Privacy policy

1. About this policy

This policy explains how PickupLens uses your personal information in the mobile app, website, customer account, private video-upload pages and supporting services. It also explains your choices and how to contact us.

PickupLens operates from England, United Kingdom, and is the controller responsible for deciding why and how the personal information described here is used. In this policy, we, us and our mean PickupLens. For privacy questions, requests or complaints, email hello@pickuplens.app.

This policy covers information you provide, information recorded when you use PickupLens, information from sign-in, purchase and vehicle-data services, and evidence contributed by someone you invite. If you appear in someone else’s evidence, the information about incidental recordings and your rights also applies to you.

2. Information we collect

• Account information from your chosen Apple or Google sign-in, including an account identifier, email address and any name you share. Apple may provide a private relay email address. If you connect another sign-in method, we link its verified identity to your account. We do not receive your Apple or Google password.
• Vehicle and rental details, such as registration, country, issuing state where applicable, make, model, year, colour and collection or return information. We keep lookup history, its source and time, and your corrections, including lookups before a paid scan begins.
• Evidence you capture or upload: photos, videos, still images from videos, notes, suggested damage, review choices and reports. This can include interior condition, mileage, fuel or battery charge, keys, accessories and handover records. Originals may contain people, number plates, audio and embedded camera or location information.
• Capture details, including device-reported and upload times, file type and dimensions, capture mode, integrity records, and location and accuracy when permitted.
• Your choices about optional AI checks, including the providers you allowed or declined, the notice shown and when you made the choice.
• Purchase records, including the store, product, transaction reference, date, refund status and scan-credit use. We do not receive full payment-card details from the App Store or Google Play.
• Technical and service information, including device model, platform, operating system, app version, scan progress, review actions, processing times, request identifiers, upload errors, security records and staff-access records. Some of these records link to your account or inspection. Hosting and network providers also receive connection information, including your IP address.
• Support correspondence, including your contact details, messages, email attachments, staff replies and internal notes.
• Crash, error and app-hang diagnostics where reporting is enabled, including technical messages, device and app details, and an identifier linking reports from the same installation. We do not add your account identity or evidence files to these reports, or enable screenshots or session recordings. Diagnostics can contain technical information about a fault. We also collect sampled service performance information to diagnose delays, without including your identity or evidence.
• Public-website usage information, including pages visited, visit times, referrals, approximate location, browser, operating system and device type. Basic analytics may run before consent where permitted by law; otherwise we ask for permission. Essential only turns this off. With your permission, performance diagnostics also include connection speed and page-loading or interaction measurements, which can include the page element involved. We do not add account identifiers, form contents or private evidence to these measurements.
• With your permission, mobile advertising measurement information, including an installation identifier, advertising and vendor identifiers where permitted, app opens, device and network information, ad campaign attribution and purchase events including product, value and currency. Your choice and the notice version are saved on this device. We do not send vehicle details, evidence files or damage observations for advertising measurement.

3. How we use your information

Automated results help you review the vehicle. They can be incomplete or incorrect. You can dismiss a suggestion or add your own observations. PickupLens does not use these results to decide liability, charge you for vehicle damage or make a decision about insurance.

We do not sell your evidence or use it in advertising or a model-training programme. We do not opt into training on your evidence with our AI provider. Provider security retention is separate from the evidence stored in your account, as explained below.

• To provide your account, identify the vehicle, guide capture, store evidence, suggest possible damage and create condition reports.
• To process purchases, verify scan credits and provide customer support.
• To protect accounts and evidence, prevent misuse, investigate faults and maintain service reliability.
• To understand feature use, scan completion, review activity, purchases and device support needs using account-linked service records and summaries.
• To handle enquiries and operate the service. Authorised staff can access relevant account details, reports and private evidence; access is restricted and recorded.
• To understand visits to public marketing pages through aggregate statistics and improve the website. Performance diagnostics require your permission.
• To meet legal obligations and protect the rights and safety of customers, PickupLens and others.
• With your permission, to measure which advertising campaigns lead to app installs and purchases and report conversions to the advertising platforms we use.

