1. Introduction and Data Controller
This Privacy Policy explains how Getcovery Ltd ("Getcovery", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects your personal data when you use our vehicle recovery and transport platform, including our website at getcovery.com, our mobile applications, and any related services (collectively, the "Platform").
We are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Data Controller:
Getcovery Ltd
Company Number: 14122714
Registered Address: Unit 5, 399-405 Oxford Street, Office 195, London W1C 2BU
Email: privacy@getcovery.com
Data Protection Contact: dpo@getcovery.com
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at the addresses above.
2. Personal Data We Collect
We collect different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with our Platform. We only collect data that is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.
2.1 Data You Provide Directly
| Category | Data Elements | When Collected |
|---|---|---|
| Identity Data | Full name | Registration, booking, partner application |
| Contact Data | Email address, telephone number | Registration, booking, partner application, business inquiry |
| Partner Waitlist Data | Email address and submission date | When you submit Apply to join |
| Address Data | Pickup and dropoff addresses, company address; addresses you save to My Addresses in the Customer app, with a label of your choice | Booking creation, business registration, saving an address for later bookings |
| Vehicle Data | Vehicle registration number (VRM), make, model, year, body type, gearbox type, vehicle condition | Booking creation (VRM lookup is optional); vehicles you save to My Vehicles in the Customer app, kept until you remove them; delivery links you create |
| Visual Data | Vehicle condition photographs; photos you send in booking chat; images and PDF files you attach to support requests | During booking (optional pre-collection, mandatory at pickup and delivery), in-app chat, support requests |
| Account Data | Email address, password (never stored in readable form) | Account registration |
| Payment Data | Payment method selection. Card details are collected and processed directly by our payment processor and never reach our systems. | Booking payment |
| Business Data | Company name, Companies House number, VAT number, fleet size, vehicle types, coverage area, insurance details | Partner application, B2B customer registration |
| Communication Data | Chat messages, photos and a location you choose to share in chat, reports of a chat message, read times, booking notes, location notes | In-app chat between customer and driver, booking creation |
| Feedback Data | Star rating (1-5), review tags, tip amount | Post-delivery rating |
| Support Data | Request category, subject, message text and replies, the booking it concerns, the app and app version you wrote from, and any images or PDF files you attach, with their file name, type and size | When you contact support from the website or the mobile apps |
| Delivery Link Data | Seller's email address, vehicle registration number, pickup address and time window, collection contact name and telephone number, collection instructions, vehicle condition | When you create or respond to a delivery link |
| Driver Verification Data (drivers) | Name, email address, telephone number, date of birth, driving licence number, category and expiry date, profile photo, verification documents such as your driving licence, and the outcome of the DVLA licence check described in Section 2.3 | Entered by your partner company's administrator when your driver account is created and verified; you add or replace your profile photo in the Driver app |
| Driver Work Data (drivers) | Name of the person who received a vehicle at handover, job notes and cancellation or failure reasons, photos and captions of your recovery vehicle and equipment, saved job searches, notification settings including your promotional offers choice | During assigned jobs and in the Driver app settings |
2.2 Data We Collect Automatically
| Category | Data Elements | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Location Data (Drivers) | GPS coordinates while Online and during assigned jobs; saved pickup areas, radii, destinations and search routes | Nearby job matching, route searches, navigation, live tracking and safety |
| Location Data (Customers) | Pickup and dropoff coordinates; with your permission, your device location while you use the Customer app or our website, and the position you send when you choose Share location in chat | Route calculation and service delivery; showing your position on the map and finding your pickup address; letting your driver find you when you share your location in chat |
| Device Data | IP address, browser type, operating system; in the mobile apps also the push notification token and, in the Customer app, the platform, the app version, an identifier for your device or its software build, and when the app was last active | Security, request limiting, fraud prevention; delivering push notifications to the right device and removing registrations that are no longer used |
| App Diagnostic Data (mobile apps) | Crash reports: the type of error and where in the app it happened, app version, device model, operating system version, free memory and storage, whether the device is rooted or jailbroken, and random identifiers created for the app installation. While crash reporting is on, the app also checks the crash reporting service's settings when it starts (if the saved settings have expired) and tells the service when a new app session starts (the session's start time and number, the installation identifiers, device model, operating system and app version), so we can measure how often the app runs without crashing. We do not add your name, contact details, address, location or booking details. As with any internet connection, the service also receives your device's IP address. | Finding and fixing faults in our apps and measuring how often they run without crashing |
