Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

CarDealerSEOServices.co.uk, which we refer to here as Car Dealer SEO Tools, is a free online tool website. It provides calculators that help car dealers and automotive businesses work through SEO-related numbers. It is not an SEO agency and does not sell services.

This policy explains what information may be involved when you visit the site, why, and what control you have over it. It is written in plain English rather than legal shorthand, because a privacy policy nobody can read is not much use to anyone.

We aim to handle information in line with UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. By using this website you are agreeing to the practices described on this page. If anything here does not sit right with you, please do not use the site, and feel free to email us with the concern.

2. Information We May Collect

This site is deliberately light on data collection. There is no account system, no login, no subscription and no checkout, so there is very little for us to gather in the first place. Broadly, information falls into three categories.

Information you actively give us

Only what you choose to send when you contact us. Nothing on the site requires you to identify yourself in order to use a calculator.

Technical information

Like most websites, our hosting infrastructure may automatically process standard technical details when a page is requested. This can include your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, the page you requested, the page that referred you, and the date and time of the request. This is ordinary web server activity and is used to serve pages, diagnose faults and protect the site from abuse.

Information from cookies and similar technologies

Small files that may be stored by your browser. Section 7 covers this in more detail.

3. Information You Provide

The only route for you to give us personal information is by contacting us. If you email us, or use the contact form to compose an email, you will typically be providing:

• Your name, or whatever name you choose to use
• Your email address, so that we can reply
• A subject line and the reason you selected for contacting us
• The content of your message, plus anything you choose to include in it

Please only include what is needed to explain your question. If you are reporting a calculator problem, the inputs you used and your browser are far more useful to us than any personal detail. We do not need, and would rather not receive, commercially sensitive dealership figures, customer records or financial account information.

4. Calculator Data

This section matters most to people using the tools, so it is worth being precise.

The Car Dealer SEO ROI Calculator, and the other calculators on this site, are built to run entirely in your own browser using JavaScript. When you type a search volume, a click-through rate, a conversion rate, a lead-to-sale rate or an average profit per vehicle, that figure is processed locally on your device. The results appear without the page reloading because no round trip to a server is needed.

In normal use, the values you enter into a calculator are therefore not transmitted to this website and are not stored on our servers. We do not build a record of what you calculated, and we cannot see your inputs. Closing or refreshing the page clears them.

Two sensible caveats apply. First, if you deliberately copy your figures into a message and email them to us, you have sent them to us, and section 6 then applies. Second, if a future tool on this site genuinely requires server-side processing, that will be stated clearly on the tool itself before you use it, and this policy will be updated to match.

5. How We Use Information

Where information is processed, it is used for a limited set of purposes:

• To reply to you. If you contact us, we use your email address and message to answer your question.
• To operate the website. Technical data allows pages to be delivered to your device and helps us investigate errors.
• To keep the site secure. Server logs help identify abusive traffic, attempted attacks and other misuse.
• To improve the tools. Bug reports and feedback directly influence what gets fixed and what gets built next.
• To understand general usage. Where analytics is in use, aggregated patterns show which pages are useful. Section 8 covers this.
• To meet legal obligations. If we are legally required to retain or disclose information, we will comply with that requirement.

Under UK data protection law, our lawful bases for this processing are our legitimate interests in running a functioning, secure and improving website, and your consent where consent is required, such as for non-essential cookies. We do not sell personal information, we do not rent or trade it, and we do not use it to build advertising profiles of individuals.

6. Contact Form Information

The contact form on this site validates what you have typed and then hands the message to your own email application, with the details already filled in. It does not submit your message to a database on this website, and no message is sent until you press send inside your own email client.

Once you send that email, it arrives in the mailbox associated with admin.cardealerseoservices@gmail.com and is held by the email provider that operates that mailbox, subject to their own terms and privacy practices. We read it, reply if a reply is needed, and keep it only as described in section 10.

If a hosted form service is introduced later so that messages can be submitted directly on the site, this section will be updated to name that provider and explain where the data goes.

7. Cookies

Cookies are small text files a website can ask your browser to store. They are commonly used to remember preferences, keep a site working correctly, or measure how a site is used.

Our calculators do not need cookies to function. Where cookies are present on this site, they generally fall into these groups:

• Strictly necessary cookies. Set by the website platform or its security layer so pages load and function properly. These cannot usually be switched off without breaking the site.
• Preference cookies. Used, if applicable, to remember a choice you have made, such as a cookie consent decision.
• Analytics cookies. Used only if an analytics tool is active, to understand aggregated usage patterns. See section 8.

