Privacy policy

Sole trader, trading as CarKeys Near Me, operates this website and the booking line 07576 937247. Our registered address is Basildon, Essex, United Kingdom.

CarKeys Near Me takes your call, confirms the work and the price, and the job is then carried out by an independent insured and DBS checked auto locksmith from our Essex network under our standards. We remain your single point of contact throughout. That means your details are shared with the assigned locksmith so they can reach you and complete the job.

• Contact details: your name, mobile number and, if you email us, your email address.
• Job details: vehicle make, model, year, the problem you describe and your location or a location pin you send us.
• Ownership documents you choose to send, such as a photo of your V5C logbook or photo ID, used only to confirm you are entitled to have the vehicle opened or keyed.
• Call and message records, including WhatsApp conversations, kept as a record of what was quoted and agreed.
• Technical data from this website: IP address, device and browser type, pages viewed and the advertisement or search that brought you here.

We do not ask for card numbers or bank details on this website. Payment is taken by the attending locksmith at the vehicle.

• To answer your enquiry, quote the work and dispatch a locksmith. This is necessary to perform the service you requested.
• To verify vehicle ownership before opening or keying a vehicle. This protects vehicle owners and is a legitimate interest, and in some cases a legal requirement.
• To handle warranty claims, disputes and complaints, and to keep records of what was agreed.
• To measure how our advertising and website perform, using aggregated statistics.
• To send you service updates about a job you have booked. We do not add you to marketing lists without your consent.

We share the minimum needed with the independent locksmith assigned to your job: your name, mobile number, location and vehicle details, plus any ownership document you provided. Each locksmith in our network is contractually required to use those details only for your job and to keep them secure.

• The assigned independent auto locksmith and, where relevant, their technician attending your vehicle.
• Communication providers used to reach you, including our telephony provider and WhatsApp, operated by Meta.
• Website, hosting and analytics providers that process technical data on our behalf.
• Insurers, legal advisers, auditors or authorities where we are required to disclose information, or where it is needed to establish or defend a legal claim.

We do not sell your personal data and we do not pass your details to unrelated companies for their own marketing.

Some of our providers, including messaging, hosting and analytics services, may process data outside the UK. Where that happens we rely on providers that offer an adequate level of protection, such as UK adequacy regulations or the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement, and contractual safeguards covering the transfer.

• Enquiries that do not become jobs: up to 12 months, so we can pick up the conversation if you call back.
• Completed jobs, quotes and warranty records: up to 5 years, to support warranty, tax and dispute obligations.
• Ownership documents such as V5C logbook or ID photos: deleted within 90 days of the job unless a dispute is open.
• Website analytics: held in aggregated form and not used to identify you.

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 you can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict how we use it, or object to a particular use. You can also withdraw consent where we relied on it.

Email privacy@carkeysnearme.co.uk or call 07576 937247. We respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, the UK supervisory authority for data protection.

Cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to load, stay secure and remember your privacy choice are always active. We do not need your consent for those.

Everything else is set only after you give consent through the banner on your first visit. Until you choose, no measurement or advertising cookie is written and no data is sent to Google. If you refuse, nothing is loaded at all.

• Measurement: Google Analytics 4, used to see which pages, areas and vehicle brands lead to calls. IP addresses are anonymised, advertising identifiers are switched off unless you also consent to advertising, and we never place your name, phone number, plate or vehicle details into an analytics event.
• Advertising: Google Ads conversion measurement and remarketing, used to see which campaign produced an enquiry. Optional and separate from measurement, so you can accept one and refuse the other.
• Consent signals: we operate Google Consent Mode so both platforms default to denied and only receive permission after your choice.

We record the date and version of your consent so we can evidence it, and we ask again at least every twelve months or whenever this policy materially changes. You can change or withdraw consent at any time using the cookie preferences link in the footer, which also clears the Google cookies from this browser. Withdrawing consent has no effect on the service you receive, and you can still call or WhatsApp us as normal.

Access to enquiry records is limited to staff and assigned locksmiths who need it. Data is held on access-controlled systems, and documents you send are deleted on the schedule set out above. No system is perfect, so please send ownership documents only when we ask for them.

Our service is for vehicle owners and authorised drivers. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

We update this policy when our practices change and the date at the top shows the current version. Questions or requests: privacy@carkeysnearme.co.uk, or write to Sole trader, Basildon, Essex, United Kingdom.