| Provider library data (mobile apps) | The map, payment, push notification and crash reporting libraries built into our apps send their providers technical data when you use those features: an identifier for the app installation, device model, operating system and app version, your IP address, crash and performance data, and how you use the library's own screens, for example map panning or the payment sheet. Section 5.2 lists what each provider receives. | Operating those providers' services, security and fraud prevention, and the providers' own service improvement. None of it is used for advertising. |
| Service Activity Data | The steps of a booking request and their outcome (operation, provider used, timing, errors), when you read a notification or chat message, and for drivers which job offers were shown and how they were answered | Support, diagnostics and running the service |
| Session Data | Sign-in session details (in secure cookies) | Maintaining your logged-in session |
2.3 Data We Receive from Third Parties
| Source | Data | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Your Google or Apple account (if you choose to sign in with it) | Account identifier, email address and its verification status, and name and profile picture when provided by that account | Signing you in to your account, connecting it to your existing Getcovery account where eligible, and pre-filling missing registration details. Signing in this way does not give us the password for that account or access to your emails, contacts or files held there. |
| DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service | Vehicle make, colour, fuel type, date of first registration, tax and MOT status | Auto-populating vehicle details during booking to reduce manual entry |
| MOT History API | Vehicle model, MOT history | Enriching vehicle data for accurate service matching |
| Vehicle data provider | Vehicle make, model, year, colour, fuel type, body type, gearbox, dimensions and weight for the registration number you enter | Auto-populating vehicle details and choosing the right size of recovery vehicle. Used first; the DVLA and MOT services above are the fallback when it has no record. |
| DVLA driving licence check (drivers; GOV.UK "Check someone's driving licence information") | Whether your licence is valid, its category, your towing entitlement, and two yes/no answers: whether the record shows penalty points and whether it shows a disqualification. No number of points, offence codes or dates are recorded. | Driver verification before you can take work. A Getcovery platform administrator runs the check with a one-time code that you generate on GOV.UK and share through your company; the code is deleted as soon as the outcome is recorded and in any case within 21 days. The penalty-point and disqualification answers are visible only to Getcovery platform administrators; your company sees the outcome only. |
| Map and route service | Map positions for addresses, route distances, estimated journey times | Route calculation and pricing |
| Payment processor | Payment confirmation, card brand and last 4 digits (for display purposes only) | Payment processing confirmation and receipt generation |
2.4 Data We Do NOT Collect
- We do not store payment card numbers, CVVs, or full card details. All payment processing is handled directly by our payment processor.
- We do not use any analytics tracking cookies or advertising cookies, and our mobile apps contain no advertising or tracking libraries.
- We do not collect biometric data.
- We do not process special category data (health, religion, political opinions, etc.) unless you voluntarily provide it in free-text fields such as booking notes.
3. Lawful Basis for Processing
Under UK GDPR Article 6, we process your personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis. The table below sets out the lawful basis for each processing activity.
| Processing Activity | Lawful Basis | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Creating and fulfilling bookings | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) | Processing is necessary to perform the vehicle recovery or transport service you have requested. |
| Processing payments | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) | Payment processing is integral to delivering our service. |
| Sending booking confirmations, status updates, and receipts | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) | Transactional communications are necessary for service delivery. |
| Location-based job matching while drivers are Online, driver-selected route searches, and tracking during assigned jobs | Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Enables customers to track their vehicle and ensures driver safety. Drivers are informed of tracking in their onboarding. |
| Driver identity, document and driving licence verification | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) and Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Verifying that only licensed, insured drivers collect customers' vehicles is part of the partner agreement and of our audit and legal-claims defence. The penalty-point and disqualification answers from the DVLA check are criminal offence data under Article 10 UK GDPR; we process them under the conditions in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018 recorded in our appropriate policy document, with the safeguards described in Section 2.3. |
| Generating invoices and financial records | Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) | HMRC requires retention of financial records for a minimum of 6 years. |
| Request limiting and fraud prevention | Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Protecting the Platform and its users from abuse, automated attacks, and fraudulent bookings. |