4. Our reasons for using your information

An account and the evidence needed for your chosen scan are necessary to provide that service. Location and hosted AI are optional. Missing vehicle details can be entered or corrected manually, and you can save evidence, add observations and create a report without AI.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it. Withdrawal does not change the lawfulness of earlier processing. A device permission controls access to that feature; it does not give us permission to use your information for unrelated purposes.

• Providing your service: we use account details, vehicle information, evidence and purchase records to perform our contract with you, including storing the evidence you request and preparing reports.
• Optional location: we rely on your consent to add location to new captures. You can turn off Add location in Settings and change the operating system’s location permission at any time.
• Optional AI checks: we rely on your consent to share image copies and relevant vehicle and capture details with the analysis providers identified before sharing. You can decline or turn AI photo checks off in Settings and continue using capture and manual review. Withdrawal stops new checks, but cannot recall a request already sent. Earlier results remain in your evidence unless corrected or deleted.
• Security, diagnostics and support: our legitimate interests are protecting accounts and evidence, preventing fraud or misuse, diagnosing failures, maintaining a reliable service and resolving enquiries. Support needed to fulfil your purchase or deliver your account service also forms part of our contract with you. We consider the effect on your privacy and limit the information used for these purposes.
• Product measurement: our legitimate interests are understanding use of the service and improving reliability and device support. We use account-linked service records, not advertising profiles or cross-service tracking. You can object by contacting us.
• Website measurement: we use aggregate site statistics to improve the website, relying on our legitimate interests where permitted by law and consent where required. We do not use these statistics to profile visitors or target advertising. Performance diagnostics and advertising attribution require consent. Choose Essential only to stop all these measurements, or Accept to enable them. You can object or withdraw through Cookie settings in the footer at any time. We also honour browser Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track signals, which keep measurements off even after an earlier acceptance. This stops new events but cannot recall information already sent. Essential sign-in and upload storage is separate.
• People incidentally recorded: where footage you provide includes another person’s information, our legitimate interest is to provide and protect the renter’s condition record. Avoid recording unrelated people or conversations where possible. Anyone whose information appears in evidence can contact us about their rights.
• Legal obligations and claims: we use or retain information where a specific legal obligation requires it, for example responding to a valid legal demand. Where necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, we rely on our legitimate interest in protecting legal rights, unless another legal basis is required. We limit this use to the information and period needed.
• Optional mobile ad measurement: we rely on consent. The app explains the sharing before you choose, and iOS also requires its Tracking permission. Declining does not prevent capture, purchases or reports. Turn off Ad measurement in Settings or revoke Tracking permission in iPhone Settings to stop new device measurement. Purchase-sharing changes may need a network connection to reach the purchase provider; already submitted events cannot be recalled.

5. Camera, location and video uploads

Camera access supports number plate reading and evidence capture. Plate recognition runs on your device; images used only for recognition are deleted afterwards and are not uploaded. For Australian plates, your device may suggest an issuing state from the registration format; you can change that suggestion. You can enter or correct a registration manually.

Walkaround capture processes temporary images on your device and saves selected evidence photos. It does not record the full camera stream or microphone audio. Permitted AI checks use separate image copies; original evidence stays unchanged.

Interior condition photos may receive optional AI image checks with your permission. Dashboard readings, keys/accessory photos, other supporting records and manually entered readings or notes remain for your review and are not included in those interior checks.

Imported videos, including private-link contributions, retain their existing audio and metadata. Still images are prepared for review. Only image copies, not the original video or audio, are sent for permitted AI checks. Import time does not establish recording time.

Add location is on by default, subject to your device permission and Settings choice. While the capture camera is open, we can save a location reading, its time and reported accuracy with a photo. Saved locations appear in reports you share. We do not track journeys in the background or treat your current location as the filming location of an imported video.

