Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are & Contact Details

AuctionMyPlate.co.uk is an online marketplace for personalised registration numbers. We are not affiliated, authorised, endorsed or associated with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or any UK government organisation.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, AuctionMyPlate.co.uk is the data controller for the personal data we collect and decide how to use.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, want to make a data protection request, or want to raise a privacy complaint, you can contact us at:

Email: support@auctionmyplate.co.uk

2. Data We Collect

The personal data we collect depends on how you use the website. It may include:

• Account and profile information: your name, email address, phone number, postal address, login details, email verification status, account preferences and profile information. Passwords are stored in encrypted/hashed form by our authentication provider, not as readable plain text.
• Seller and listing information: registration marks, plate type, ownership/authority information, reserve price, starting price, Buy Now price, retention expiry dates, descriptions, images, status, auction timings and listing history.
• DVLA and transfer-related information: details needed to help complete or verify a registration transfer, including information from V5C, V750, V778, retention certificates, assignment/transfer paperwork or other documents you provide.
• Bidding and transaction information: bids, highest-bid status, winning bids, sale amounts, fees, commission, DVLA fee treatment, payment status, refund status, payout information, transaction status and related audit logs.
• Payment information: payment status, Stripe customer/payment method identifiers, card brand, last four digits, expiry month/year and fraud or risk signals provided by our payment processor. We do not store full card numbers or CVV codes on our own servers.
• Documents and files: images, scans or copies of documents you upload or send to us, including documents used to verify ownership, assist a transfer, investigate a dispute or comply with our legal obligations.
• Communications: emails, contact-form messages, support requests, notifications, replies, complaints, and records of messages we send or receive about your account, listing, bid, purchase, sale or transaction.
• Technical and usage data: IP address, device type, browser type, approximate location based on IP address, pages visited, links clicked, time on site, error logs, security logs, cookie/local-storage data and analytics data.
• Marketing and advertising data: where we use marketing or advertising tools, we may process information such as cookie consent choices, campaign performance data and interaction data, subject to your consent where required.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to:

• Create, verify, secure and manage user accounts.
• Allow sellers to create listings and allow buyers to bid, buy and complete transactions.
• Display listings, auction status, bid information and listing history on the website.
• Keep ended, withdrawn, expired or sold listings visible on the website where appropriate, including by displaying them as "Ended", "Sold", "Withdrawn" or similar.
• Process payments, payment authorisations, refunds, seller proceeds, fees, commission and DVLA fee handling.
• Help complete, verify or support registration transfers between buyers and sellers.
• Send service messages, including verification emails, bid alerts, sale notifications, document requests, payment updates, support replies and important account notices.
• Prevent fraud, misuse, suspicious activity, unauthorised access, shill bidding, chargeback abuse and breaches of our Terms.
• Investigate and correct website errors, technical issues, failed payments, failed notifications, auction issues or transaction problems.
• Improve the website, user experience, performance, security, content, search visibility and reliability of the platform.
• Comply with legal, accounting, tax, regulatory and record keeping obligations.
• Send marketing updates only where we have a lawful basis to do so and, where required, your consent.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process personal data under one or more of the following legal bases:

• Contract: where processing is necessary to provide the service you request, such as creating an account, listing a plate, placing bids, processing transactions and helping complete a sale.
• Legitimate interests: where necessary for our reasonable business interests, including platform security, fraud prevention, customer support, service improvement, keeping auction/listing history, resolving disputes and protecting users and the marketplace.
• Legal obligation: where we need to keep records, respond to lawful requests, meet tax/accounting requirements, or comply with applicable laws.
• Consent: where required, for example for certain non-essential cookies, analytics, advertising, or optional marketing messages. You can withdraw consent where processing depends on consent.

5. Public Listing Information

When you create a listing, some listing information is intended to be public. This may include the registration mark, listing title, description, images, price/bid information, auction timing, listing status and whether the listing is live, ended, sold, withdrawn or similar.

If a seller withdraws a plate, a listing ends, a plate expires, or a plate is sold, we may continue to display the listing on the website as part of the platform's auction history, search engine visibility, user transparency and site functionality. We do not intentionally display private buyer or seller contact details publicly.