| Crash reporting in our mobile apps | Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Keeping the apps reliable by detecting and fixing faults and measuring how often they run without crashing. Crash reports and session records are not linked to your account, we do not add names, contact details, locations or booking details to them, and you can turn them off at any time in the app's Settings. |
| Vehicle lookup via our vehicle data provider, DVLA and MOT | Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Reducing manual data entry for customers and ensuring accurate service matching. Registration numbers are kept with the booking record, with any vehicle you save to My Vehicles until you remove it, and for 30 days as a one-way hash in our lookup cache (see Section 6). |
| Handling support requests | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) and Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | Resolving your request is part of providing the service; keeping closed requests for 24 months lets us handle follow-ups and defend legal claims. |
| Provider libraries in our mobile apps | Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) | The map, payment, push notification and crash reporting libraries need technical data to operate, secure and improve those services (Sections 2.2 and 5.2). You can decline notifications and turn crash reports off; maps and card payment cannot work without their libraries. |
| Sending marketing communications | Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) | We will only send promotional messages where you have given explicit opt-in consent via a clear, affirmative opt-in checkbox (not pre-ticked). You may withdraw consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in every marketing email, by turning off Promotional Offers in the Driver app's notification settings, or by contacting us at dpo@getcovery.com. We comply with PECR Regulation 22 for email marketing and Regulation 23 for any future SMS marketing — we will never send unsolicited marketing messages without prior consent. |
| Responding to legal claims or regulatory requests | Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) | Compliance with court orders, regulatory investigations, or statutory obligations. |
4. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- Service Delivery: Creating bookings, matching you with a recovery or transport driver, calculating quotes, processing payments, providing real-time tracking, facilitating in-app communication between you and your driver, and generating receipts.
- Account Management: Creating and maintaining your account, authenticating your identity, managing your booking history, and saving booking drafts so you can resume incomplete bookings.
- Partner Waitlist: Saving your email address and submission date so we can invite you to register when Getcovery opens to partners. Joining the waitlist does not create an account or require a password or documents.
- Safety and Security: Verifying driver credentials, monitoring platform usage for fraudulent or abusive behaviour, limiting repeated requests, and maintaining audit logs for security incidents.
- Communication: Sending booking confirmations, driver assignment notifications, delivery completion notifications, and push notifications related to your bookings via email and in-app notifications.
- Legal Compliance: Maintaining financial records as required by HMRC, responding to data subject access requests, and complying with law enforcement or regulatory obligations.
- Customer Support: Answering your support requests and keeping closed requests, including their attachments, for 24 months so we can handle follow-ups and disputes.
- Platform Improvement: Analysing anonymised and aggregated usage patterns to improve our service, fix technical issues, and develop new features. We do not use your personal data for profiling or automated decision-making that produces legal effects. The provider libraries in our mobile apps send their own technical and usage data to their providers for those providers' service operation, security and improvement (Section 5.2); we do not receive that data as a profile of you.
5. Data Sharing and Third-Party Processors
We share your personal data only where necessary to deliver our service, and only with the categories of recipients described below. We do not sell your personal data to any third party.
5.1 Service Delivery Partners
- Recovery and Transport Drivers: When you create a booking, the assigned driver receives your name (masked to initials until job acceptance for privacy), pickup and dropoff addresses, vehicle details, and contact telephone number (visible only after driver assignment). Drivers are independent operators or employees of partner companies, not Getcovery employees.
- Partner Companies: If you book through a business account, the active administrators and team members of your company's account can view the booking details associated with your company, follow the live location of the assigned driver (see Section 12), and create a public tracking link for the booking. The payment card brand and last four digits shown on a booking are visible only to the person who made the booking. When someone is removed from the company account, their access ends.
- Driver information shown to you (and to drivers: what customers see about you): Once a driver is assigned to a booking, the customer authorised to view that booking sees the driver's full name, the recovery vehicle assigned to that job (type, make and model, and registration plate), and the name of the partner company performing the work. This is necessary to perform the transport contract and to let you safely identify who is collecting your vehicle. During live tracking the driver's surname is shown only as an initial. Drivers' contact details, home address, ratings and location history are never disclosed through the booking details screen. The website and Getcovery Customer app rating screens can also show the assigned driver's profile photo through a temporary link, available only to customers authorised to view that booking. The booking report itself shows the driver's name without a profile photo.