Change permissions in your device settings or turn off Add location to stop adding new readings. This does not delete earlier evidence or metadata already in a file. Review recordings before uploading or sharing, and avoid recording unrelated people or conversations.

6. Who we share information with

We do not sell your personal information or automatically send evidence to rental companies. You choose whether to export or share it, unless disclosure is legally required. Contact hello@pickuplens.app if you would like details of the providers relevant to your information.

A private upload link allows anyone holding it to contribute for one hour. The invitation and upload page can show your display name; public previews exclude your name and vehicle details. The link does not allow original downloads or changes to your AI permissions. Contributors choose separately whether to allow AI image checks. Keep the link private.

• Cloud hosting, account-security and storage providers process the information needed to run the app, website and accounts, store private evidence, and deliver reports and downloads.
• Email-delivery and restricted staff-support providers process contact details, message text, attachments and replies so we can handle enquiries. Support correspondence is separate from in-app evidence; account evidence is not automatically copied into these tools. Earlier correspondence may remain with former mailbox providers.
• Apple and Google provide the sign-in options and stores available on your device. They process sign-in and transaction information under their own privacy notices.
• Purchase-verification providers receive transaction information and your PickupLens account identifier to verify credits, reconcile refunds and recover purchase history.
• Error-monitoring providers receive the crash and technical diagnostics described above to help us investigate faults. They do not receive evidence attachments, screenshots or session recordings.
• Our website analytics and performance provider processes the usage and diagnostic information described above on our behalf to help us improve the website. Basic analytics may run before consent where permitted by law, subject to your right to object; other measurement requires permission.
• AI image-analysis providers receive image copies and relevant vehicle and capture information, including registration, with your permission to suggest visible areas or possible damage. Original evidence is not edited. Providers are identified when you choose whether to allow sharing. Turning checks off stops new requests while leaving capture, backup and manual review available.
• Vehicle-data services receive a registration, country and issuing state where needed to return available vehicle details from government vehicle registers, public inspection records and commercial vehicle-data sources. If a lookup cannot be completed or returns no usable match, the registration and issuing jurisdiction may be sent to another vehicle-data service. These lookups do not provide the registered keeper’s identity to PickupLens.
• Reference-image providers receive make, model and year to find an illustrative vehicle image. We do not include your registration or evidence in that request. Loading the image gives the provider the connection information needed to deliver it. A reference image is not evidence of your rental vehicle’s condition.
• Professional advisers, regulators, law-enforcement bodies or other organisations where disclosure is required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety or the service.
• A buyer or successor in a merger, acquisition or sale, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection requirements.
• With your permission, advertising measurement providers and the advertising platforms we connect receive installation, device, campaign and confirmed purchase information to measure conversions. We do not include your evidence, registration, damage findings, email address or precise location in these advertising events.

7. International transfers

Our main application and support-email storage, and website server functions, use the United Kingdom. Other processing can take place outside the UK, including in the United States and the European Economic Area. This includes hosting support, sign-in, payments, AI checks, diagnostics, support correspondence and vehicle-data services. A UK server location does not mean all processing stays in the UK.

Our service providers may process information internationally, including in the United States, Germany, France, Ireland and Australia. The location depends on the service and its support arrangements. Australian plate lookup history is stored in Australia.

Where UK adequacy regulations cover a destination, they provide the transfer route. Other restricted transfers use applicable safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum. Some providers use the Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension for covered transfers, with contractual safeguards where applicable. Permission for AI checks does not waive these protections.

Email hello@pickuplens.app for details of relevant providers, destinations or transfer safeguards, or a copy of applicable contractual protections with unrelated confidential details removed.

8. How long we keep information

We keep account information, lookup history, original evidence, results and report revisions while your account remains open so you can use them after the rental. Completing a report or return scan does not delete the evidence. This is not permanent or unlimited archival storage.

