Privacy policy

Who we are

This site is operated by Citadel Autos Ltd (Company No. 17307886), a mobile auto locksmith covering the West Midlands. You can reach us on 07727 385 830 or at hello@citadelautos.co.uk.

What we collect

When you call us or use the callback form, we may collect:

• Your name, so we know who we're speaking to.
• Your mobile phone number, so we can call you back.
• Your vehicle registration, if you choose to provide it.
• Details of your enquiry — what's happened and where the vehicle is.
• Basic records of the call or job for our own accounts and guarantee.
• If we attend: photos of the work, your signature on completion, and a location and time fix taken at the job.

How the callback form works

When you submit the callback form, your details are sent to our systems and emailed to us through our email provider so we can call you back. We check the form is complete, limit how often it can be used to prevent abuse, and then deliver it to our own inbox. We don't use it for marketing and we don't pass it to anyone else.

If you'd rather not use the form, calling or texting the number on this site works just as well.

Proof that we attended

When we attend a job, our device records the location and the time at a few set points — when we start, when we take a photo, and when we finish or can't complete the work. It also records how accurate that location reading was.

We do this for one reason: so there is a reliable record that we attended your vehicle, when we were there, and what was done. It protects both of us if there's ever a dispute, an insurance claim or a question about the work. It is not continuous tracking — nothing is recorded between jobs.

How we use your information

We use your details only to respond to your enquiry: to call you back, give you a price, attend your vehicle and carry out the work. We keep a basic record of completed jobs for accounting and to honour our workmanship guarantee.

Cookies & analytics

If you accept analytics, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand visits to our public pages, referral sources, device/browser information, approximate location and use of our contact buttons. We also count successful callback requests without sending the form contents. Phone and WhatsApp clicks indicate interest, not proof of a completed enquiry or sale. Google processes this analytics data and we can read reports through GSC Wizard. We do not enable advertising personalisation or Google Signals.

Google Analytics stays off until you accept. You can reject it or withdraw consent through Cookie settings at the bottom of any public page. We omit URL query strings and fragments, do not send form fields, names, phone numbers, vehicle registrations or private signing/console pages to Analytics. Your choice is stored in your browser for up to 180 days.

For completeness: our own staff sign in to a private console on this domain to manage jobs, and signing in sets a handful of essential, first-party cookies. They are never set for customers browsing the site and are never used for tracking.

Read the full cookie policy

Lawful basis

We process your data to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform that contract, and in our legitimate interest in running and improving the business. We do not use your details for marketing without your consent.

Sharing your data

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the service providers we use to run the business — our website hosting, database, secure photo and evidence storage, service email and staff-assistant providers, and, if you pay by card, our payment provider. Each receives only the data needed for that service, under processor safeguards, or where law requires disclosure. Details of the specific providers we use are available on request.

To do the job we also look things up from official and public sources. We send your vehicle registration to the DVLA and to the DVSA MOT history service to confirm the vehicle's details, and we send a postcode to a public postcode lookup to find the location and work out mileage. These services receive only the registration or postcode — never your name or contact details.

If there is an accident, claim or dispute connected to a job, we may also share the relevant details with our insurers and their appointed representatives.

Where your data is processed

Our processors may handle data in the UK or other protected locations under their contractual transfer safeguards. Hosting systems may briefly log standard technical information such as IP addresses to keep the service online and secure. We don't use this information to market to or track you.

How long we keep it

We may hold contact details, vehicle and job notes, invoices, signatures, evidence photos, precise job-location fixes, service email, and job-linked assistant history. Enquiry details are kept only while needed to respond or carry out the job; assistant conversations are time-limited and automatically removed.

Completed-job, invoice, signature and evidence records may be retained for our accounting obligations, workmanship guarantee, an insurance claim or a legal claim. Company accounting records are normally kept for six years from the end of the relevant financial year. When that purpose and any legal hold end, the records are securely deleted or anonymised.

If you ask us to erase your information, we remove unnecessary live contact and enquiry data and tell you if a specific legal obligation means part of the record must be retained for a stated period. Backup copies expire through our controlled backup lifecycle.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct or erase your data, and to object to or restrict how we use it. To exercise any of these, call us on 07727 385 830 or email hello@citadelautos.co.uk. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.