Privacy

Who we are

Jonathan Mills, sole trader trading as Bivetica, operates CarBrowse and is responsible for its personal data handling. Our business address is 28–30 High Street, Nettlebed, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 5DD. Contact hello@bivetica.com about privacy, access or deletion requests.

Accounts, adverts and enquiries

We use your email, hashed password and verification records to provide and secure your account. Vehicle details, descriptions, prices, equipment, photographs and town appear in published adverts. Your full postcode is not displayed as an address; it is used to calculate location and distance. Avoid including private information in your advert text or photos.

When you enquire, we receive your name, email, optional phone number and message and send them to the relevant seller or dealer so they can reply. We retain enquiry records and technical information such as IP addresses for security, support and investigating abuse. Seller contact details may be displayed or shared for enquiries. Revealing a phone number is a browser action, not a payment or reservation.

Dealer adverts come from published Bivetica Motors stock and include vehicle information, media and the dealer’s business contact details. Private favourites and saved searches can be linked to an account. When signed in, private and dealer shortlist saves are linked to your account and synchronised across devices. Signed-out saves and comparison choices use browser storage; see our storage notice.

Saved-search email alerts — added 7 October 2026

We store your saved filters and email-alert choice with your account. Alerts are off until you enable them for a verified email address. We check matching adverts hourly and send at most one email per search in 24 hours when new matches or lower asking prices are recorded. We retain matching advert identifiers, recorded prices and check/send times to prevent repeat alerts. Your email address is sent to our service email provider to deliver the alert. Pause an alert in your account or use its email link; deleting the saved search removes its alert settings and match history. We do not subscribe existing users automatically.

Registration and location lookups

When you request a vehicle lookup we send the registration to DVSA’s MOT History service and use returned vehicle details to help fill your advert. The buyer MOT tool also retrieves recorded test results, odometer readings and defect notes at your request. Buyer lookups are not added to your advert or shortlist. DVSA may retain technical request records under its service arrangements. Records may be incomplete or abbreviated; you must confirm the model and specification. Where a full postcode is used for location search or an advert, we may send it to postcodes.io to obtain coordinates. These services do not receive your account password.

Dealer reviews and saved cars

Signed-in shortlists store advert identifiers with your account until you remove them or request account deletion. Browser saves are imported when you sign in; account-linked browser saves are cleared when the signed-out state is detected. Comparison remains in your browser.

Dealer reviews require a verified-email account and a matching dealer enquiry within the previous 90 days. We use enquiry records to establish eligibility. Your chosen display name, rating, review and submission date become public only after moderation. We retain the review, account link and internal moderation decision to operate and investigate the review service. Reviews describe interactions, not verified vehicle purchases. Contact us to request removal or challenge a review. Do not include third-party personal information.

Payments for Bivetica services

Vehicle prices and deposits are agreed and paid directly between buyer and seller. CarBrowse does not collect or hold vehicle purchase money. Optional paid featuring is a separate Bivetica service.

If you buy featuring, Cars sends Bivetica Invoice your account reference, account email, selected promotion, amount and order reference to arrange billing. Invoice is another Bivetica product, not the seller of the advertised vehicle. We retain invoice and payment references, amounts, status and related order records to activate the purchased service, answer queries and reconcile payments.

Where GoCardless Direct Debit is offered, the hosted payment journey collects the payer identity, contact and bank details needed to set up and process payment. Cars does not collect bank account numbers in its advert forms. GoCardless handles payment and mandate information and provides payment identifiers and status information to our billing system. It also uses personal data for its own payment, security and regulatory purposes as described in its payer privacy notice. Bank payment processing is separate from vehicle sale arrangements.

Where card checkout is offered for a Bivetica service, Stripe processes the payment through Bivetica Invoice. Stripe receives the payer and transaction details needed for payment, authentication and fraud prevention and collects payment-method, device and network information on its hosted pages. We receive payment references, amounts, currency, status and relevant receipt or subscription records. We do not receive your card security code or online-banking password. Optional Link remembered-payment features are provided by Stripe if you choose them. Stripe also handles data for its own security and regulatory purposes; see its privacy notice. Payment providers may process information internationally under their applicable arrangements. A Stripe payment to Bivetica does not pay for a vehicle or create vehicle payment protection.

Why we use this information

We rely on performance of a contract, or steps you request before entering one, to provide accounts, publish adverts, deliver requested enquiries and supply paid services. Our legitimate interests include keeping the platform secure, preventing fraud, operating and improving the service, handling support and resolving disputes; we consider your rights when relying on these interests. We also retain information where necessary to comply with tax, accounting and other legal obligations. Where a feature requires consent, we ask separately and explain how to withdraw it. Reading this notice is not consent to marketing.

Who receives data and where it is held

We use Contabo for application/database hosting, Backblaze for photo storage, Cloudflare for delivery/security and routing, and HawkHost and Google for service email and support. We also use Google Analytics to measure visits to our public pages, as described in the Cookie notice. Public photos are delivered to visitors from storage/CDN services. These providers process the information needed for their roles. Relevant enquiry details go to the named seller; vehicle registrations go to DVSA; postcode queries go to postcodes.io; payment information goes through Bivetica Invoice and the payment provider you select.

Providers may process or access information in the UK, EEA or other countries. International transfers require an applicable adequacy arrangement or appropriate contractual safeguards. Contact us for information about the providers and safeguards applicable to your data. We do not sell personal data or share it for advertising. We may disclose necessary records to authorities or advisers where legally required or necessary to address fraud or legal claims.

Retention and removing adverts

We keep account and advert records while needed to provide the service. Public adverts normally expire after 60 days. Withdrawal returns an advert to drafts. Deletion removes it from your account and public browsing, but does not immediately erase database records, uploaded files, billing records or backups. Previously shared image URLs may remain accessible until the stored files are removed. A request to erase personal data is separate from removing an advert.

We retain information only as needed for its purpose, considering whether an account is active, unresolved enquiries or disputes, abuse prevention, legal claims and tax/accounting obligations. There is currently no automatic deletion schedule for removed advert photos. Contact us to request deletion; we will assess what can be erased and explain any information we must retain. Backups may retain copies until replaced through their normal lifecycle. GoCardless applies its own retention rules to data it controls.

Your choices and rights

You can edit or withdraw an advert, clear browser-saved cars and request account closure. Depending on the circumstances, you can request access, correction, erasure, restriction or portability of your personal data. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it without affecting earlier lawful processing. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

Contact hello@bivetica.com to exercise your rights. You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Cars is intended for adults aged 18 or over. We do not use Cars advert data to make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects; payment providers describe their own fraud decisions in their notices.

Updates

We date changes to this notice and communicate material changes as appropriate.

Buyer and seller terms · Cookies and browser storage

Conversations in Cars

Signed-in, verified users can keep replies in their Cars inbox. The buyer and the relevant seller or dealership can read the conversation. Dealer replies are available in Bivetica Motors; private dealer notes are not copied into Cars messages. Unread indicators update while the inbox is open. Moderators can review reported conversations and block further replies.

You can archive a conversation or block new replies. Archiving hides it from your inbox until a new reply arrives; it does not erase it for the other participant. Conversation threads are eligible for scheduled removal after 365 days without a new message. Unresolved reports are held for review. Original enquiry records, dealer copies and backups follow the separate retention rules described above.