Legal
Privacy Policy
What KerbAlert collects, why we need it, who can see it and how long we keep it. We’ve tried to write it the way we’d want it explained to us.
The short version
- We collect what KerbAlert needs to work: your account details, your cars, and the reports and watches you make.
- Number plates are never shown to other members. Only a car’s owner sees its plate on a report.
- Reporters and car owners are never shown each other’s identity. Your reports say “Anonymous” unless you choose to show a username on them, and even then the owner of the car never sees it.
- Faces and number plates in report photos are blurred on your phone, before the photo is uploaded, for everyone except the car’s owner.
- We use your location only while you’re using the app. We don’t track you in the background.
- Reports and their photos are deleted automatically after 90 days.
- We don’t sell your personal information.
Who we are
KerbAlert is run by KitCode Studios. KitCode Studios Ltd, registered in England and Wales with company number 17517161, is at Office 9944, 321-323 High Road, Chadwell Heath, Essex RM6 6AX. We are the “controller” of the personal information described here, which means we decide how and why it’s used.
For anything about your personal information, email support@kerbalert.co.uk.
What we collect
When you create an account
- Your email address, which we send your sign-in codes to. There are no passwords.
- Your name and, if you choose, a shorter display name, a username and a profile photo.
- Your mobile number, which we verify with a code sent by text.
- How you get around (car, on foot, bike, motorbike or something else), so we can tailor the app.
- If you sign in with Apple or Google, the name and email address they share with us.
Your vehicles
- The number plate, make, model and colour of each car or motorbike you add. The plate is how we know a report is about your vehicle.
- If someone else has already registered a plate you add, we keep a record of the ownership claim so it can be resolved.
When you report something
- The type of report, an optional description and, for reports about a car, its number plate.
- A photo taken in the app at the time, with the time and place it was taken.
- The location of the report, and for road closures where the closure ends.
When you use the community features
- Watch requests: which car, where it’s parked, for how long, and any note you add. If you offer to watch someone’s car, we record that too.
- Confirmations: when you tap that you saw something too, or confirm or dispute that a report is about your car.
- Flags and blocks: when you report a report, or block a member.
- Your trust score, worked out from how accurate your past reports turned out to be.
- Where you’ve parked, when you use I’ve Parked Here: the spot, which car, the street name, and when your paid parking runs out if you set a timer. It’s used to alert you about reports nearby, and stops counting once you tap that you’ve left, or after 24 hours.
Guardian (when it launches)
- Whether you have a Guardian subscription. Payments are handled by Apple or Google; we never see your card details.
- The names and phone numbers of your emergency contacts, if you add them. Please only add people who are happy to be contacted, and let them know.
From your phone
- A push notification token, so we can send alerts to your device.
- Your settings, such as notification preferences, light or dark appearance, and miles or kilometres.
- Crash reports when something goes wrong in the app. Before a crash report leaves your phone, email addresses, phone numbers and the details of any database request (which could include a number plate) are removed.
When you contact us
Your email and anything you tell us, so we can help. If you send a bug report or feedback from the app’s Settings, it comes with your app version and phone type, so we can track a problem down, and you choose whether we may email you about it. Other members never see it.
How we use it, and why we’re allowed to
UK data protection law says we need a lawful reason (a “lawful basis”) for each way we use your information. Here are ours.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Run your account, show nearby reports, match reports to your plates and send you alerts | Contract: it’s the service you signed up for |
| Hide plates and identities, blur photos, and delete old reports | Contract and legitimate interests: protecting the people in and behind reports |
| Check reports are genuine, work out trust scores, handle flags and blocks, and remove harmful content | Legitimate interests: keeping the community safe and useful |
| Fix crashes and improve the app | Legitimate interests: making the app work reliably |
| Contact your emergency contacts on Guardian | Contract with you, and legitimate interests for your contacts |
| Use your location, camera and notifications | Consent: you choose whether to allow each one on your phone |
| Keep records we’re legally required to keep, and respond to lawful requests | Legal obligation |
Automated decisions
Some things happen automatically: a report is hidden when three different members flag it, and your trust score goes up or down with the accuracy of your reports. A person reviews hidden reports. If you think an automatic decision about you is wrong, email us and a person will look at it.
