Cookie & Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This website, www.russellautomotive.co.uk, is operated by Russell Automotive, a mobile mechanic service based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, covering the surrounding West Yorkshire area. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), Russell Automotive is the data controller for personal data collected through this site.

You can contact us about this policy or any privacy matter using the details in Section 11.

2. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files (or similar technologies, such as data stored in your browser's local storage) placed on your device when you visit a website. They're used to make sites work, remember your preferences, and — where you allow it — to understand how a site is used or to measure advertising.

Under UK law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, alongside the UK GDPR), we need your permission before we can set any cookie that isn't strictly necessary for the site to function. That's what the cookie banner on this site is for.

3. Cookies and similar technologies we use

The table below sets out the categories of cookie this site uses. Strictly necessary storage is always active. Analytics and advertising cookies are only set if you accept them in the cookie banner.

What we measure

If you accept, we record a small number of actions on this site so we can tell which pages and ads are working: tapping one of our phone numbers, choosing a service on the servicing page, and completing the enquiry or booking form. We only record that the action happened (and, for the form, which service was chosen). Your name, phone number, email address, postcode and vehicle details are never sent to Google — the form goes straight to our own email.

4. Google Analytics, Google Ads, and the Measurement Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms

Because this site runs Google's tag, if you accept analytics/advertising cookies, some personal data about your visit (such as your approximate location, device and browser information, pages viewed, and — where Google Ads conversion tracking is linked — whether an enquiry followed an ad click) is shared with Google.

That sharing is governed by Google's Measurement Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms. In plain terms, this means:

• Google does not simply process this data on our instructions — it acts as an independent data controller in its own right for the data shared with it, and decides for itself, within the limits Google sets, how that shared data is used to maintain and improve its own services.
• We remain the controller — and remain responsible to you — for our own use of the data, and for asking your permission (through the cookie banner on this site) before any such sharing begins.
• Where data is transferred outside the UK or EEA (Google's services are global), that transfer relies on Standard Contractual Clauses and/or Google's certification under the UK extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, as Google's terms set out.
• You can read Google's own explanation of how it uses data from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, and Google's general privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

You are never opted into analytics or advertising cookies by default. If you reject them, or don't respond to the cookie banner, none of the above sharing takes place.

5. Our lawful basis for using cookies and your data

For strictly necessary cookies, our lawful basis is legitimate interests — running the site properly isn't possible without them, and they don't identify you personally.

For analytics and advertising cookies, our lawful basis is your consent, given via the cookie banner. You can withdraw that consent at any time — see Section 6 — and doing so is as easy as giving it.

For personal data you give us directly — for example, through the enquiry form on this site, by phone, or by email — our lawful basis is either that it's necessary to take steps towards a contract with you (arranging a repair or diagnostic visit), or our legitimate interest in responding to your enquiry.

6. Managing your cookie choices

You can change your mind at any time:

• Click "Cookie settings" in the footer of any page on this site to reopen the cookie banner and change your choice.
• Most browsers let you block or delete cookies through their settings — see your browser's help pages for how. Blocking strictly necessary storage may mean the cookie banner reappears on every visit.
• You can opt out of Google Analytics specifically using Google's Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
• You can review or adjust the ads Google shows you, and Google's use of your data for ad personalisation, at myadcenter.google.com.

7. Other personal data we collect

Separately from cookies, when you contact us — through the enquiry form, by phone, or by email — you may give us information such as your name, phone number, email address, postcode, vehicle details, and a description of the problem. We use this only to respond to your enquiry, arrange and carry out any work you ask for, and keep reasonable business records (for example, for invoicing or warranty purposes). We don't sell this information, and we only share it with third parties where we need to in order to do the work (for example, a parts supplier), or where we're required to by law.

8. How long we keep data

We keep enquiry and job-related personal data for as long as reasonably needed to deal with your enquiry, carry out and warrant any work, and meet our legal and accounting obligations — typically no longer than six years after our last dealing with you, in line with standard UK record-keeping practice. Cookie consent choices are stored in your own browser and persist until you clear your browser data or change your choice.

9. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, to have inaccurate data corrected, to ask us to delete it or restrict how we use it, to object to certain uses, and to receive certain data in a portable format. Where our use of your data relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 11. If you're not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

10. Changes to this policy

We'll update this page whenever what we actually do changes — for example, if we start using another advertising platform — and update the cookie table in Section 3 and the date at the top of this page. We'd encourage you to check back occasionally.

11. Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy, or want to exercise any of your data protection rights, get in touch:

• Phone: 0113 873 1492
• Email: service@russellautomotive.co.uk