Privacy policy

Who we are

AskCarl is a UK used-car decision-support service operated through askcarl.co.uk. We help buyers assess adverts, prepare questions, compare candidates and plan a viewing or negotiation. For privacy questions or requests, email hello@askcarl.co.uk.

Information we handle

• Account and contact details: your email address, account identifiers, login/session information and, if linked, Telegram user ID.
• Buyer profile: information you choose to give about budget, intended use, priorities, must-haves and buying preferences.
• Listings and vehicle information: advert URLs, pasted advert wording, registrations or vehicle details, extracted listing facts, Carl’s analysis and shortlist status.
• Conversations and feedback: messages exchanged with Carl, seller answers you paste, viewing notes, helpful/off-base ratings and any explanation you provide.
• Images for analysis: listing screenshots or photos you submit to Carl are sent to an image-capable AI provider for analysis. AskCarl stores a non-reversible fingerprint and a text description of that submission rather than the image itself.
• Private viewing photos: photos you deliberately save inside a shortlisted-car workspace are stored privately with their category, caption and file details until you delete them or the related account data is removed. They are not sent to the image-analysis provider by the upload feature.
• Payment and entitlement: pass status, payment references and promotion or referral use. Stripe processes the card details; AskCarl does not receive or store your full card number.
• Technical and usage information: request timing, security/rate-limit data, device or browser information made available in normal web requests, checks used, feature events and cookie choices.

Why we use it

• Provide, personalise and remember your listing checks, shortlist, conversations and pass access.
• Fetch and interpret the advert you ask us to assess, compare available evidence and generate questions or decision support.
• Send sign-in links, essential account messages and replies to support requests.
• Take payment, prevent fraud and enforce free-use, paid-use and security limits.
• Investigate failures and use feedback to test and improve extraction and advice quality.
• Measure website use with Google Analytics only when you choose analytics cookies.

Carl uses automated models to produce decision support. It does not make legal, lending, insurance or employment decisions about you, and its output is not a vehicle guarantee, formal valuation, history check or mechanical inspection.

Legal reasons for processing

• Contract: to create your account, deliver requested checks and provide a paid pass.
• Legitimate interests: to secure, operate, troubleshoot and improve AskCarl, provided those interests do not override your rights.
• Consent: for optional analytics and any optional marketing; you can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligations: where records must be kept for tax, accounting, fraud prevention or responding to lawful requests.

Services that help us operate AskCarl

We share only the information needed for the relevant task with these types of provider:

We do not sell personal information, give dealers access to your account or use seller-paid ranking. We may also disclose information where required by law or to protect users and the service.

International processing

Some providers or their infrastructure may process information outside the UK. Where that happens, we rely on an approved transfer mechanism or another lawful safeguard, such as UK adequacy regulations or contractual protections. You can ask us for more information about the safeguard relevant to your data.

How long we keep information

We keep account, profile, listing and conversation information while it is needed to provide your account and buying history, then remove or anonymise it when it is no longer reasonably needed. The decision considers whether your account remains active, whether the information is needed to resolve a request or protect the service, and any tax, accounting or legal obligation. Payment providers may keep their own legally required records. Backups expire through their normal protected rotation rather than being edited immediately.

If you want your account information deleted sooner, contact us. We will explain anything we must retain and why rather than promising a deletion period that may not fit the record involved.

Cookies and analytics choices

An essential encrypted session cookie keeps you signed in, and a browser setting remembers your analytics choice. Google Analytics loads only after you select “Accept analytics”. You can change that choice at any time through “Analytics settings” in the footer. Declining does not prevent account or listing features from working.

Your UK data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or a portable copy of your personal information, and withdraw consent where consent is the basis. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. We may need to verify your identity before acting on an account request.

Security and changes

We use access controls, encrypted connections, short-lived sign-in links, service limits and provider security controls. No internet service can promise absolute security, so please do not submit card numbers, identity documents or unrelated sensitive information in chat or images.

We will update this notice when the service or its providers materially change and show the revision date at the top. Significant changes may also be communicated through the site or account email.