Privacy policy
This privacy policy explains what personal information MOT Check Online collects when you use the site, why we collect it, who sees it and how long we keep it. It also sets out your rights under UK data protection law and how to use them. We’ve written it in plain English, because a privacy policy only helps if people can actually read it.
Last updated: 16 October 2026 · Applies to motcheckonline.co.uk
Our privacy policy at a glance
The short version
You can check a vehicle without an account, a name or an email address. We use the registration only to fetch its official records, and we don't link it to you. If you contact us, we use your details only to reply. Analytics and personalised advertising cookies run only if you agree. We never sell personal data.
The rest of this page gives the detail behind each of those promises.
Who is behind this privacy policy
MOT Check Online is a website run by Hamza Akram, an individual based in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK data protection law, Hamza is the data controller. In other words, he decides how and why your personal information is used, and he's responsible for looking after it.
You can reach him about anything in this privacy policy through the contact page or by email at hamzaakram789@gmail.com. Because we're a small service that doesn't process data on a large scale, we haven't appointed a data protection officer.
What we collect and why
We collect as little as possible. The table below lists every type of information, when we collect it, why, and the lawful basis UK GDPR lets us rely on.
| Information | When we collect it | Why we use it | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| The registration you search | When you run a check | To fetch the vehicle's official records and show your report | Legitimate interests: providing the check you asked for |
| A scrambled version of your IP address | When you run a check or send a message | To stop automated abuse, by limiting how many checks or messages one connection can send each hour | Legitimate interests: keeping the service secure and available |
| Server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested, time) | On every visit | Security, fixing faults and preventing attacks | Legitimate interests: running a secure website |
| Your name, email, topic, message and any registration you add | When you use the contact form or email us | To read and answer your message | Legitimate interests: replying to you. For privacy requests: legal obligation |
| Usage data from Google Analytics (pages viewed, device, approximate location, how you found us) | Only if you agree to analytics cookies | To see which pages help people, and improve them | Consent |
| Advertising data from Google AdSense | When adverts load. Cookies and personalised ads only if you agree | To show adverts that pay for the free checks | Consent for cookies and personalised ads |
We also count how often each make and model is checked, for example "Ford Fiesta". That count contains no registration and no IP address, so it isn't personal information.
Vehicle registrations and your privacy
A registration identifies a vehicle, not a person. Even so, someone with other information could connect a plate to its owner. So we treat registrations with care:
- We don't link a search to you. The registration isn't stored alongside your IP address, your name or anything else that identifies you.
- We keep results briefly. A report sits in a short-term cache on our server for up to six hours, so repeat checks load quickly. After that, it expires.
- We never show keeper details. Neither DVSA nor DVLA provide names or addresses through the services we use, and we don't hold them.
- Recent searches stay on your device. The search box remembers your last five registrations in your own browser, so you can check them again quickly. We never receive that list, and you can clear it at any time.
Nobody is notified when you check a vehicle, including its owner or seller.
Cookies and similar technologies
We use a small number of cookies and browser storage items. Some are needed for the site to work, while others, like Google Analytics and advertising cookies, only run after you agree. You can change your choice at any time:
Google Analytics loads with Google's consent mode set to "denied" by default. Until you agree, it sets no analytics cookies. During that time, Google may still receive basic, cookie-free signals, such as the fact that a page loaded, which it uses only in aggregate. Our cookie policy lists every cookie by name, with its purpose and how long it lasts.
Advertising and Google AdSense
MOT Check Online shows adverts through Google AdSense, which keeps the vehicle checks free. Here's how that affects your data:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve adverts based on your previous visits to this website or other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve adverts based on your visits to this site and other sites on the internet.
- In the UK, Google only uses cookies for personalised adverts once you've agreed through our consent banner. That banner lists every advertising partner, and you can accept or refuse each one.
- You can opt out of personalised advertising at any time in Google's Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of some third-party vendors' cookies at aboutads.info.
Google explains more in how Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. Advertisers never receive your contact messages or the registrations you search.
