Privacy policy: how MCH uses your personal data

01Who we are and how to contact us

Chauffeur Service Network Ltd, trading as Manchester Chauffeur Hire (MCH), is the data controller responsible for your personal data. Our company number is 17469733, and our registered office is 651 Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 7SA.

If you have questions about this policy, your personal data or your rights, you can therefore contact us using the details below.

02What personal data we collect

We may collect and use the following kinds of personal data:

• Contact information, such as your name, email address, phone number and postal address where relevant
• Booking details, such as collection dates, times and addresses, destinations, itinerary details, passenger information and service requirements
• Payment information, such as billing details and payment method details, although we do not store full card details ourselves where a secure third-party provider processes them
• Technical data, such as your IP address, browser type, device information and website usage data collected through cookies and analytics tools
• Communication data, such as enquiries, messages, quote requests, service notes and other correspondence
• Operating data, such as chauffeur allocation notes, vehicle details and service support records where they help us deliver a booking

03How we collect it

We collect personal data directly from you when you fill in a website form, ask for a quote, make a booking, contact us by phone, email or WhatsApp, or otherwise communicate with us.

Cookies, analytics tools and similar technologies also collect some information automatically when you use our website.

In addition, third parties can pass us information where it is reasonably needed to arrange or support your service. Examples are payment processors, bookers acting for passengers, and operating partners involved in delivering the booking.

04Why we use it, and our legal basis

We use personal data to give quotes, accept and manage bookings, allocate chauffeurs and vehicles, send service updates, take payments and deliver chauffeur services. The main legal basis is that the processing is necessary for a contract.

We may use personal data to answer enquiries, keep customer records, prevent misuse, improve our website, monitor service quality and protect our business. The main legal basis is our legitimate interests.

We may keep and use personal data where needed to meet accounting, tax, fraud prevention, regulatory, insurance or legal duties. The legal basis is a legal obligation.

Where the law requires consent, including for some marketing and optional communication preferences, we rely on consent. You can withdraw it at any time, although that does not affect processing carried out before you withdrew it.

Service messages, such as booking confirmations, chauffeur updates, arrival alerts and operating messages, may still be sent where reasonably needed to run a requested or booked service.

05Who we share it with

Service providers who help us run our business may receive personal data, including payment processors, website and hosting providers, IT support providers, communication platforms, customer record tools and other operating systems.

We may share the relevant booking details with subcontractors and service providers only where reasonably needed to deliver your service, including chauffeur partners, dispatch operators, payment processors, communication providers and the technology platforms that support us.

Personal data may also be disclosed where the law, a court order or a regulator requires it, or where it is reasonably needed to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

No part of your personal data is sold or rented to anyone.

06How long we keep it

We keep personal data only as long as reasonably needed for the purposes in this policy, including legal, tax, accounting, insurance, dispute and operating needs.

For example, typical periods are:

• Booking and payment records: up to 6 years where tax, legal, accounting or business records require it
• Enquiry and communication records: usually up to 12 months after the matter is resolved, unless a longer period is reasonably needed
• Technical and analytics data: according to the settings and retention periods of the tools involved

We may keep data for longer where reasonably needed for complaints, insurance matters, fraud prevention, legal claims or regulatory duties.

07Your rights

Subject to the law, you may have these rights under the UK GDPR. For example, you can ask for:

• Access to a copy of your personal data
• Correction of data that is inaccurate or incomplete
• Erasure of data in certain circumstances
• Restriction of processing in certain circumstances
• Objection to certain kinds of processing
• Portability of your data where that applies
• Withdrawal of consent where we rely on it

To use any of these rights, please contact us using the details in this policy. After that, we will reply in line with the law, normally within one month, subject to any extension the law allows.

08Transfers outside the UK

Where personal data is sent outside the United Kingdom, we take reasonable steps to make sure suitable safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses or another lawful mechanism recognised under data protection law.

In addition, some of our service providers, software platforms and communication tools may store or process data outside the UK or the EEA as part of how they normally work.

09Automated decisions

We do not normally use fully automated decision-making or profiling in a way that has legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

10Cookies and tracking

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support how it works, measure how it performs, improve the experience and understand how visitors use it.

You can manage or switch off cookies in your browser settings. However, some parts of the website may then not work as intended.

Where the law requires it, cookie choices should be made through the cookie banner or consent tool shown on the website.

11How we keep data safe

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include access controls, password protection, system security controls, role-based permissions and the careful use of secure third-party platforms.

No online transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Even so, we take data protection seriously and apply safeguards that suit the nature of our operations.

12Service communications

We may use the contact details given with a quote or booking to send service messages by phone, email, SMS or WhatsApp where reasonably needed to run the booked service. These can include booking confirmations, collection instructions, chauffeur and vehicle details, arrival updates and changes to the plan.

Clients who book for someone else are responsible for making sure the passenger’s contact details are accurate and that they are allowed to share them for service messages.

Marketing messages are separate from service messages and are sent only where the law allows. Where a third party handles personal data for us, it does so only as far as is reasonably needed to provide the service or support the booking.

13Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, guidance, technology, our business or how we handle data.

The latest version is published on this page with its updated date. Our terms and conditions apply alongside it.

14Complaints

If you have concerns about how we use your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to put things right.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.