5.2 Technology Service Providers (Data Processors)
We use the following categories of third-party service providers who process data on our behalf under Data Processing Agreements (DPAs). They are listed by category of recipient:
| Recipient category | Purpose | Data Processed | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data hosting and sign-in service | Storing Platform data and account sign-in | All Platform data including user accounts, bookings, vehicle photos, chat messages | United Kingdom (London) |
| Payment processor | Card payments, temporary card holds (authorisation holds) and their capture or release, and payouts to partners and drivers | Your name and email address (for the payment record and receipts), payment amounts, card brand and last 4 digits, booking reference. Your card number and CVV go directly to the payment processor and never enter our systems. In the Customer app, the processor's payment library also sends it device details that card networks and banks use to assess fraud (an identifier created for the app on your device, device model, operating system version, language, country, time zone and screen size) and records how you interact with its payment screens, which the processor uses for fraud prevention and its own product analytics, linked to the payment. The processor does not use this data for advertising. | Outside the UK, including the United States (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Map and route service | Address search and suggestions, finding map positions for addresses, route calculation, distance and arrival-time estimation, map display | Pickup and dropoff addresses, driver-selected search areas and destinations, and GPS coordinates for maps and requested routes. In the mobile apps, the map library also sends the provider an identifier for the app installation, device and app details, your IP address, crash and performance data and map interaction events (panning and zooming), which the provider uses to operate and improve its service. | Outside the UK, including the United States (UK adequacy regulations and Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Email delivery service | Sending service emails | Recipient email address, email content (booking confirmations, verification emails, sign-in and invitation links) | United States (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Mobile and browser notification service | Delivering push notifications to our mobile apps and, when you enable them, browser notifications on our website | Device and browser notification identifiers, notification content (booking status updates, chat message alerts). The notification library in our mobile apps also sends the provider a per-installation identifier and device, operating system and app version details it needs to deliver notifications; the provider declares this data as not linked to your identity. | Outside the UK, including the United States (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| App crash reporting service | Receiving crash reports and session records from our mobile apps so we can find and fix faults and measure how often the apps run without crashing | The crash report and session details listed in Section 2 (we do not add names, contact details, locations or booking details), and your device's IP address, which the service receives when the app connects to it | Outside the UK, including the United States (UK adequacy regulations and Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Request-limiting service | Protecting our services from abuse by limiting repeated requests | IP addresses (kept for seconds to minutes, then automatically deleted) | May be processed outside the UK (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Bot check service | Checking that a person, not an automated program, fills in our account forms (signing in, creating an account, resetting a password, re-sending the verification email, and confirming your current password before you change your password or email), the form for sending a delivery link without an account and the business enquiry form, to protect the service from abuse. Our mobile apps run the same check on a page of our website shown inside the app, also when you ask for a sign-in code by text message | Your IP address and technical details about your browser (in our apps, the app's built-in browser view), collected by the check while it runs on the page, and the one-time check result, which our server sends back with your IP address to confirm the check | May be processed outside the UK (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Website hosting provider | Hosting our website and delivering its pages and images | Technical request details (IP address, browser and device information), including the logo images in our emails (loaded by your email app when you open an email; the image address is the same for every recipient and carries no identifier or tracking) | May be processed outside the UK (Standard Contractual Clauses) |
| Server hosting provider | Running the servers behind our apps and website | Requests from our apps and website while they are handled (not stored by this provider) | United Kingdom (London) |
5.3 Government and Regulatory Bodies
- DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency): We query the DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service to look up vehicle details by registration number, and when verifying drivers we use the official GOV.UK driving licence check with a one-time code the driver generates (Section 2.3). The DVLA is a data controller in its own right.
- HMRC: We retain financial records (invoices, payment amounts) for the statutory period of 6 years as required by UK tax law.
- Law Enforcement: We may disclose personal data if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.
5.4 International Data Transfers
Our main Platform data is stored in London, United Kingdom, ensuring that the majority of your data remains within the UK. However, some of our third-party service providers process data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place:
- UK Adequacy Decisions: Where the UK Government has determined that a country provides an adequate level of data protection.
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs): We use International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, as approved by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
- Supplementary Measures: Where necessary, we implement additional technical measures such as encryption in transit (HTTPS) and access controls to protect your data during transfer.