Who we share information with
We only share personal information when it's needed to run the site, and we never sell it.
| Recipient | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| DVSA and DVLA | The registration you search, sent from our server | To return the official MOT and vehicle records |
| Google (Analytics and AdSense) | Usage and advertising data, as described above | Analytics and adverts, with your consent |
| Google (Gmail) | Your contact messages, which arrive in our Gmail inbox | So we can read and answer them |
| Our web hosting provider and email delivery provider | Server logs, and messages passing through on their way to us | To host the site and deliver email, acting on our instructions |
| Image services (such as carlogos.org and regcheck.org.uk) | Your IP address and browser details, when your browser loads a car badge or photo | To show a picture of the make and model. They never receive the registration |
| Police, courts or regulators | Only what the law requires | To meet a legal obligation |
International transfers
Some of these services store data outside the UK, most often in the United States. Where Google LLC receives personal information, the transfer relies on the UK–US data bridge, which the UK government approved in October 2023, together with Google's own data protection terms. In addition, image services that your browser contacts directly may be based outside the UK, although they receive only standard technical information.
How long we keep information
We keep information only as long as we need it:
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Vehicle check results (registration and report) | Up to 6 hours, in a short-term cache |
| Scrambled IP address for abuse prevention | 1 hour |
| Contact messages and replies | Up to 24 months after our last message, unless we need them longer for a legal claim |
| Google Analytics data | 14 months |
| Advertising cookies | Up to 13 months, as set by Google |
| Server logs | A short period set by our hosting provider for security |
| Theme choice and recent searches on your device | Until you clear them in your browser |
How we protect your information
We use HTTPS encryption across the whole site, and we keep our access keys for the DVSA and DVLA services out of public files. On top of that, we limit what we collect, store identifiers in a scrambled form and delete data on a short timetable.
No website can promise perfect security, however. If a breach ever put your rights at risk, we'd report it to the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours where the law requires, and we'd tell you directly when needed.
Your rights under this privacy policy
UK data protection law gives you the following rights over your personal information:
- Access: ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.
- Correction: ask us to fix anything inaccurate or incomplete.
- Erasure: ask us to delete your information, for example an old contact message.
- Restriction: ask us to pause using your information while a concern is resolved.
- Objection: object to uses based on legitimate interests.
- Portability: receive information you gave us in a format you can reuse.
- Withdrawing consent: change your cookie choices at any time, which is as easy as giving consent.
To use any of these rights, contact us and choose "Privacy request or data complaint". It's free. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we share anything, then we'll respond within one month. If a request is complex, we may need up to two further months, and we'll tell you why. We don't make any decisions about you by automated means.
How to complain
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first. We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it promptly and keep you updated until it's resolved, as the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 requires.
If you're still not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator. Visit the ICO's complaints page or call its helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Children
MOT Check Online is a general-audience website about vehicles. It isn't designed for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has sent us personal details, please contact us and we'll delete them.
Links to other websites
Our pages link to official sites, such as GOV.UK, and occasionally to other organisations. Once you leave MOT Check Online, their privacy policies apply instead of ours, so it's worth reading theirs.
Changes to this privacy policy
We'll update this privacy policy whenever we change how we use personal information, for example if we add MOT reminder emails. The "Last updated" date at the top always shows the latest version. For significant changes, we'll also add a notice on the site.
Privacy policy: frequently asked questions
Do you sell my personal data?
No. We never sell, rent or trade personal information. Adverts are shown through Google AdSense under the choices you make in our consent banner.
Can the seller of a car see that I checked it?
No. Nobody is told when you check a vehicle. DVSA and DVLA receive the registration from our server, not from you, and we don't notify owners or sellers.
Do I need an account to use MOT Check Online?
No. The checks work without an account, a name or an email address. You only share personal details if you choose to contact us.
How do I clear my recent searches?
Where the search box shows "Recent checks", press its "Clear" button. Alternatively, clearing this site's data in your browser removes them, along with your theme choice.
How do I ask you to delete my contact messages?
Send a request through the contact page, choosing "Privacy request or data complaint". We'll confirm once your messages are deleted, within one month.
If you have any question this privacy policy doesn't answer, please get in touch and we'll explain.