Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

To provide our specialized automotive consulting services, we collect the following types of information:

• Personal Information: When you book a session or purchase a report, we collect your name, email address, and phone number (explicitly required to conduct our live video/audio consultations).
• Payment Data: All payments are processed securely off-site by our third-party payment processors (Stripe and Wise). TradeGuided does not view, capture, or store your credit card or financial account details on our servers.
• Vehicle Data: We collect vehicle registration marks (VRM), vehicle identification numbers (VIN), makes, models, and images or videos submitted by you to process our forensic background checks and live coaching sessions.

2. Lawful Basis for Processing Data

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal grounds to process your information:

• Performance of a Contract: We must process your personal information and phone number to fulfill our agreement to deliver your reports and connect you with a consultant.
• Legitimate Interests: We process vehicle data to analyze automotive trends, improve our diagnostic databases, and protect our platform from fraudulent bookings.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data solely to operate TradeGuided effectively.

• To deliver the vehicle history reports you purchase and facilitate live video/audio streams.
• To internalize diagnostics data to improve our service offerings.
• We strictly guarantee that we never sell your personal data, contact information, or vehicle lookup history to third-party marketing companies.

4. Third-Party Data Sharing

To deliver our core services, we must share highly specific data fragments only with trusted infrastructure providers:

• Automotive Database Partners: To pull accurate vehicle check, salvage, finance, and mileage history data.
• Communications Platforms: WhatsApp (Meta) to host and secure our Level 3 and Level 4 live consultation calls.
• Financial Gateways: Stripe and Wise to securely authorize transactions, prevent digital fraud, and process refunds.

5. Data Retention & Security

• Retention: We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, typically up to 6 years following a transaction to comply with UK statutory tax laws and legal defense limitations.
• Security: We utilize industry-standard encryption protocols to protect data in transit and at rest. However, no digital transmission over the internet can be guaranteed 100% secure.

6. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies to maintain your active website session, remember if you are in the middle of generating a report, and track general user analytics on our landing pages. You can choose to disable cookies via your individual browser settings, though doing so may restrict certain functionalities of our checkout pipeline.

7. Third-Party Links & Affiliates

Our website features links to external, trusted industry partners (including third-party diagnostic hardware sellers, warranty providers, and finance brokers). Once you click these links and leave TradeGuided, you are subject to the privacy policies of those independent providers. We accept no liability for how they govern your data.

8. Your Legal Rights (UK GDPR)

You possess explicit legal rights regarding your personal data held by TradeGuided, including:

• The right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• The right to request correction of inaccurate data.
• The right to request erasure of your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to statutory tax record requirements.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through our official support channels. If you believe we have mishandled your data, you retain the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.