Privacy notice
DRAFT FOR REVIEW. This is a drafting aid and is not legal advice. It must be checked against Forge Global Ltd's actual processing, its records of processing, its legitimate interests assessment and its data protection impact assessment, and approved by a qualified data protection adviser before publication.
Last updated: 3 November 2026
Who we are
Car Owners Check is a trading name of Forge Global Ltd, company number 06759854, registered office 18 Phipp St, London, England, EC2A 4NU ("we", "us"). We are the data controller for the personal data described in this notice. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration number ZB164302. Contact for data protection matters: [email protected].
This notice covers two groups of people
- Requesters: people who ask us to carry out a trace.
- Traced individuals: people whose details we obtain in order to carry out a trace, who have not contacted us and may not know about the request.
Requesters: what we collect and why
| Information | Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Email address, first name, last name | To reply to your request, verify who you are and keep a record | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) in operating and protecting our service. |
| Registration number and reason for the search, and any evidence you provide | To decide whether there is a lawful purpose, and to carry out and record the trace | Legitimate interests. |
| Payment details | To take payment | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) |
| IP address and browser/user agent, collected automatically when you visit this website or send the request form | For security, fraud prevention, analytics and approximate location | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) in keeping the service secure, preventing fraud and misuse, and understanding how the website is used |
| Records of decisions, including declined requests | To show that each decision was justified, to prevent misuse and to deal with complaints or legal claims | Legitimate interests; legal claims. |
We may share your details with our payment provider, our CRM provider (the system in which we manage requests), our professional advisers and, where required by law or to prevent crime, the police or a regulator.
Website visitors: IP address and browser
When you visit this website or send the request form, we collect your IP address and browser/user agent for security, fraud prevention, analytics and approximate location, and share them with our CRM provider. We record these details on our servers when the page loads, when you click a main button and when you start and send the form, together with a random session identifier that is not stored in a cookie. We do not use them to make decisions about you, and we do not sell them. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): keeping the service secure, preventing fraud and misuse of a sensitive service, and understanding how the website is used. You can object at any time using the contact address below.
Traced individuals: what we process
When a request is accepted, we process information that identifies the registered keeper of a vehicle, for example name, address and vehicle details, together with the date and the reason for the request.
- Why: to enable the requester to pursue a lawful purpose, such as a claim for damage, dealing with an abandoned vehicle, legal proceedings or recovering a documented debt.
- Lawful basis: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)). We rely on a documented legitimate interests assessment that tests purpose, necessity and balance against the rights of the individual.
- Where we obtain the information: We obtain it from sources appropriate to the case, which may include information held by us and information from third-party data providers. We use only sources that we are entitled to use for this purpose.
- Who receives it: only the verified requester, and their solicitor or insurer where relevant, subject to conditions on use.
- Telling you: where we process your data without having obtained it from you, we will tell you within a month, or when we first contact you or disclose it, unless an exception applies. The exceptions include where informing you would be impossible or involve disproportionate effort, or would be likely to make it impossible or seriously impair the purpose of the processing. We record the exception we rely on in each case.
How long we keep information
- Requests we decline: only as long as we need to show that the decision was justified and to deal with any complaint or legal claim.
- Requests we accept, and the evidence and decision record: only as long as we need to allow review and to deal with claims or complaints, to allow review and to deal with claims or complaints.
- IP address, browser/user agent and approximate location: kept with the related request record for as long as that record is kept (see above). For visits where no request is made, they are kept in our CRM only as long as we need them for security, fraud prevention and analytics.
- Traced individuals' details: only as long as needed for the purpose of the request, and then deleted. If any data was obtained from the DVLA, the DVLA's own conditions on retention and deletion apply.
Your rights
You have rights under the UK GDPR, including to be informed, to access your personal data, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have data erased in some circumstances, to restrict or object to processing, and to complain. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. To exercise a right, write to [email protected]. We will respond within one month.
Concerns about a trace
If you believe your details have been traced without justification, or you are worried that they may be misused, contact us at [email protected]. We will review the record of the request and tell you what we can. If you are in immediate danger, call 999. You may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Security
We limit access to request records and results to the staff who need them, and we send results only to verified requesters.
Changes to this notice
We will publish changes on this page and show the date of the latest update.
Have a lawful reason to identify a registered keeper?
Tell us what has happened and why you need the information. We will reply within 24 hours.
Request a trace