Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

ParkingFineHelp is a parking fine appeal letter generation service. For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we are the data controller. ICO registration number: pending.

2. What data we collect

When you use our service, we may collect:

• Fine details: Type of fine, issuing authority or operator, contravention code, date, location, and amount
• Vehicle registration number
• Your description of circumstances and selected grounds for appeal
• Payment information: Processed by Stripe. We do not see or store your full card number.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, and device information collected automatically for security and analytics purposes

We do not collect your name, address, or any other personal identification unless you voluntarily include it in your description of circumstances.

3. How we use your data

We use your data to:

• Generate your personalised appeal letter
• Process your payment
• Improve our service (using anonymised, aggregated data only)
• Comply with legal obligations

Our legal basis for processing is: (a) performance of a contract (generating your letter after payment), (b) legitimate interests (improving our service), and (c) legal obligation where applicable.

4. Third parties

We share data with the following third parties:

• Stripe: Payment processing. Subject to Stripe's Privacy Policy.
• Google (Gemini AI): Letter generation. Your fine details and circumstances are sent to Google's API to generate the letter. Subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
• Neon (database): We store anonymised appeal records for analytics. No personal data is stored beyond what is necessary for service delivery.
• Vercel: Hosting provider. Subject to Vercel's Privacy Policy.

We do not sell your data to any third party.

5. Data retention

We retain anonymised appeal records (fine type, operator, grounds used) for up to 12 months for analytics purposes. Vehicle registration numbers are not stored beyond the generation of your letter. Payment records are retained as required by law (typically 6 years for tax purposes) by Stripe.

6. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Rectify inaccurate personal data
• Request erasure of your personal data
• Restrict processing of your personal data
• Data portability
• Object to processing

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@parkingfinehelp.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required for the service to function (such as session cookies for the payment flow). We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies.

8. Security

We use HTTPS encryption for all data in transit. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe and never touches our servers. Our database connections use SSL. We follow industry-standard security practices to protect your data.

9. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

10. Contact

For any privacy-related questions, contact us at privacy@parkingfinehelp.co.uk.