6. Payments & Stripe

We use Stripe to process card payments and saved payment methods securely. When you add a card, pay for a Buy Now purchase, win an auction, pay any applicable fee, or receive a refund, your payment details are handled by Stripe.

We receive limited payment information from Stripe, such as the payment status, customer ID, payment method ID, card brand, last four digits and expiry date. This helps us identify payments, manage transactions, reduce fraud and support users.

Stripe may process data outside the UK/EEA and may act as a data controller for some of its own fraud-prevention, compliance and payment-network purposes. For details, please see Stripe's Privacy Policy.

7. Cookies & Similar Technologies

We use cookies, local storage and similar technologies to keep the website secure, remember preferences, operate accounts, support checkout and understand how the site is used.

Some cookies are strictly necessary and do not require consent. Where consent is required for non-essential analytics, advertising or similar technologies, we aim to ask for your clear choice before using them. You can find more detail in our Cookie Policy.

8. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal data. We may share limited data with:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers: for example Vercel and related hosting, deployment, analytics or performance services.
• Database, authentication and storage providers: for example Appwrite, which helps us manage user accounts, profiles, listings, bids, files and database records.
• Payment providers: for example Stripe, which processes payments, saved payment methods, refunds and fraud checks.
• Email and communication providers: used to send verification emails, bid updates, sale notifications, support replies and other service messages.
• Security and anti-abuse providers: for example CAPTCHA, bot-detection, fraud-prevention, logging or monitoring services, where used.
• Analytics and advertising providers: for example Vercel Analytics, Google Analytics, Google Ads or Google Tag Manager, where enabled and subject to consent where required.
• Buyers and sellers: where necessary to complete a transaction, support a DVLA transfer, handle delivery or resolve a dispute. We only share what we reasonably need to share for that purpose.
• Professional advisers: including accountants, lawyers, insurers or auditors where necessary.
• Regulators, law enforcement, courts or authorities: where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, users, platform or the public.

9. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers may process personal data outside the United Kingdom and European Economic Area. Where this happens, we aim to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK International Data Transfer Agreements, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy regulations, or equivalent protections recognised under applicable data protection law.

10. How Long We Keep Your Data

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and why we hold it.

• Account data: usually kept while your account remains active and for a reasonable period afterwards for security, dispute and audit purposes.
• Listing and auction data: may be kept and displayed for as long as we reasonably need to maintain auction history, platform transparency, dispute records, legal records, search visibility and site functionality.
• Transaction, payment and accounting records: may be kept for up to six years or longer where required for tax, accounting, legal, dispute or fraud-prevention reasons.
• Support and complaint records: kept for as long as needed to handle the issue and maintain an appropriate record of our response.
• Technical, security and analytics data: kept for a reasonable period depending on the purpose, such as security monitoring, troubleshooting, fraud prevention and site improvement.

Where data is no longer needed, we will delete it, anonymise it or securely archive it where appropriate.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. This includes secure hosting, access controls, encrypted connections, account authentication and the use of trusted third-party providers.

No website or online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If you believe your account or data may have been compromised, please contact us promptly.

12. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Ask us to delete certain personal data, subject to legal, contractual, fraud-prevention, dispute and record-keeping limits.
• Ask us to restrict or object to certain processing in some circumstances.
• Receive certain personal data in a portable format where the right applies.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, such as certain non-essential cookies or optional marketing.

To exercise your rights, contact support@auctionmyplate.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

Some rights are not absolute. For example, we may need to keep certain transaction, payment, listing, dispute or legal records even if you ask us to delete your account.

13. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we can investigate and respond.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator. You can find more information at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

14. Children

AuctionMyPlate is intended for users aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children for account, bidding, buying or selling purposes. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us.

15. Automated Checks

We may use automated checks and third-party tools to help detect fraud, payment risk, bot activity, suspicious bidding, security threats or breaches of our Terms. These checks help protect users and the platform. We do not use automated decision-making to make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects without appropriate safeguards.

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, our providers, or how AuctionMyPlate operates. When we do, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this page. If changes are significant, we may also provide a notice on the website or through your account.

This Privacy Policy is provided for general information and is not formal legal advice. For legal advice about data protection compliance, you should speak to a qualified legal professional.