You can control cookies through your browser settings, including blocking them or deleting those already stored. Doing so will not stop the calculators from working, since they do not depend on cookies. Where a consent banner is displayed, your choice there governs any non-essential cookies. Our Cookie Policy sets this out in more detail.

8. Analytics

We may use a web analytics tool to understand how the website is used in aggregate. The purpose is straightforward: to see which pages people find, whether the calculator is being reached, and where the site is confusing or broken.

Where analytics is in use, the information involved is statistical rather than personal in nature. It typically covers page views, approximate location at a country or region level, referring source, device category and broad browsing behaviour. We do not use analytics to identify you by name, and we do not attempt to link analytics data to the figures you enter into a calculator.

Analytics tools may set cookies or use similar identifiers, which is why they are treated as non-essential and governed by your consent choice where a consent mechanism is shown. If you would rather not be measured at all, browser-level controls, tracking protection features and cookie blocking all remain available to you.

We are not naming a specific analytics provider in this policy because doing so would only be accurate if that provider is definitely active. When an analytics provider is in place, it will be named here and in the Cookie Policy.

9. Third-Party Services

A website cannot exist entirely on its own. Certain third parties may be involved in delivering this site to you, and each processes only what it needs for its own function:

• Hosting and infrastructure. Our web host stores the website files and serves pages to visitors, which involves handling standard request data such as IP addresses.
• Content delivery and security. If a content delivery network or security layer is used, it may process request data to speed up delivery and filter malicious traffic.
• Email. The mailbox we use to receive and send messages is operated by an email provider.
• Analytics. If active, as described in section 8.
• Advertising. If advertising is introduced on this site in future, the relevant network and its data practices will be disclosed here before or at the time it goes live.

These providers act under their own privacy policies, and some may process or store data outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens, we expect appropriate safeguards to be in place, such as recognised transfer mechanisms or an adequacy decision. We have no control over how an independent third party operates its own service, and this policy does not cover their practices.

We have deliberately avoided naming providers we have not confirmed. Listing services that are not actually running would make this policy inaccurate, which defeats the point of publishing one.

10. Data Retention

We keep information only for as long as there is a reason to keep it.

• Calculator inputs. Not retained by us at all, because they are not sent to us. They exist in your browser until you close or reload the page.
• Email correspondence. Kept while the conversation is active and for a reasonable period afterwards, in case the same issue resurfaces. Where a message no longer serves a purpose, it is deleted.
• Server logs. Retained for a limited period by our hosting provider for operational, diagnostic and security purposes, then routinely cycled out.
• Analytics data. Where in use, retained according to the retention settings of the analytics tool, typically in aggregated form.

If you would like your email correspondence deleted sooner, just ask and we will remove it, unless we are required to keep it for a legal reason.

11. Data Security

The site is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection, so traffic between your browser and the website is protected in transit. We keep the website platform and its components updated, and we limit the amount of personal information we hold in the first place, which is the most effective security measure available to a site like this one.

Even so, no method of transmitting or storing data online is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and we would rather say so plainly than imply a level of protection nobody can honestly promise. Please bear that in mind before sending anything sensitive by email, here or anywhere else.

12. Your Privacy Rights

If you are in the United Kingdom, data protection law gives you a set of rights over personal information that relates to you. In practice, the only personal information we are likely to hold about you is an email exchange, but the rights apply regardless.

You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where our processing relies on consent, such as non-essential cookies. Withdrawing consent does not affect anything done lawfully beforehand.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at admin.cardealerseoservices@gmail.com. We will respond within the timeframe set by UK law, which is normally one month. We may need to ask a question or two to confirm the request genuinely comes from you, which protects your information rather than obstructs the request.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled a privacy matter, you can raise it with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independent regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first, but that route is always open to you.

13. Children’s Privacy

This website is aimed at car dealers, automotive businesses and marketing professionals. It is not directed at children and holds nothing of interest to them.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

14. External Links

Pages on this site may link to external websites, for example to a search engine’s own documentation or to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Those links are provided for reference and convenience.

Once you follow a link away from this site, you are on someone else’s website, governed by their privacy policy and their terms. We have no control over their content or their data practices and cannot accept responsibility for them. It is always worth glancing at the privacy policy of any site you share information with.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

This policy will be updated when the site changes. Adding analytics, introducing advertising, connecting a hosted contact form or launching a tool that processes data on a server would each require an update here.

When we make a change, the revised version is published on this page and the “Last updated” date at the top is changed. Continuing to use the website after an update means you accept the revised policy. For anything significant, we would rather over-explain the change than quietly slip it in.

16. Contact Us

If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise one of the rights described in section 12, or think something here is unclear or wrong, please get in touch. Email is our only contact channel.

Related pages: Terms of Service, Disclaimer and Cookie Policy.