Who can see what
Reports and watch requests can only be seen by people signed in to KerbAlert, not by the public internet.
| Information | Who sees it |
|---|---|
| A report’s type, description, location, time and photo | Signed-in members. Faces and plates in the photo are blurred for everyone except the car’s owner. |
| A report’s number plate | Only the owner of the car with that plate |
| Who made a report | Nobody, unless the reporter chooses to show their username on their reports. Then signed-in members see that username, except the owner of the car the report is about, who never does. Other members also see the reporter’s trust score. |
| A watch request | Trusted members nearby see roughly where (an area about 300 metres across) and for how long. Only members who offer to help see the exact spot, your car’s colour and make, and your note. Never the plate. |
| Your first name | Only if you choose to share it, and only with people helping with your watch request |
| Where you’ve parked | Only you |
| Your full name, email, phone number, cars, emergency contacts and settings | Only you (and us, where we need to run the service) |
| Who you’ve blocked | Only you. The person you block isn’t told. |
Who we share it with
We don’t sell your personal information. We share it only with companies that help us run KerbAlert, under contracts that stop them using it for anything else:
- Supabase: our database, sign-in and photo storage.
- Sentry: crash reports, with personal details removed first.
- Apple and Google: sign-in if you choose it, push notifications, and in-app payments for Guardian.
- OpenFreeMap: map images. Your phone asks for the part of the map you’re looking at, which means OpenFreeMap sees your device’s internet address.
- OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim service: turning a location into a street name, for example where you’ve parked. Your phone sends it the location and your device’s internet address, but nothing that identifies you.
- Resend: sending your sign-in codes, from a no-reply address.
- Twilio: sending your phone verification code.
- Twilio: phone calls and texts for Guardian, when it launches.
Official road closures in London come from Transport for London’s open data. That’s information we receive, and we don’t send TfL anything about you.
We may share information if the law requires it, for example with the police when they make a valid legal request, or to protect someone’s safety. If KerbAlert is ever sold or merged, your information would move to the new owner under this policy, and we’d tell you first.
Sponsored posts in the app are chosen on your phone based on where you are. Advertisers only get counts of how many times their post was shown and tapped, never who saw it.
KerbAlert also links out to other services: parking apps, a way to find a space nearby, and help such as locksmiths after a break-in. We don’t send them anything about you. If you tap one, you leave KerbAlert and that service’s own privacy policy applies. A link to find or book parking includes your current location, so it opens in the right place. Any link we’re paid for is labelled “Sponsored”.
Where it’s stored
Our database and photo storage are in London, in the United Kingdom. Crash reports are stored by Sentry in Germany, which the UK recognises as protecting personal information to the same standard. Where a provider handles information outside the UK, such as Apple or Google, we rely on the UK’s approved safeguards for international transfers.
How long we keep it
- Reports and their photos: deleted automatically 90 days after they’re made. The live map only shows warden sightings for 12 hours and other reports for two days.
- Your account, cars and settings: for as long as you have an account.
- Where you’ve parked: 24 hours after the session ends.
- When you delete your account: your profile, cars, reports and their photos, watch requests, parking history, blocks, emergency contacts, settings and any bug reports or feedback you sent from the app are all deleted straight away. Reports other members made about your car aren’t yours, so they stay until they’re deleted at 90 days. See Delete your account.
- Moderation records, such as flags on reports: 12 months.
- Crash reports: 90 days.
- Support emails: 12 months after we last hear from you.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- correct anything that’s wrong;
- delete your information;
- limit how we use it, or object to us using it;
- send your information to you or another service in a common format;
- stop using anything you’ve consented to, at any time.
Email support@kerbalert.co.uk from the address on your account. We’ll reply within one month. It’s free.
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
Phone permissions
- Location, only while you’re using the app: to show reports near you and to place your reports accurately. We don’t keep a history of where you’ve been.
- Camera: to take the live photo every report needs, or a profile photo.
- Photos: only to choose a profile photo. Report photos can’t come from your camera roll.
- Notifications: to tell you about reports on your cars, watches and parking timers.
You can change any of these in your phone’s settings. Some features won’t work without them.
Cookies
This website doesn’t use cookies, analytics or tracking of any kind, and it loads nothing from other companies’ servers. Our web host, Cloudflare, keeps standard server logs, including internet addresses, for security.
The app stores a few things on your phone so it works properly, such as whether you’ve seen the tour, your appearance setting, and a report you haven’t finished. These never leave your phone and aren’t used to track you.
Children
KerbAlert is for people aged 18 and over. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you think a child has an account, email us and we’ll delete it.
Keeping it safe
Everything is encrypted between your phone and our servers. Database rules decide exactly who can read each piece of information, so plates and identities are protected by the system itself, not just hidden in the app. Photo blurring happens on your phone, before anything is uploaded. Access to our systems is limited to the people who need it to run KerbAlert.
Changes and contact
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we’ll tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Questions: support@kerbalert.co.uk, or write to us at KitCode Studios Ltd, Office 9944, 321-323 High Road, Chadwell Heath, Essex RM6 6AX.