Privacy Policy
The plain-English version: we collect only what we need to value your car, reply with a firm offer on WhatsApp and collect the vehicle. We never sell your details, and we don’t run marketing lists.
- No data selling, ever
- No marketing lists
- Raw IP never stored
- Deleted on request
Who we are
This website is run by Car Buyer Scotland, part of the Caledonian Autosalvage group. We are the data controller for the information described on this page.
Registered address (correspondence only — we always come to you): Unit 1a, Mt Alexander, Camaghael Rd, Fort William, PH33 7NF. For anything about your data, email leads@carbuyerscotland.co.uk.
What we collect
What you type in
Your vehicle registration, the car’s postcode and your email address — plus your name and mobile number if you choose to give them. That is the whole form. When you tap the button it opens WhatsApp pre-filled with these details so you can send them to us.
Created automatically
The page you enquired from, the time you sent it, and a salted one-way hash of your IP address used purely to stop spam. The raw IP is never written down.
About the vehicle
When you enter a registration we may check it against a vehicle-data service to confirm make and model. Only the registration is sent — never your personal details.
What we use it for, and for how long
| Information | Why we use it | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Reg & postcode | To value the car and plan a free uplift route to it | With your enquiry record (below) |
| Email, name, mobile | To reply with your offer on WhatsApp and by email; the mobile (optional) is only so our driver can reach you about the uplift | Enquiries that don’t become a sale: deleted within 12 months |
| Purchase records | If we buy your car — the transaction, DVLA notification and scrap-metal records the law requires | 6 years, as tax and environmental law requires |
| Salted IP hash | Rate-limiting and spam defence on the quote form | The spam counter deletes itself within an hour; the hash on a stored lead stays with that record |
Our lawful bases
- Taking steps before a contract (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)) — valuing your car, sending the offer and arranging collection.
- Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — keeping the form free of spam and the site secure, in ways you’d reasonably expect.
- Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — the transaction, DVLA and scrap-metal records we must keep once we buy a vehicle.
Who sees your details
Fewer people than you’d think. Your enquiry goes to our own team and to our uplift driver, who needs your name, postcode and mobile (if given) to collect the car.
- DVLA — when ownership transfers or the vehicle is scrapped, as the law requires.
- Our licensed treatment facility — for the Certificate of Destruction record on end-of-life vehicles.
- WhatsApp / Meta Platforms — only if you choose to send the pre-filled WhatsApp message the form opens. Your message then reaches us through WhatsApp and is handled under Meta’s own terms; see “Booking on WhatsApp” below.
- Service providers — the company that hosts this website and the provider that delivers our email, acting only on our instructions.
We never sell or rent your information — not to marketing companies, not to other car buyers, not to anyone. You will only hear from us about your own enquiry.
Where it lives and how it’s protected
Your enquiry is stored in this website’s database and a copy lands in our inbox so we can reply with your offer. The site runs over HTTPS, access is limited to the people who handle offers and uplifts, and we don’t move your data outside the UK/EEA.
Booking on WhatsApp
When you submit the quote form, your details are saved by us as described above — and the same details are also used to open WhatsApp on your device, pre-filled into a message to us. Nothing is sent until you choose to tap send in WhatsApp. If you do send it, that message is delivered and processed by WhatsApp and its owner, Meta Platforms, under Meta’s own privacy terms, which sit outside our control. The copy of your enquiry you submitted to this site is still held and handled by us exactly as set out on this page. If you’d rather not use WhatsApp, email us instead and we’ll reply that way.
Cookies
Almost none — one piece of essential storage so the cookie notice stays dismissed, and nothing that tracks you. The full list is on our cookies policy.
Changes to this notice
If how we handle data changes, this page changes first and the date below moves. Significant changes get a plain-English note at the top of this page.
Your rights under UK GDPR
See what we hold about you (access)
Email us and we will send you a copy of everything we hold about you — your enquiry, any offer and any purchase record — within one month, free of charge.
Correct something we got wrong (rectification)
If a name, email address or any other detail is wrong, tell us and we will fix it straight away.
Ask us to delete your data (erasure)
If you enquired but did not sell to us, we can delete your enquiry on request. If we bought your car, we must keep the legally required transaction records for their statutory period — we will delete everything else.
Limit or object to what we do with it
You can ask us to restrict processing while we check something, and you can object to any processing we base on legitimate interests — including the anti-spam measures — and we will review it.
Take your data elsewhere (portability)
For the details you gave us directly, you can ask for them in a common machine-readable format to pass to someone else.
Complain to the regulator
We would rather fix it ourselves first, but you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time via ico.org.uk. It is free.
Related pages
More legal
Questions first?