You may request a copy of the relevant safeguards by contacting us at dpo@getcovery.com.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. The table below sets out our retention periods.
| Data Category | Retention Period | Legal Basis / Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Completed booking records | 6 years from completion | Contract limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980; HMRC financial record requirements |
| Financial records (invoices, payments) | 6 years from transaction | HMRC statutory requirement |
| Driver live location (customer tracking) | Cleared shortly after live sharing ends | Contract — shown only while a job is active. No history of a driver's movements is kept. |
| Planned route line for a booking | 7 days after cancellation / 30 days after completion or delivery | Operational display only. Automatically removed by scheduled cleanup. |
| Public tracking link record | 30 days after the link expires (links expire after 24 hours) | Audit record of issued share links, kept to investigate misuse. Automatically deleted by scheduled cleanup. |
| Booking activity records | 90 days | Legitimate interest (support and diagnostics). Automatically deleted by scheduled cleanup. |
| App crash reports and session records | 90 days for crash reports and their identifiers | Deleted automatically by our crash reporting service, which does not publish a separate period for session records. |
| Photo capture coordinates | 90 days from capture | Data minimisation — location is removed from condition photos while the photos themselves are retained. |
| Vehicle condition photographs | 6 years, for bookings that have been paid | Evidence for dispute resolution, matching the retention of the booking records they belong to. Photos of a booking that is never paid are deleted with it (see unpaid bookings below). |
| Chat messages, shared locations and photos sent in chat, and reports of a chat message | 90 days from when each message was sent | Evidence for dispute resolution. Automatically deleted by scheduled cleanup with associated file attachments. |
| Unpaid bookings (never paid): booking details and photos | 48 hours from creation | Data minimisation — a booking you submitted but never paid for is not needed. It is deleted together with its photos by scheduled cleanup every 15 minutes, unless a payment for it was in progress during the last 48 hours. |
| Saved booking form drafts (a booking form you started but did not submit, saved to your account while signed in) | 7 days from last update | Legitimate interest (user convenience). Automatically deleted by scheduled cleanup every 6 hours. |
| Request-limiting data (IP addresses) | Seconds to minutes | Automatically deleted after seconds to minutes. Never stored permanently. |
| Account data | Until account deletion | You may request deletion at any time. See Section 7 (Your Rights). |
| Partner waitlist email address and submission date | 12 months from the original submission | Partner launch invitation interest. Expired entries are automatically deleted by daily cleanup. Repeated submissions do not extend this period. |
| Partner verification and driver documents | Partnership duration + 6 years | Defence of legal claims and B2B audit. Drivers and partner companies are independent operators, not Getcovery employees. Kept even if the driver deletes their account (Section 13.2). |
| Driver licence check results (DVLA) | Partnership duration + 6 years; the one-time check code is deleted when the outcome is recorded and at most 21 days after it was entered | Driver verification evidence. The code is a single-use secret and is never kept. |
| Support requests, replies and attachments | 24 months after the request is closed (resolved requests close automatically after 14 days) | Defence of legal claims. Deleted together with attached files by scheduled cleanup. If you delete your customer account earlier, your identity is removed from the request but its text and files are kept until this period ends. |
| Saved vehicles and saved addresses (My Vehicles, My Addresses) | Until you remove them or delete your account | Booking convenience. Vehicles saved for a company stay with the company account. |
| Vehicle lookup cache | 30 days from the lookup | Avoids repeat lookups. The registration number is stored only as a one-way hash. |
| Mobile push notification registrations | 90 days after the device was last active, or when you sign out or delete your account; the Driver app also removes it when you turn notifications off | Push delivery. Inactive registrations are deleted by scheduled cleanup. |
When data reaches the end of its retention period, it is either securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer be associated with you.
7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR
You have the following rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions as set out in the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
| Right | Description | How to Exercise |
|---|---|---|
| Right of Access (Article 15) | You have the right to obtain confirmation of whether we process your personal data, and to request a copy of that data. | Email dpo@getcovery.com with the subject line "Data Subject Access Request". |
| Right to Rectification (Article 16) | You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal data, or completion of incomplete data. | Update your details in your account settings, or email dpo@getcovery.com. |
| Right to Erasure (Article 17) | You have the right to request deletion of your personal data where it is no longer necessary, or where you withdraw consent. | Use the "Delete Account" feature in your account settings, use the public account deletion page, or email dpo@getcovery.com. Note: we may retain certain data where we have a legal obligation (e.g., financial records for HMRC). |
| Right to Restrict Processing (Article 18) | You have the right to request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances. | Email dpo@getcovery.com. |
| Right to Data Portability (Article 20) | You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (JSON or CSV). | Email dpo@getcovery.com with the subject line "Data Portability Request". |
| Right to Object (Article 21) | You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interest, including for direct marketing purposes. | Email dpo@getcovery.com, or use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. For crash reports in our mobile apps, turn off "Send crash reports" in the app's Settings. |
| Rights related to Automated Decision-Making (Article 22) | You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. | We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you. Our pricing is algorithmically calculated based on objective factors (distance, vehicle type, and service tier), but this does not constitute a decision with legal or significant effect because: (a) you are shown the price before booking and can choose not to proceed, (b) you may request an auction where multiple drivers offer competing prices, and (c) you can contact our support team to discuss pricing. A human driver always decides whether to accept a job. |
We will respond to all valid requests without undue delay and in any event within one calendar month of receipt. In exceptional circumstances, we may extend this by a further two months, in which case we will inform you of the extension and the reasons for it.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk
9. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Our security measures include:
- Encryption in Transit: All data transmitted between your device and our services is encrypted (HTTPS), including live tracking updates.
