This website is owned and run by Karl Starnes (“we”, “us”), who is the data controller for the personal information described here. This policy explains what we collect when you use CarpForum.co.uk, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what control you have over it.

If you have any questions about this policy, or want to exercise any of the rights described below, email us at karl@carpforum.co.uk.

Information we collect

When you register an account we collect the details you give us: a username, an email address, a password, and any optional profile information you choose to add, such as your location, your interests or an avatar image.

When you use the forum we store the content you create – topics, posts, private messages, images and videos you upload, and which topics you have read or subscribed to.

Automatically, on every visit we record technical information: your IP address, browser type and version, the pages you request and the time of each request. IP addresses are kept so we can investigate abuse, spam and rule-breaking, and to operate bans where necessary.

How we use it, and our lawful basis

• To run your account and show the forum – necessary to provide the service you have signed up for (contract).
• To send you service emails such as email verification, password resets and notifications you have opted into (contract, and consent where you have chosen to receive optional notifications).
• To keep the site secure and usable – spam prevention, abuse investigation, moderation and banning (legitimate interests).
• To understand how the site is used and to show advertising (consent, where required – see the cookie section below).

Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. We use a small number of our own, and some third parties set their own when their content loads.

Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent. Where consent is required – for advertising and analytics – you will be asked, and you can change your mind at any time using the consent controls on the site or through your browser settings. Blocking cookies in your browser is always available to you, but blocking the strictly necessary ones will stop you being able to sign in.

Until you give consent, advertising and analytics cookies are not set. Our analytics continues to count visits in that state, but it does so without storing or reading anything on your device and without building any record of you across visits. Premium members, who receive no advertising, are measured in this way permanently.

Advertising

This site carries advertising supplied by Google, which is how it is paid for. Google and its partners may use cookies and similar identifiers to select and measure the ads you see, including ads based on your previous visits to this or other websites. You can review and change your Google ad settings at myadcenter.google.com, and opt out of personalised advertising from participating vendors at optout.aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.com.

Premium members do not see advertising. Where you are signed in to a Premium account, no advertising code is sent to your browser at all.

Who we share information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers needed to run the site:

• Google – website analytics and advertising.
• Maileroo – delivery of the emails the site sends you.
• Cloudflare – the anti-bot check on the registration form.
• ip-api.com – looks up the approximate country, region and network operator of an IP address, used for spam and abuse investigation.
• Open-Meteo and OpenStreetMap – weather data and map tiles on the weather pages. These receive the location being looked up, not your identity.

We will also disclose information where we are legally required to do so.

Some of these providers are based outside the UK. Where information is transferred abroad, it is protected by the safeguards required under UK data protection law, such as the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.

Anything you post is public

Topics, posts, your username and your public profile details are visible to anyone visiting the site, and are indexed by search engines. Please do not post anything you would not want seen publicly, including personal contact details. Private messages are not public, but they are stored on our systems and can be seen by administrators where there is a report of abuse or a legal obligation.

How long we keep it

Forum content is kept indefinitely, because removing individual posts would break the discussions they belong to. Account details are kept for as long as your account exists. Technical logs, including IP records, are kept only as long as needed for security and abuse handling.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• have inaccurate information corrected;
• ask us to delete your information, or to restrict how we use it;
• object to processing we carry out on the basis of legitimate interests;
• withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

Email karl@carpforum.co.uk to make a request. Note that a request to delete your account does not automatically remove posts you have already made public, for the reason given above – tell us if you want those anonymised and we will discuss what is possible.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

Children

This site is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has registered, please contact us and we will remove the account.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information. No website can promise perfect security, so please use a strong password that you do not use anywhere else.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last changed.