1. Data Controller

TrafficWardenAlert UK is the data controller responsible for your personal data.

For all data protection enquiries or to exercise your rights, contact us at:

privacy@trafficwardenalert.uk

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as required for organisations processing personal data in the UK.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Account Data

Full name and email address
Account role and registration status

Vehicle Data

Vehicle registration plate(s)
Vehicle make, model, colour and year (optional)
Vehicle photographs (optional, uploaded by you)

Identity Verification Data

Government-issued ID document (driving licence or passport) — uploaded securely for identity verification
Date of ID upload

⚠️ ID documents are stored in encrypted private storage and are automatically deleted after 180 days. They are never shared with other users or third parties.

Location & Activity Data

GPS coordinates — only when you actively submit a warden report
Alert history (reports received and sent)
Parking session data (start time, duration, location)

Communication Data

Mobile number (if provided for SMS alerts)
Push notification subscription tokens

3. Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR Art. 6)

Contract

Processing your email, vehicle plates, and alert data is necessary to deliver the core service you agreed to when registering.

Consent

Location data is only collected when you voluntarily submit a report. Push notifications and SMS are only sent with your explicit consent. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings.

Legal Obligation

Identity verification is required to comply with our obligations and prevent misuse of registration plate data.

Legitimate Interests

Fraud prevention, platform security, and anonymous aggregated analytics for service improvement.

4. How We Use Your Data

Sending real-time warden alerts to registered vehicle owners
Matching warden reports to nearby registered vehicles
Verifying user identity to protect the community
Facilitating the voluntary tipping/reward system
Displaying anonymised statistics on the leaderboard
Sending parking session expiry reminders
Monitoring watched locations and saved routes you have set up

5. Data Sharing & Third Parties

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only as follows:

Other users: Your reporter name and general location are visible to users you send alerts to. Your email and plates are never publicly displayed.
Base44 (platform provider): Our infrastructure runs on Base44, which processes data on our behalf under a data processing agreement.
Stripe: Payment processing for optional premium features. Subject to Stripe's own privacy policy.
Firebase Cloud Messaging: Used to deliver push notifications on Android and iOS via Firebase.
Apple Push Notification service (APNs): Used to deliver push notifications to iOS devices. Device tokens are sent to Apple's servers.
Resend / email providers: Used solely to deliver transactional notifications you have requested.
Legal requirement: We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of others.

6. Data Retention

Warden reports: Active for up to 2 hours; expired/resolved reports are retained for 180 days then deleted
Identity documents: Automatically deleted after 180 days of upload
Account data: Retained while your account is active, or until you request deletion
Alert history: Retained for 12 months
Location data in reports: Retained for the lifetime of the report then deleted

7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights, which you can exercise by contacting privacy@trafficwardenalert.uk:

Right of Access

Request a copy of your personal data (Subject Access Request)

Right to Rectification

Correct inaccurate or incomplete data

Right to Erasure

Request deletion of your data ('right to be forgotten')

Right to Restriction

Restrict how we process your data in certain circumstances

Right to Portability

Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format

Right to Object

Object to processing based on legitimate interests

Right to Withdraw Consent

Withdraw consent at any time (e.g. for location data or notifications)

We will respond to requests within one calendar month as required by UK GDPR.

8. Cookies & Local Storage

We use the following:

Essential (always active)

Authentication session token
GDPR consent preference
Offline queue for pending reports

Functional (with consent)

Cached alert data for offline access
Scroll position memory for navigation

We do not use tracking, advertising, or third-party analytics cookies.

9. Security

We implement the following security measures:

All data transmitted over HTTPS/TLS encryption
Identity documents stored in private, encrypted storage
Role-based access controls for administrative data
Automatic expiry and deletion of sensitive data

In the event of a personal data breach that poses a risk to your rights, we will notify you and the ICO within 72 hours as required by UK GDPR.

10. Children's Privacy

TrafficWardenAlert UK is not intended for users under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has registered, please contact us immediately at privacy@trafficwardenalert.uk.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or an in-app notice. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects when changes were last made.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Website: ico.org.uk
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

We ask that you contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern.

Privacy Policy