Auto Trader

All personal information collected and used from the Auto Trader site will be processed in accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act.

References in this policy to "Auto Trader" also apply to its sister channels on this web site, including: Bike Trader, Truck & Plant Trader and Caravan Trader.

INFORMATION COLLECTED

Online Advertisements
In order to place an advertisement on the Auto Trader web site, you will need to register. We will require you to supply your name, date of birth, e-mail address, postal address and postcode. You will also be required to supply payment details and your vehicle registration. Registrants are also presented with the option of supplying their mobile number, insurance renewal dates, and the make and model of any cars owned. Credit Card information is collected over a secure connection.

Vehicle Searches
In order to conduct a vehicle search on the Auto Trader web site, we will require you to supply a postcode and a selection of identifying criteria matching your chosen vehicle, for example make, model and price.

USE OF INFORMATION

General
Auto Trader is part of Trader Media Group and information supplied in this site may be shared with other group companies. When you register with our site, we ask you whether you would like to receive our email newsletters detailing changes to the site, offers and services from third party companies via email and/or via post that we feel may be of interest to you. You have the ability to opt-out of receiving all or any of these offers during registration.

We have taken measures to ensure that information supplied to us is held securely. As a consequence - we may occasionally request proof of identity before allowing access to your personal information.

You have the right to access all personal information supplied to Auto Trader and rectify any inaccuracies on the information held (a charge of £10 may be administered). Further enquiries should be made to enquiries@autotrader.co.uk or sent to Customer Care, Auto Trader Digital, Willow House, Woodland Business Park, Newton Le Willows WA12 0HE.

If you wish to access your personal details as held by Auto Trader, a charge of £10 will be made.

Amendments and Updates to this policy may be made from time to time. Any revisions will be posted on this page so you will always be aware of what information we collect.

Online Advertisements
Telephone numbers and email addresses supplied as part of a vehicle advertisement will be published within the relevant advertisement for the duration of the booking, to enable a potential buyer to contact the seller. The postcode is collected in order to provide a positioning on each vehicle within our database, thereby enabling potential buyers to locate vehicles for sale within a set radius of their chosen location.

Credit card information is used solely for the purpose of payment processing. Auto Trader retains no record of credit card details.

All details supplied to Auto Trader with your on-line advertisement will be safeguarded both by our privacy policy and also by the 1998 Data Protection Act. We will only ever pass your personal details to third parties to enable fulfilment of the advertising package which you have selected. Where advertising packages include additional benefits your agreement to these terms and conditions includes consent for your data to be used by others to provide those benefits, subject always to your being offered the opportunity to opt out of those benefits upon receipt.

Vehicle Searches
Postcodes and vehicle information are collected in order to provide a relevant match of vehicles against a specified search. The inclusion of the postcode enables us to provide the potential buyer with a range of vehicles within a chosen locality, rather than vehicles randomly spread throughout the country.

Registration
Email addresses are collected in order to send registrants their chosen password, providing them with online access to their registration details (available within the My Trader section on the website). The user can access this information at any time in order to update their details or change the option on whether they would like to receive communication from Auto Trader or selected third parties. Other registration information is collected in order:

1. To generate an overall audience profile of visitors using the Auto Trader web site. This information is then used to assist in developing relevant content on the site as well as ensuring that automotive trade advertisers looking to reach specific audience groups are encouraged to place their stock or promotions on the site.
2. To provide our web site visitors with the option to receive the Auto Trader monthly email bulletin, as well as the option to receive email and postal offers from selected third party companies that Auto Trader believes may be of interest to them. If a visitor has supplied insurance renewal date information and/or vehicle ownership details, it provides Auto Trader with the potential to better target that visitor with relevant and timely consumer offers by email or post, providing that visitor has opted to receive notification on such offers.
3. To support our E-alerts functionality - whereby visitors to our site can store settings on vehicle searches and/or set up alerts to be notified (by email) - when a specified vehicle appears for sale on the Auto Trader web site. Unless a visitor supplies their email address, we are unable to send such alerts.
4. To limit access to the full range of fields within the search form in order to maintain an overall faster search facility. By providing limited access to all our search fields, notably free text entry boxes, we are able to limit the impact on the performance of our search engine during periods of intense user activity. Whilst all users gain unhindered access to the key database fields, (such as Make and Model) fields that generate more intensive database processing (such as free text fields), are limited to those users who register.
5. To support our 'Send To Mobile' functionality - whereby visitors to our site can send details of vehicles for sale to mobile phones.

USE OF COOKIES

When you visit our web site we issue a "cookie" or unique identification code that enables us to recognise your computer and store settings to help facilitate your use of our site.

If your computer is configured to accept cookies we will be able to provide time saving functionality such as:

• the ability to pre-fill the search form with your postcode, thus preventing the need to re-input it each time you need to run a search.
• unhindered access to all the fields within our advanced search settings.
• ready access to an online record on past advertisements you may have placed via the site.
• access to our E-alert functionality.

If your computer is cookie enabled we are also able to limit the number of occasions you are exposed to certain display advertisements on our site (such as banners and pop-up boxes). On most occasions this will mean you never see the same pop-up advertisement more than twice each time you visit the Auto Trader web site.

Please note you need to enable cookies in your browser in order to place an advert. For further information on cookies or for details on how to delete them or refuse their installation on your computer, please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Why we use cookies
Auto Trader uses cookies for 4 purposes:

1. To enable the delivery of functionality that improves the ease and speed of using the Auto Trader web site (see above).
2. To frequency cap display advertisements, particularly pop-up boxes. By limiting advertisement exposure we provide a more compelling user experience for site visitors and also ensure that advertisements on Auto Trader are more evenly spread across our user base.
3. To enable us to track the relative demand for different types of vehicles on the site. Such information enables us to better target advertising at users searching for specific vehicles.
4. To enable us to track the relative popularity of disparate parts of our site. This in turn enables us to concentrate our efforts on developing those parts of the site that are generating the greatest consumer demand.