Privacy policy

Who we are

Carplorer is run by Baris Yazici, 227D Turners Hill, Cheshunt, EN8 9DG, United Kingdom. Baris is the data controller for the information described here, registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number ZC286376. If you have a question about your information, email hello@carplorer.com.

The Carplorer browser extension

What it reads

The extension works on car ads that you open on AutoTrader, eBay, Gumtree, Cazoo and Facebook Marketplace. It reads the details shown on that ad, such as the car's make, model, price, mileage and insurance group. On eBay and Gumtree it only reads car ads. On Facebook it only reads Marketplace vehicle ads: it doesn't read your feed, messages, profile, friends or anything else. It doesn't read any other websites. Of what it reads, it sends us only the car's number plate and, when needed, the addresses of a few of the ad's photos (see “What it sends to Carplorer” below).

What it keeps in your browser

These are stored on your own computer, in your browser's extension storage. They stay there, except your saved cars, which are also copied to your Carplorer account if you sign in.

• Your settings: the age range, years of driving and postcode area you choose, if you fill them in.
• The number plate for each ad, whether you typed it or Carplorer found it in the ad, so it's still there when you go back.
• Notes on up to 30 cars you've looked at (title, year, price, mileage, insurance group, any write-off category, faults and fixes the seller mentions in the ad, the ad's link, and Carplorer's score and repair estimate if you checked it), so Carplorer can tell you if a car is a good deal and compare insurance groups. You can clear them at any time from the panel.

• The cars you save (up to 50), with what Carplorer found about each one, so you can compare them later.
• Your car finder answers (without your postcode), if you used the car finder, to show how each ad fits them.
• If you sign in: your email address and a sign-in code, so the extension can sync your saved cars.

Removing the extension deletes all of it from your computer.

Saved cars on carplorer.com

The Saved cars page on our website asks the extension on your computer for your saved cars and shows them. Only pages on carplorer.com can ask. If you're signed in, the page can also show the saved cars in your account, for example on your phone. If you use “Share this list”, the cars are written into the link itself, so anyone you send the link to can see them. Cars you save in the car finder are kept in your browser, and in your account if you're signed in.

What it sends to Carplorer

When you open a car ad, the extension looks for the car's number plate in the ad itself: in the site's own details or in the seller's description. If it finds one, it checks the car straight away; otherwise it checks the plate you type.

If the ad doesn't show the plate in writing, the extension sends Carplorer the web addresses of up to three of the ad's own photos (usually the front and back of the car). Our server fetches those photos from the car site and asks Anthropic's AI (Claude) to read the number plate on them. Anthropic receives only the photos, never anything about you, and under its commercial terms doesn't use them to train its AI. We keep the plate read from each set of photos for up to 30 days, so the same car isn't read twice, and it isn't linked to you.

To check a car, the extension sends its number plate to Carplorer's server. The server looks up the car's MOT history from DVSA (the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) and sends it back. We keep a copy of a car's MOT history for up to a day so we don't look up the same car twice. We don't receive your settings or the list of cars you've looked at, and we don't link number plates to you, even when you're signed in. The one exception is a report you choose to buy (see “Paid reports” below).

The free MOT check on our website works the same way, with the number plate you type. The plate goes in the page's address, so you can share the result, and it isn't linked to you.

Each MOT check and each plate read adds one to a daily total, so we know how much Carplorer is used. The totals don't include the plate or anything about you. To stop our service being misused, we also count how many checks and sign-in attempts come from each internet address. Addresses are stored only in scrambled form, and the counts are deleted within a day.

Carplorer accounts (optional)

You can use all of Carplorer without an account. If you sign in, we keep:

• Your email address. If you sign in with Google, Google tells us your email address and an ID number for your Google account. We don't keep your name or photo.
• The cars you save, with the same details the extension keeps about them.
• Your car finder answers and the models you saved from it. Your postcode is never sent to us.
• Your sign-ins, stored as scrambled codes, so you stay signed in on each device.
• Reports you buy (see below).

We use these only to show your saved cars and answers on your devices. We keep them until you delete your account. Sign-in links stop working after 20 minutes and sign-ins end after 180 days. You can delete your account and everything in it at any time from the account page.

Your account is stored with our hosting provider, Cloudflare. Sign-in emails are sent for us by Resend, which only receives your email address and the link.

Paid reports

If you buy a full history check or an AI review, we keep it in your account so you can open it again, until you delete your account. With it we keep the car's number plate, the details of its ad that you or the extension sent (with any phone numbers, email addresses and links taken out of the seller's description), the date, the price and a payment reference. We need these to make your report and to give it to you, so the legal basis is our contract with you.

To make your report we share only what's needed:

• Stripe takes your payment on its own page. It receives your card details (we never do) and your email address, for the receipt. Stripe keeps records of payments as the law requires; see Stripe's privacy policy.
• One Auto API and Experian receive the car's number plate, to run the full history check. For an AI review, One Auto API receives the plate, the car's mileage and its insurance group, to look up its tax, a valuation (from UK Vehicle Data) and typical insurance costs. They don't receive anything about you.
• Anthropic, which makes the AI (Claude) that writes AI reviews, receives the car's MOT history, its ad details and, if you've used our car finder or chosen your age for insurance, a few of your answers (such as your age group, driving experience and how far you drive). If you've also bought the car's full history check, it receives that check's findings too (without any phone numbers or agreement numbers). It never receives your name, email address or postcode. Under its commercial terms, Anthropic doesn't use this to train its AI.

We email you when your report is ready (through Resend, which also sends our sign-in emails), so you don't have to wait on the page.

The full history check shows records about the car, such as finance agreements and insurance claims. It doesn't show the names or addresses of past keepers, and we leave out agreement and claim numbers.

Insurance partners

If you click "Compare insurance quotes", you go to one of our partners' websites. We don't send them your details: you fill in what they ask for on their site, and their own privacy policy applies. They may use a cookie to tell that you came from Carplorer, so that they can pay us a commission if you buy a policy.

This website

carplorer.com has no advertising trackers and no outside analytics services. To see how Carplorer is doing, we count, each day, how many pages are viewed, which pages, and which site visitors arrive from (just its name, such as google.com). These are daily totals only: no IP address, cookie or anything else that could identify you is kept with them, and nothing is stored on your device for this. The site only sets cookies when you sign in: one keeps you signed in, and one tells our pages to show “Account” instead of “Sign in”. Both are needed for signing in to work, so we don't ask before setting them. Like any website, our hosting provider keeps basic technical logs (such as IP addresses) to keep the site running and secure. The fonts on this site load from Google Fonts, and the “Sign in with Google” button loads from Google, so Google can see your IP address when you visit.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask what information we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. If you have an account, you can delete it yourself from the account page. Otherwise, or for anything else, email hello@carplorer.com and we'll help. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes

If we change how Carplorer uses information, we'll update this page and the date at the top.