Your privacy

What we receive

When you check a car, its registration is sent to Sweep’s server, which looks it up with the DVSA MOT History API (and the DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service, where available) and sends back the official record. The response is cached for up to 24 hours so repeat checks don’t call the government services again. We don’t record who checked which registration, unless you’re signed in, when it’s saved to your account’s My checks.

Our server runs on Cloudflare, which sees your IP address to deliver the page. We use it only to stop any one visitor making too many checks in a short time, and we don’t store it.

Advert history

When someone using the Sweep browser extension opens a car advert on AutoTrader, eBay, Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace, the extension sends Sweep the car’s registration, which site it’s on, the advert’s link, and the asking price and mileage the advert shows. We keep these with the dates the advert was first and last seen, so a car check can show where a car has been advertised and how its price and mileage changed. The extension also sends short fingerprints of the advert’s photos, so it can spot the same photos used on other adverts.

We don’t record who viewed an advert, and we never store the seller’s name, contact details or location. Sweep only records adverts that extension users open themselves; it doesn’t search or crawl the marketplace sites.

Checking an advert

When you paste an advert into “Check the advert” on a car check, or type its price and mileage, the check runs in your browser. The text isn’t sent to Sweep or anyone else, and it isn’t saved, not even in your browser: it’s gone when you leave the page. Sweep never opens the advert or its link itself.

The Sweep browser extension

The extension reads only what’s visible on the car advert you have open on AutoTrader, eBay, Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace. It reads the number plate from the advert’s photos on your computer: the photos are never uploaded. It never opens marketplace pages by itself.

It sends Sweep’s server:

• the advert history and photo fingerprints described above, unless you turn off “Help build car histories” in the extension
• a registration, when you ask to see its MOT history, to look it up with the DVSA
• the make, model and year of the car, to show what similar cars are asking on eBay
• the site and advert number of cars on your shortlist, twice a day, to tell you if the price drops

None of these include anything about you. Your shortlist, the plates you type, the car you bought and its reminders, and your settings stay in the extension on your computer. Uninstalling the extension deletes them.

What stays in your browser

These are saved in your browser’s local storage and never leave your device:

• your last five checks
• the cars you save to your garage, with their MOT and tax dates (also in your account, if you sign in)
• whether you prefer the light or dark theme

Clear your browser’s data for this site to delete them.

Accounts

An account is optional. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address from Google and keep them to run your account, along with the cars you save to your garage, the cars you check while signed in (registration, name, score and date, shown on My checks) and any problems you report. We never post anything or share them. Ask us and we’ll delete your account and everything in it.

If you make an account with a passkey (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello or your phone), we keep only the name you give, if any, and your device’s public key. Your fingerprint or face never leaves your device, and there’s no password for anyone to steal.

Problem reports

If you report a problem with a check, we keep the registration, what you told us and, if you gave one, your email address, so we can look into it and reply.

Contact messages

If you send us a message, we keep it with your email address (and your name, if you gave one) so we can reply. Ask us and we’ll delete it.

Cookies and tracking

If you sign in, the site sets one cookie to keep you signed in (and a short-lived one during sign-in). There are no advertising or analytics trackers.

Partner links

When you follow a partner link, we count the click (which partner, which page and when) to see which offers are useful. We don’t record who clicked or which car.

Full history checks

When you choose a full history check, you leave Sweep for motorscan.co.uk, and the registration you checked is passed to it so you don’t have to type it again. Anything you enter there, including payment, is handled by Motorscan under its own privacy policy. Motorscan records that you came from Sweep so it can pay our commission; we aren’t sent your details.

Calendar reminders

“Remind me” downloads a calendar file made in your browser. You add it to your own calendar; we don’t send reminders or keep your details.

Contact

Questions about privacy: use the contact form and choose “My data or privacy”.