Request deletion in the app’s Settings or the website’s Your reports page. If you cannot sign in, use the account-deletion page or email hello@pickuplens.app. We may verify your request. Once accepted, account access, browser sessions and private upload links are blocked. Deletion starts after a 24-hour delay so existing upload permissions can expire; failed steps are retried, so completion can take longer.

Deletion removes your stored originals, derived images, findings, reports, lookup history, purchase-credit records and PickupLens sign-in account. We also request deletion of the linked purchase-verification record and revoke Apple sign-in access where applicable. If we cannot revoke it directly, we explain how to remove PickupLens in your Apple Account settings. This does not delete your Apple or Google account or the stores’ own records.

In-app support messages are removed with your account. Email, diagnostic events and staff-access or incident records are handled separately. We keep identifiable information only while needed to deal with the enquiry or incident, verify a fix, investigate access, or meet a specific legal obligation or dispute. Contact us with your email or message reference about separate correspondence or diagnostic records; account deletion does not automatically locate every copy.

Application logs expire after 30 days. Automated database backups have one-day retention, subject to the backup service’s recovery cycle. Evidence versions remain until account deletion removes them. Backups are not accessible through a closed account, and any restoration must respect accepted deletion requests. Deletion does not promise that every provider or backup copy disappears at the same instant.

Download anything you need before deletion. Logging out or uninstalling does not close your account. Files exported, shared, or held on other devices are outside this process. A specific legal obligation or dispute can require limited records to remain for the necessary period; it does not permit us to keep all deleted evidence indefinitely.

• AI processing: submitted images and information can remain in provider security records for up to 30 days, with legal or safety exceptions including longer image-safety review. Temporary processing copies can remain for up to 24 hours. Account deletion does not instantly erase these records.
• Diagnostics: the provider’s standard event periods are 30 or 90 days depending on the service plan; custom arrangements can differ. Event backups can last 30 or 90 days from backup creation. We assess requests separately where an event cannot automatically be linked to a deleted account.
• Support email: private mail storage and delivery records have 90-day expiry, and mail logs have 30-day retention. Automatic removal can take time. Staff-support and former mailbox copies need separate removal when no longer needed for the enquiry, follow-up or a specific legal purpose. The staff platform’s backups can remain for 30 to 45 days after removal, with legal or safety exceptions.
• Website measurement: the visitor-session identifier is discarded after 24 hours, which does not erase all measurements. Current reporting windows are one month for visits and seven days for performance; provider retention can exceed those windows. Measurements support website improvement, while hosting and security records have separate operational and legal purposes. Withdrawing consent stops new optional measurements.
• Purchase verification: records remain for credit verification and reconciliation until deletion is requested. Provider backups, archives and legally required transaction records can remain separately. Store records are independent; Apple typically keeps purchase and download records for at least ten years, while Google’s periods depend on the information and applicable account, security and legal requirements.
• Vehicle services: reference-image API usage logs have a published 12-month period before aggregation and anonymisation. Some commercial plate-lookup services retain usage logs for 12 months. Other vehicle-data suppliers and public registers keep records for their stated operational and statutory purposes. Deleting PickupLens lookup history does not delete an underlying vehicle register.
• Advertising measurement: withdrawing permission stops new device measurement; it does not automatically delete events already delivered. Provider and advertising-platform retention periods depend on their service configuration and legal obligations. Contact us to request access or deletion of measurement information; we may need your assistance to identify the installation concerned.

9. Storage on your device

The app keeps evidence, scan details, unsynced review choices and upload progress privately on your device so you can continue through interruptions. Video import uses only the videos you select. iOS Photos import asks for library access; you can limit or revoke it in device settings or use Files instead. We do not upload unselected library items. Local evidence is not backed up until upload is confirmed, and logging out does not erase it.

