Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 2025

1. Who We Are

Clwyd Autos ("we", "us", "our") is a car dealership based at 123 High Street, Rhyl, Denbighshire, LL18 1AB. We are the data controller responsible for your personal information.

For any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at info@clwydautos.online or call 01745 123 456.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following personal data:

• Contact details — name, email address, phone number (when you submit an enquiry or contact form)
• Vehicle preferences — makes, models, and budget information you share with us
• Finance information — details provided during finance applications (processed securely by our finance partners)
• Technical data — IP address, browser type, and pages visited (via cookies — see Section 6)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data to:

• Respond to your enquiries and provide information about vehicles and services
• Process finance applications through our authorised lending partners
• Arrange test drives, part exchange valuations, and vehicle purchases
• Send you information about vehicles you've expressed interest in
• Improve our website and services

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data under the following legal bases:

• Contract — to fulfil or take steps towards a contract with you (e.g. vehicle purchase)
• Legitimate interests — to respond to enquiries and improve our services
• Consent — for marketing communications (you can withdraw at any time)
• Legal obligation — to comply with regulatory requirements (e.g. FCA record-keeping)

5. Data Sharing

We may share your data with:

• Finance providers — when you apply for vehicle finance (they are independent data controllers)
• Vehicle history check providers — for HPI and similar checks
• IT service providers — who support our website and business systems

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

6. Cookies

Our website uses essential storage to function correctly, including remembering your cookie choice.

With your consent we use Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages are read. It sets two first-party cookies, _ga and _ga_…, which expire after 2 years; advertising features are switched off. They are set only after you click Accept on the cookie banner, and nothing is sent to Google if you decline.

Change cookie settings at any time: this clears your choice, deletes any Google Analytics cookies and shows the banner again.

For full details, see our Cookie Policy section below.

7. Data Retention

We retain enquiry data for 12 months. Finance application records are retained for 6 years as required by FCA regulations. Purchase records are retained for 6 years in line with consumer protection requirements.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Rectify inaccurate data
• Request erasure of your data (subject to legal obligations)
• Restrict or object to processing
• Data portability
• Lodge a complaint with the ICO (ico.org.uk)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@clwydautos.online.

9. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including SSL encryption on our website, secure email systems, and restricted access to personal data within our organisation.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page. We recommend checking back periodically.