Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

EVChargeFinder.uk ("we", "us", "our") is an independent UK website providing EV charging station information. Our contact email is privacy@evchargefinder.uk.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect and process the following personal data:

• Contact form submissions: Your name, email address, subject, and message when you contact us via our contact form.
• Location data: If you use the "Use my location" GPS feature, we use your browser-provided coordinates to search for nearby chargers. This is processed locally in your browser — we do not store your GPS coordinates.
• Cookies: We use essential cookies for site functionality and, with your consent, advertising cookies for Google AdSense. See Section 5 for full details.
• Usage analytics: With your consent, we collect anonymised usage data (page views, session duration) via Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site.
• IP addresses: Logged automatically by our web server for security and spam prevention purposes. Retained for 30 days.

3. How We Use Your Data

• Contact form data: to respond to your enquiry and store submissions for our records.
• Location data: to search the Open Charge Map API and display nearby charging stations.
• Cookies and analytics: to improve site performance and serve relevant advertisements.
• IP addresses: to detect and prevent spam and abuse.

4. Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google uses cookies (including DoubleClick cookies) to serve ads based on your browsing history across the web. You can opt out of personalised ads via Google Ad Settings. Google AdSense is only loaded if you have accepted all cookies via our consent banner.

5. Cookies

We use the following categories of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for the site to function. These include your cookie consent preference (ev_cookie_consent) and theme preference (ev-theme). These are set regardless of consent.
• Analytics cookies: Google Analytics (_ga, _gid) — set only with your consent. Help us understand how visitors use our site.
• Advertising cookies: Google AdSense — set only with your consent. Used to serve relevant display advertisements.

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking "Cookie Settings" in the footer, or by clearing your browser cookies.

6. Open Charge Map Data

Station location, connector, and availability data is sourced from Open Charge Map, a community-maintained open database. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of this data. Always verify information before making a journey specifically to charge.

7. Third-Party Links

Our site contains links to Google Maps for directions and to charging network websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party sites.

8. Data Retention

• Contact form submissions: retained for 2 years, then deleted.
• Server logs (IP addresses): retained for 30 days.
• Cookie consent records: retained for 1 year (duration of the consent cookie).

9. Your UK GDPR Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access: request a copy of personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: request correction of inaccurate data.
• Erasure: request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Object: object to processing of your data for direct marketing.
• Data portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent: at any time where processing is based on consent.

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

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

For privacy-related enquiries: privacy@evchargefinder.uk