The video-upload website uses browser storage for the private upload session, selected videos, prepared frames and progress. This storage supports the upload you requested and is not used for advertising. Use the option to remove completed browser copies, or clear this site’s data when you finish on a shared computer. Keep a separate copy of anything not yet uploaded.

Requesting deletion from a phone also attempts to remove that account’s local evidence from that phone. PickupLens cannot remotely erase exported files, operating-system backups or copies held by other apps, recipients or browsers. Check those locations separately.

10. Protecting your evidence and information

Original evidence is kept unchanged and separate from analysis copies, highlights and reports. Integrity records help detect changes but do not independently prove recording time.

We use appropriate safeguards, including access controls, encrypted connections and private storage, to protect personal information. No service can guarantee complete security, so you should also protect your device and Apple or Google account.

11. Your privacy rights

Under UK data-protection law, subject to the conditions and exceptions for each right, you can ask to access your personal information, correct inaccurate information, erase it, restrict its use, or receive information you provided in a portable format where processing is automated and based on consent or contract. You can withdraw consent at any time. Other applicable laws may provide additional rights.

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Email hello@pickuplens.app and explain the processing you object to; we will consider your circumstances and the legal grounds for continuing or stopping it.

Use the same email to exercise another right, correct account information or ask about information concerning you in someone else’s evidence. We may need proportionate information to confirm your identity or locate the relevant recording. We normally respond within one month, subject to any lawful pause or extension; if more time is needed, we explain why and the applicable deadline. Requests are normally free. We explain any lawful exception, refusal or fee and how to challenge it.

You can correct vehicle information and review suggestions before finalising a report. A correction to a final report is recorded as an amendment so the earlier evidence does not silently change. This does not remove any legal right to correction or deletion.

You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ if UK data-protection law applies, or to your local data-protection authority. You do not have to contact us first, although we welcome the chance to help.

12. Children

PickupLens is intended for adults who are legally able to rent or take responsibility for a vehicle. We do not direct the service to children. Footage can nevertheless contain people in the background; avoid including children or unrelated people where possible. Contact hello@pickuplens.app if you believe a child has provided information through an account or appears in evidence you are concerned about.

13. Website accounts, storage and support

Essential secure cookies keep you signed in. Browser sessions expire after seven days; signing out removes the session. Optional advertising measurement links are used only after your permission.

Cookie settings stores your measurement choice in this browser for 180 days. Essential only stops basic analytics, performance diagnostics and advertising attribution. Accept enables them. A previous refusal remains effective after expiry until you choose again. Clearing site data or changing browser removes this browser's choice, so basic analytics may start again where permitted by law. A materially changed consent purpose asks again. If storage cannot be read or a choice cannot be saved, measurements stay off for the current page. Essential sign-in and upload storage remains available.

Measurement covers public marketing pages, not sign-in, account, staff or private-upload pages. Approximate location helps us apply the relevant privacy choices; this does not request precise device location. We exclude query values, fragments, account identifiers and custom account activity from these tools. Providers can also receive standard referral information. Hosting and security records are separate.

Private upload pages store the expiring link and unfinished uploads in your browser. Completed uploads remove the local original-video copy; you can remove unfinished copies or clear site data. Uploaded evidence is kept under the account-retention rules above.

Authorised staff can access relevant customer information for support and service operations. Access and important changes are recorded. Internal support notes are not customer-visible, and submitting a support request does not itself issue a refund.

If you accept optional measurement, download buttons can use an advertising measurement link before opening the store. The provider receives the current public page, button placement, the first public page recorded in that browser tab after consent, and connection information. The first-page record stays in the tab’s storage until it closes or you withdraw permission; it does not include earlier visits. With Essential only, buttons go directly to the store. Matching installs and purchases also depends on mobile permissions and platform restrictions.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as PickupLens changes or legal requirements develop. If a change significantly affects how we use your information, we will provide a clear notice and ask for permission where required.

Last updated: 29 October 2026.