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Privacy policy
What Kiers Garage collects when you use this website, the member tools, the contact form and our tools in ChatGPT or Claude, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do with it.
Last updated: 5 October 2026
1. Who we are
Kiers Garage is the trading name of Kieran Lowrie, a sole trader based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. We are the controller of the personal data described here: we decide how it's used and we're responsible for looking after it.
- Postal address: 41 Whitcomb Street, London WC2H 7DT (post only, not open to visitors)
- Email: contact@kiersgarage.com
In this policy, "we" and "us" means Kiers Garage.
2. What this policy covers
- kiersgarage.com, including the free max bid calculator
- the member tools at kiersgarage.com/tools and their sign-in
- the contact and booking form, and emails you send us
- Car Flip Academy UK on Skool, where we run the group
- the Kiers Garage tools you can use inside ChatGPT or Claude, which connect to kiersgarage.com/mcp
It doesn't cover other companies' websites and apps, even when we link to them. Skool, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude) and IAA each have their own privacy policy.
3. Visiting the website
Our web host, Hostinger, keeps standard server logs of every visit: your IP address, the page you asked for, the time and the type of browser. We use them only to keep the site running and secure, which is our legitimate interest. We don't use them to work out who you are.
The max bid calculator runs entirely in your browser. The numbers you type aren't sent to us and aren't saved. If you use "Copy a link to these numbers", the numbers go into the web address, so anyone who opens that link sends them to our server as part of the address, and they show up in the server logs like any other page visit.
The public pages don't use advertising trackers. They only use Google Analytics and its cookies if you click "Accept analytics" on our cookie banner (see Cookies).
4. The member tools sign-in
You sign in to the member tools with your first name and email address. We email you a 6-digit code, you type it in once, and your phone or laptop is remembered after that. There are no passwords.
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your first name and email address | To send your code and know who's signed in | Until you ask us to delete it, or 24 months after you last use the tools |
| Whether you ticked "Happy to get the odd email about new lessons and videos" | So we only email updates to people who asked for them | As above |
| Where you came from, if the link you used says so (for example a link from YouTube or Skool) | To see which links bring people to the tools | As above |
| When you first signed in, when you last used the tools, and how many times and on how many days you've used them | To see how much the tools are used | As above |
| Your sign-in code | To check the code you type | Stored only in scrambled (hashed) form. It works for 15 minutes and is wiped once used |
| The times codes were sent to your email | To stop codes being sent too often | 24 hours |
| A scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address | To stop anyone hammering the sign-in | About a day |
We use your name and email address to give you the tools you've asked for (a contract between us). We keep the usage counts, the source and the security records because we have a legitimate interest in running the tools safely and knowing how they're used. We only send update emails if you ticked the box (your consent), and you can stop them at any time by replying to one or emailing us.
Sign-in codes are sent from contact@kiersgarage.com through Hostinger's email service.
5. Cookies
The member tools sign-in uses three cookies. They are strictly necessary for signing in, so the law doesn't require us to ask first. They're only set when you use the sign-in.
| Cookie | What it's for | How long |
|---|---|---|
| kg_auth | Keeps you signed in on that phone or laptop. It holds your email address in a signed form that can't be altered. | 1 year, renewed when you use the tools. Signing out removes it. |
| kg_pending | Remembers which email address a code was sent to while you type it in. | 1 hour, or until the code is accepted |
| kg_csrf | Security: stops other websites sending the sign-in form as if they were you. | 24 hours |
We also use Google Analytics, but only if you say yes. Its cookies are set only after you click "Accept analytics" on the banner at the bottom of the page. If you click "No thanks", or don't choose, the Google Analytics code doesn't load and no Google cookies are set. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we take that as "No thanks" unless you choose otherwise. We don't use advertising cookies.
| Name | What it's for | How long |
|---|---|---|
| kg_consent | Remembers whether you said yes or no to analytics, and when, so we don't ask on every page. It's kept in your browser's local storage, not in a cookie, and it isn't sent to us. | Until you change your choice or clear this site's data in your browser |
| _ga | A Google Analytics cookie, set only after you accept. Google says it's "used to distinguish users": it holds a random ID, so visits from the same browser can be counted together. | 2 years from your last visit |
| _ga_4LZE1JJN9K | A Google Analytics cookie, set only after you accept. Google says it's "used to persist session state": it keeps track of your current visit, so the pages you look at in one go count as one visit. | 2 years from your last visit |
You can change your mind at any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page. If you switch analytics off, Google Analytics stops straight away and doesn't load again, and we delete its cookies from your browser. What Google Analytics collects is explained under Google Analytics below.
