Privacy Policy

1. The data we collect

We collect the following, depending on how you use the Service:

• Account data — your email address and authentication details when you create an account.
• Ticket and appeal data — the photo of your parking ticket and any supporting evidence images you upload, plus details read from or entered about it: PCN number, vehicle registration, issuing authority, location, dates/times, and the contravention.
• Identity and contact data — your name and postal address, used to prepare and submit your appeal.
• Free-text you provide — any background or grounds you choose to add to strengthen your appeal.
• Payment data — payment is handled by Stripe. We receive confirmation and limited metadata (such as amount, currency, and a transaction reference); we do not store your full card number.
• Usage and device data — basic technical information and cookies needed to run the Service, keep you signed in, and attribute referrals.

2. How we use your data

• To read your ticket and prepare an appeal in your name.
• To submit your appeal to the relevant council or parking operator, and to correspond about it.
• To take payment and apply any discount or referral code.
• To provide your account, dashboard, and appeal history.
• To provide customer support.
• To operate, secure, and improve the Service, prevent fraud and abuse, and enforce limits such as discount-code usage.
• To comply with our legal obligations.

3. Our legal bases

• Performance of a contract — to deliver the appeal service you ask for.
• Legitimate interests — to run, secure, and improve the Service, and to prevent fraud, in a way that does not override your rights.
• Consent — where we ask for it, for example for non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — where we must keep or disclose data to comply with the law.

4. Who we share data with

We share personal data only as needed to run the Service, with providers acting under contract on our instructions, including:

• Stripe — to process payments.
• Hosting and database providers (including Supabase and our hosting platform) — to store your account, cases, and uploaded images securely.
• AI providers — to read the text on your ticket and help draft your appeal. We send the relevant ticket image and details for this purpose.
• Email provider — to send and receive appeal and support correspondence.
• Councils and parking operators — we submit your appeal (which contains your details) to the body that issued the ticket. This is the core purpose of the Service.

We may also disclose data if required by law, to protect our rights, or in connection with a business sale or reorganisation. We do not sell your personal data.

5. International transfers

Some of our providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses) to protect your data.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your data for as long as you have an account and your appeals are active, and afterwards only as long as needed for the purposes above — including to handle queries, resolve disputes, and meet legal and accounting requirements. We then delete or anonymise it. To analyse usage and avoid re-processing identical uploads, we may retain a hashed fingerprint of an uploaded image and the analysis derived from it.

7. Security

We use technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit, access controls, and restricting access to those who need it. No system is completely secure, but we work to keep your data safe.

8. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to run the Service — for example to keep you signed in and to attribute a referral when you arrive via a referral link. We do not use them to build advertising profiles.

9. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• access a copy of your personal data;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data erased in certain circumstances;
• restrict or object to certain processing;
• data portability; and
• withdraw consent where we rely on it.

To exercise any of these, email support@appealgo.com. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we'd appreciate the chance to help first.

10. Children

The Service is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect data from children.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the date at the top of this page when we do.

12. Contact

For any privacy question or request, email support@appealgo.com.