- Encryption at Rest: Platform data held by our data hosting and sign-in service is encrypted when stored.
- Access Controls: Each user can only access the data they are authorised to see, and partner companies cannot access each other's data.
- Sign-in Security: Passwords are never stored in readable form; they are protected using industry-standard methods.
- Payment Security: We never store, process, or have access to your full payment card details. All card data is handled directly by our payment processor, which is certified to PCI DSS Level 1 — the highest level of payment security certification.
- Abuse Protection: Our public-facing services limit repeated requests to prevent brute force attacks and abuse.
- Website Protection: Our website uses strict browser security rules to prevent malicious scripts and other injection attacks. Violations of these rules are reported and monitored.
- PII Masking: Customer phone numbers are masked (hidden) from drivers until a job is accepted, preventing misuse of personal contact details.
- Audit Logging: All sensitive operations are logged for security monitoring. Logs are subject to PII sanitisation to prevent accidental exposure of personal data in log files.
- GDPR Automated Cleanup: Scheduled tasks automatically remove expired data (photo capture coordinates after 90 days, chat messages after 90 days, planned route lines after 7 to 30 days, booking drafts after 7 days) in accordance with our retention schedule.
While we take all reasonable steps to protect your data, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. If you become aware of any security vulnerability, please report it to security@getcovery.com.
10. Data Security Breach Notification
In the event of a personal data breach, we will comply with our obligations under UK GDPR Articles 33 and 34.
10.1 Notification to the ICO (Article 33)
Where a personal data breach is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, we will notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. Our notification will include:
- The nature of the breach, including the categories and approximate number of individuals and personal data records affected.
- The name and contact details of our Data Protection Contact (dpo@getcovery.com).
- The likely consequences of the breach.
- The measures taken or proposed to address the breach, including measures to mitigate its possible adverse effects.
10.2 Notification to Affected Individuals (Article 34)
Where a breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you directly without undue delay. Our notification will:
- Describe, in clear and plain language, the nature of the breach.
- Explain the likely consequences and the measures we have taken to address the breach.
- Provide the contact details of our Data Protection Contact for further information.
- Advise you on steps you can take to protect yourself (e.g., changing passwords, monitoring for suspicious activity).
10.3 Breach Reporting
If you believe your personal data has been compromised or you have discovered a security vulnerability on our Platform, please report it immediately to security@getcovery.com. We take all reports seriously and will investigate promptly.
11. Children's Privacy
Our Platform is not intended for use by children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at dpo@getcovery.com and we will take steps to delete such data.
12. GPS Tracking and Location Data
GPS tracking is a core part of our service. This section provides full transparency about how we handle location data.
12.1 Customer Location Data
- We collect your pickup and dropoff addresses when you create a booking. These addresses are sent to our map and route service for route calculation and distance estimation.
- Once your driver is en route (until delivery is complete), you can see their real-time location on an interactive map. Before your driver starts heading to you, you can see who is assigned but not their live position. This location data is transmitted over encrypted connections.
- We do not track your personal device location. With your permission, the Customer app and our website use your device location only while you use them: to show your position on the map, to find your pickup address with the "current location" feature, and — only when you tap Share location in a booking chat — to send your position to your assigned driver as a chat message, which is kept with the chat (Section 6). If you decline location permission, you can still enter addresses and use chat.
12.2 Driver Location Data
- When a driver chooses Online, Getcovery collects their location to match suitable nearby jobs and keep availability up to date, including while waiting for work. Location also supports navigation and live tracking during assigned jobs. With the relevant device permission, this can continue in the background when the app is not in use.