6. The contact form and email
When you use the contact or booking form, or email us, we get what you send. That's usually your name, a phone number or email address, the car's make, model and registration, the area you're in and what the problem is. We use it to reply, quote, and arrange and carry out the job (steps before a contract, and the contract itself).
Enquiries that don't turn into a job are deleted after 12 months. For jobs we do, we keep the booking and invoice records for as long as HMRC requires business records to be kept: at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year's return.
7. Car Flip Academy UK on Skool
Car Flip Academy UK runs on Skool. Skool looks after your Skool account and any payments under its own privacy policy. As the group owner, we see what Skool shows group owners, such as your name and profile, the answers you give when you join, which plan you're on, your posts and messages in the group, and your email address where Skool provides it. We use this to run the community and to give paid members what they've paid for.
Deal Desk (VIP): when you send us a car to check, we use what you send, such as the listing, photos, the registration, your budget and the rough area you're in, to do the check (a contract between us). We use the registration only to look up that car's public MOT history, and we don't keep it anywhere outside your Skool messages.
8. Our tools in ChatGPT and Claude
Some Kiers Garage tools, such as the max bid calculator and the pre-checks, can be used inside ChatGPT or Claude. When you use one, ChatGPT or Claude sends a request to kiersgarage.com/mcp.
- What we receive: only what the tool needs to work, which is the numbers and checklist answers put into it, by you or by the assistant for you. For example a sale price, repair costs, a bid, or answers such as "Cat N" and "keys: yes". We don't receive your name, your email address or your conversation.
- Where it comes from: the request comes from OpenAI's or Anthropic's servers, not from your device, so our server sees their IP address, not yours. ChatGPT or Claude may also send technical details such as a language setting or a rough location. Our tools don't use these and we don't store them.
- What we keep: a minimal log of each request: which tool was used, when, how long it took and whether it worked. We don't log the numbers or answers that were put in.
- Registration numbers: only if we switch on an MOT history tool. That tool would send the registration to the DVSA's MOT History API to fetch the car's public MOT record, and give you the result. We wouldn't store the registration. We'll update this policy before that tool goes live.
We use this data because we have a legitimate interest in providing a tool you've chosen to use and keeping it working. OpenAI and Anthropic handle your conversations under their own privacy policies.
9. Who we share data with
We don't sell your data and we don't share it with advertisers. These companies process data for us:
- Hostinger: hosting for the website, the member tools and the plugin connection, and our email.
- Google Ireland Limited: Google Analytics, only if you click "Accept analytics" (see Google Analytics below).
These organisations receive data as independent organisations with their own policies, when you use them or when a tool needs them:
- DVSA: only if the MOT history tool is switched on, and only the registration number, for the lookup.
- Skool, OpenAI and Anthropic: for what you do on their platforms.
We'll also share information if the law requires it. If any of our providers store your data outside the UK, we make sure the transfer is protected the way UK law requires, for example by UK adequacy regulations or the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics only if you click "Accept analytics". That consent is our lawful basis, and you can withdraw it at any time with "Cookie settings".
- What it collects: things like the pages you visit and for how long, how you found the site (for example a search engine or a YouTube link), clicks on links to other sites, the type of device and browser you use, and roughly where you are (town or region). It doesn't give us your name or email address. Shared calculator links have their numbers taken out before the page address goes to Google.
- IP addresses: Google says Google Analytics 4 doesn't log or store IP addresses. For visitors in the UK, it uses the IP address only to work out that rough location, then discards it.
- Who provides it: Google Ireland Limited, which provides Google Analytics to UK businesses like ours and processes this data for us under Google's data processing terms. Google signals and ad personalisation are switched off in our set-up. Google explains its side on its page How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
- Transfers outside the UK: Google may process the data in other countries, including the US. Google's data processing terms cover these transfers, and for UK data going to the US, Google says it relies in some cases on the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
- How long: data linked to the Google Analytics cookies is deleted after 14 months at most. After that, only totals stay in our reports.
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- correct anything that's wrong
- delete your data
- limit or stop how we use it, or object to it
- give you your data in a format you can take elsewhere
You can also withdraw your consent to update emails at any time, and your consent to analytics with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of any page. Email contact@kiersgarage.com. It's free, and we'll reply within one month.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
11. Keeping it safe
The member tools' records are stored where they can't be reached from the web, and only our hosting account can read them. Sign-in codes are only stored in hashed form, and the whole site uses HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, so we keep what we hold to the minimum.
12. Children
Our tools and community are meant for adults (18 and over). We don't knowingly collect data from children. If you think a child has given us their details, email us and we'll delete them.
13. Changes to this policy
If we change how we use your data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If the change is significant and we have your email address, we'll tell you.