Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 April 2026

StokeFuel ("we", "us", or "our") operates the website stokefuel.co.uk. This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our service.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

We collect information you voluntarily provide when using our services:

• Email address - when signing up for price alerts or submitting feedback
• Postcode - when you enter one to show nearby fuel prices
• Feedback or station report details - when you submit the feedback form or report an issue with a station

1.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, our server logs the following to a first-party database table (visits) for operational and security purposes:

• IP address - used for rough geolocation and to rate-limit abusive traffic
• User-agent string - the browser and operating system reported by your device
• Referrer - the page that linked you to us, if any
• Page visited - the URL path on stokefuel.co.uk

If you use the "find stations near me" button, your browser will ask your permission to share precise location (GPS). This is only used in the browser to sort stations by distance — the GPS coordinates are never sent to our server.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data for:

• Providing fuel price comparison services
• Sending price alert notifications (if you have subscribed)
• Responding to feedback or station reports you submit
• Monitoring site performance, uptime, and detecting abuse (via the first-party visits log)
• Improving our website

We do not display advertisements, we do not run any third-party analytics or advertising tracker, and we do not sell or share your data with marketers.

3. Cookies and Tracking

3.1 What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit websites.

3.2 Cookies We Use

StokeFuel sets no cookies at all on ordinary visits to the public site. You can verify this in your browser's developer tools under Storage → Cookies.

The one exception is the administrator area (/admin.php), which sets a session cookie to keep the site owner logged in. Ordinary visitors never see this cookie.

Cookie	Purpose	Duration
PHPSESSID (admin only)	Keeps the site administrator authenticated on /admin.php. Strictly necessary under the ICO's cookie guidance and never set for regular visitors.	Until browser closes or 2 hours idle

4. Third-Party Services

StokeFuel is deliberately light on third parties.

4.1 Fuel price data

Station prices come from the UK Competition and Markets Authority's Fuel Finder scheme and from retailers' own public feeds. We pull these feeds on a schedule — no personal data about you is sent to them.

4.2 Postcode lookup

When you type a postcode, we resolve it to approximate coordinates via the free postcodes.io service run by Ideal Postcodes. The postcode is sent, but no other information that could identify you.

4.3 Charts

The 30-day price chart is drawn by Chart.js, loaded from a public CDN (cdn.jsdelivr.net). Loading the script causes your browser to make an HTTP request to that CDN; we have no other relationship with the CDN operator.

4.4 Email delivery

Confirmation emails, weekly price digests and price-drop alerts are sent through Brevo (Sendinblue SAS), an EU-based transactional email provider that acts as our data processor. When you subscribe, your email address and postcode are shared with Brevo solely so they can deliver mail on our behalf. Brevo is based in France and stores message data within the EU. We have a data processing agreement in place with them and do not permit them to use your data for their own purposes.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. Limited sharing is restricted to:

• Our hosting provider (currently Hostinger), who necessarily sees server logs to operate the VPS
• Our email delivery provider (Brevo / Sendinblue SAS, EU) — processes subscriber email addresses on our instructions only
• Legal authorities if required by law
• Business successors in case of merger or acquisition

6. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access - Request a copy of your personal data
• Rectification - Correct inaccurate data
• Erasure - Request deletion of your data
• Restrict processing - Limit how we use your data
• Data portability - Receive your data in a portable format
• Object - Object to processing for marketing purposes
• Withdraw consent - Remove consent at any time

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@stokefuel.co.uk

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures including:

• SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit
• Secure server infrastructure
• Regular security updates
• Access controls for personal data

However, no internet transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data for:

• Email subscribers - Until you unsubscribe, then deleted within 30 days
• Feedback and station reports - Up to 12 months, then deleted
• Visit log (IP, user-agent, referrer, page) - up to 12 months, then deleted

9. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "last updated" date.

11. Contact Us

For privacy-related enquiries:

• Email: privacy@stokefuel.co.uk
• Website: stokefuel.co.uk/contact

12. Supervisory Authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
ico.org.uk