- Location updates are sent over encrypted connections. The update frequency depends on availability and the current stage of the job. Customers only receive the live location of their assigned driver while that driver is en route through delivery completion.
- The driver's live location is cleared shortly after sharing ends, and a live position that stops updating is also removed automatically. We do not keep a continuous history of a driver's movements. Location data tied to a specific job is kept only as long as it is needed: the planned route line for 7 days after a cancelled booking and 30 days after a completed or delivered one, booking activity records for 90 days for support and diagnostics, and the coordinates recorded with condition photos for 90 days, after which they are removed from the photos. All of these are removed automatically by scheduled cleanups.
- Before requesting location permission, the Driver app explains online job matching and background tracking. Drivers can decline the request and manage location access in device settings. Online/Offline controls their availability; location permission is required for location-based job offers and tracking.
- Location and routes support job matching, driver-selected route searches, navigation, customer tracking and safety.
- Drivers can save a pickup area, search radius and optional destination separately for urgent and scheduled offers. These preferences are linked to the driver account and narrow job lists and new-offer alerts. Towns, postcodes and requested routes are resolved using our map and route service; a route search may send the driver's current coordinates and chosen destination to that service. Search settings remain saved until replaced or cleared, and are removed when the driver deletes the account. Map positions and route lines received from that service are removed automatically within 30 days. Drivers can clear the destination or change the search area in the offers screen.
- What customers see about drivers during live tracking: the driver's first name and surname initial, profile photo, average rating, vehicle details (type, make, model, colour and registration plate), photos of the recovery vehicle and its on-board equipment, and — once the driver is en route until delivery is complete — the driver's live location. Before the driver is en route, customers see the same driver and vehicle details without a live location. Drivers' full surname, telephone number, email address and home address are never shown to customers during tracking.
- For a booking made through a business account, "customers" in this section means the person who made the booking and the other active administrators and team members of that company's account. They see the same driver and vehicle details and the same live location, for the same period only, as the person who made the booking. This lets whoever is on site be ready for the handover when the person who booked is not available. When someone is removed from the company account, or the account stops being active, their access to live tracking ends automatically, within about a minute.
- While tracking your driver, you also see their movement and direction of travel, the planned route, the distance remaining and the estimated arrival time.
12.3 Public Tracking Links
Customers may generate a public tracking link to share their booking's live tracking status with third parties (e.g., a friend or family member waiting at the dropoff location). For a booking made through a business account, the person who made the booking or any active administrator or team member of that company's account may generate the link, for example when the person who booked is not available. We record which account generated each link and keep a security log entry each time a link is issued, so that we can investigate misuse. These links:
- Expire after 24 hours. The link record is then deleted automatically 30 days after it expires.
- Stay valid until they expire, even if the person who generated the link is later removed from the company account.
- Show the driver's live location and movement, including their direction of travel, and — before pickup — the planned route, the distance remaining and the estimated arrival time, together with the booking status, the driver's first name and surname initial, profile photo, and vehicle details (type, make, model, colour and registration plate) — a reduced view compared to the customer's own tracking screen, with no driver rating shown.
- Do not display the dropoff address (data minimisation).
- Do not require the recipient to create an account.
- Are accessible via a unique link — no sign-in cookies are set for link recipients.
13. Account Deletion
You can delete your account at any time. The steps depend on the kind of account you hold.
13.1 Customer Accounts
- Customer app: Open your profile or settings screen and select "Delete Account". Your request is handled in the same way as a deletion request made on our website.
- Web: Sign in, open Account, and use the "Delete Account" danger-zone request flow.
- After uninstall: Use getcovery.com/delete-account or email dpo@getcovery.com with the subject line "Getcovery Account Deletion Request".
We accept deletion requests even where active bookings, payments, disputes, or legal retention checks mean hard deletion cannot happen immediately. We will handle requests without undue delay and within one calendar month. When erasure is permitted, we will:
- Permanently delete your user account and sign-in details.
- Delete your profile data (name, email, phone number).
- Delete your booking drafts, saved vehicles, saved addresses and push notification registrations.
- Retain completed booking records and financial records for 6 years as required by law (HMRC statutory obligation). These records will be anonymised where possible.
- Remove your identity from support requests you raised; their text and attachments are kept until 24 months after the request closed (Section 6). Chat messages age out within 90 days of being sent.
