches don't need another lookup.

A vehicle registration can identify the registered keeper, so we treat it as personal data. We do not receive keeper details from the DVSA, only the vehicle's make, model, age and MOT history, and we do not attempt to identify who owns a vehicle.

You never have to give us a registration. The manual make, model and year search returns the same parts results without one.

Searches

We process the vehicle and part type you search for in order to query supplier APIs and to cache the results. Cached results are keyed by the search itself, not by you.

Technical data

Our hosting provider records standard server logs, including IP address, browser type and the pages requested. These are used to operate and secure the site.

Accounts

You can use the entire site without an account. If you choose to sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google, and store them so we can show you which account you're using.

Signing in lets you save vehicles to a garage. We store the vehicle details you save, along with the registration you looked them up with if you used one, against your account.

You can remove a saved vehicle at any time from the garage page. To delete your account and everything stored against it, email us and we'll action it.

Affiliate links and cookies

Some links to suppliers are affiliate links. If you buy something after following one, we may earn a commission. It never changes the price you pay.

Following an affiliate link may allow the network (currently eBay Partner Network and Awin) to set a cookie in your browser so a resulting purchase can be attributed to us. That happens on the supplier's site, under their privacy policy, not ours.

We do not set advertising or analytics cookies of our own, and we do not use third-party advertising trackers on this site.

Affiliate arrangements do not influence how results are ranked. Offers are ordered by how confident we are that the part fits your vehicle, then by total cost including postage.

Who we share data with

We share data with the following, only as needed to run the site:

• DVSA (Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency)

  Vehicle registrations you enter are sent to the DVSA MOT History API to identify the vehicle.

  Processes data in: United Kingdom

• eBay

  Part searches (vehicle make, model, year and part type) are sent to eBay's Browse API. No information about you is sent.

  Processes data in: United States

• Google Firebase

  Hosting, database and authentication. Server logs include IP addresses.

  Processes data in: European Union and United States

• Google (Sign-In)

  If you sign in with Google, Google authenticates you and tells us your name, email address and profile picture. We never see your Google password.

  Processes data in: European Union and United States

• Frankfurter

  Currency exchange rates, so prices from other markets can be shown in pounds. No personal data is sent.

  Processes data in: European Union

Where data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the UK government's adequacy regulations or on standard contractual clauses put in place by the provider.

We do not sell your data.

Why we're allowed to (lawful basis)

• Legitimate interests: running the site, returning search results, caching to stay within supplier rate limits, and keeping the service secure.
• Consent: where you choose to enter a registration rather than search manually.

How long we keep it

• Vehicle lookups: up to 30 days, then automatically deleted.
• Cached search results: up to 24 hours.
• Server logs: as retained by our hosting provider, typically 30 days.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete or restrict the use of your personal data, to object to processing, and to data portability. To exercise any of these, email karl.daw@shocktopus.co.uk.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes

If we change this policy we'll update the date at the top. Where changes are significant, we'll say so on the site.