- Revoke the sign-in permission you gave us through your Google or Apple account, if you signed in with one.
13.2 Driver Accounts
- Driver app: Open Settings and select "Delete Account". Your account is closed immediately and cannot be reopened: your sign-in, email address and telephone number, push notification registration, notification settings, saved job searches and profile photo are removed, and you are unassigned from your company's vehicles and trade plates (your company's recovery vehicles and their records are not affected). Your name, licence details, verification documents and licence check results stay with your company's records for 6 years after its partnership with us ends, for the defence of legal claims and audit (Section 6).
- Job in progress: The app refuses deletion while a job assigned to you is still in progress. Complete the job or ask your company's administrator to reassign it, then try again.
- What is kept: completed booking records with their job details, photos and proof of delivery, payout and other financial records (HMRC) and the log of verification decisions about you (date, decision, reviewer's reason) stay with your company's records for 6 years after its partnership with us ends; chat messages age out within 90 days of being sent; support requests you raised are kept, with the details you entered, until 24 months after they closed (Section 6).
- Without the app: Use getcovery.com/delete-account or email dpo@getcovery.com from your driver account email address; we will process the request within one calendar month.
Account deletion is irreversible. If you wish to use our Platform again after deletion, you will need to create a new account.
14. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Policy.
- Notify you by email (if you have an account) or by a prominent notice on our website.
- Where required by law, obtain your consent before applying changes that affect how we process your data.
We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.
15. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Getcovery Ltd
Unit 5, 399-405 Oxford Street, Office 195, London W1C 2BU
Email: privacy@getcovery.com
Data Protection Contact: dpo@getcovery.com
Website: getcovery.com
For complaints about our data handling, please contact us first so we have the opportunity to resolve the issue. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
16. Customer Account Auto-Creation
When you complete a booking and pay, we automatically create a Getcovery customer account using the name, email address, and phone number you provide on the checkout page. The account links your booking history, lets you track your driver in real time, and gives you a single place to manage your data.
16.1 Lawful Basis
Our lawful basis for creating this account is UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b) (performance of a contract). The account is necessary to deliver the recovery service you have paid for — it allows us to send you booking updates, give you access to live tracking, store proof-of-delivery photos, and provide a receipt and dispute channel. Because the lawful basis is contract (not consent or legitimate interests), the account creation does not require a separate opt-in.
16.2 Magic Link Sign-In
We do not set a password for your auto-created account. Instead, we email you a one-time magic link after your booking payment is confirmed. Clicking the magic link signs you in to your account so you can view the booking, see your driver's location, and download your receipt. Subsequent sign-ins also use a magic link requested from our login page.
Magic-link emails are sent through our email delivery service (United States). Transfers to this service are covered by the UK Standard Contractual Clauses included in our Data Processing Agreement. Magic links are stored only in a form that cannot be turned back into the link, expire shortly after issue, and are deleted automatically once used. See Section 5.2 for the full list of recipient categories.
16.3 Data We Use to Create the Account
We use only the information you have already provided to make the booking. No additional fields are collected for account creation.
- Full name (used as the display name on your account)
- Email address (used as your account identifier and for the magic link)
- Telephone number (used by your driver during the booking)
If an account already exists at the email address you provide, we do not create a duplicate. Instead we attach the new booking to your existing account and send a confirmation email letting you know.
16.4 Your Rights Over the Auto-Created Account
The full data subject rights described in Section 7 apply to your auto-created account from the moment it is created. In particular:
- Access & rectification: you can sign in via magic link to view and edit your name and phone number, or email support@getcovery.com to request a copy of your data.
- Erasure: you can request deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time through the authenticated Delete Account flow, the public account deletion page, or by emailing support@getcovery.com. We will delete or anonymise your profile, magic links, and sign-in record where erasure is permitted. Completed booking and financial records are retained for 6 years for HMRC compliance as described in Section 6.
- Objection or complaint: if you do not wish to have an account, contact us at the address above and we will process your erasure request and delete or anonymise data where permitted, subject to lawful retention obligations. You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
16.5 How to Remove Your Auto-Created Account
You can request removal of an auto-created account at any time by signing in and selecting "Delete Account", using getcovery.com/delete-account, or emailing support@getcovery.com with the subject line "Getcovery Account Deletion Request". We will handle your request without undue delay and within one calendar month, in line with UK GDPR Article 12.