Privacy Policy
Who we are
Cars 4 Rental runs cars4rental.co.uk, a website that helps you search and compare car hire from rental companies worldwide. We do not rent cars ourselves. Bookings and payments are made with our partner Discover Cars, on their website.
This policy explains what personal information we collect when you use our website or contact us, why we use it, and the rights you have. It is written to meet the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
For this website, the data controller is Cars 4 Rental. Our address is Henry House, 275 New North Road, London N1 7AA.
If you have any question about this policy or your information, email us at bookings@cars4rental.co.uk or use our contact form.
The information we collect
We collect only what we need to run the site, answer you, and understand how the site is used. You do not need an account to use cars4rental.co.uk.
- When you contact us. Through our contact form or by email: your name, email address, and your message. Your phone number and booking number are optional.
- When you search for a car. Your pick-up and drop-off locations, dates and times, your country of residence and your driver age band. We do not ask for your name or email to search.
- When you visit the site. Technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you request. Our web server records this automatically.
- If you accept statistics cookies. How you use the site: pages viewed, time on page, how you arrived, which offers you click, and your approximate location (town or region). See the Cookies and analytics section below.
- From Discover Cars. Reports on bookings that started on our site, such as the booking date, value and status. We use these to receive our commission.
We never see or store your payment card details, driving licence or passport. You give these to Discover Cars or the rental company when you book and collect the car.
Please do not send us sensitive information, such as health details, through the contact form. We do not need it to help you.
How we use your information
UK GDPR requires a lawful basis for each use of personal information. Ours are set out below.
| What we do | Information used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Show you car hire results and prices | Search details | Legitimate interests: giving you the results you asked for |
| Pass you to Discover Cars to book, and show that the booking came from us | The offer you choose, search details, our partner reference | Legitimate interests: earning the commission that funds the site |
| Answer your questions, including about a booking | Name, email, phone, booking number, message | Legitimate interests: helping you |
| Keep the site secure, stop abuse and fix faults | Server logs, IP address | Legitimate interests: running a safe, working website |
| Measure how the site is used so we can improve it | Google Analytics data | Consent, given through our cookie banner |
| Remember your cookie choices | Your consent record | Legal obligation: we must be able to show what you agreed to |
| Keep tax and accounting records | Commission reports | Legal obligation |
| Deal with legal claims or disputes | Whatever is relevant to the claim | Legitimate interests: protecting our legal rights |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed our interests against your rights and expectations. You can object to any of these uses; see Your rights below.
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect anything we did before you withdrew.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. We do not send marketing emails.
Car searches and bookings through Discover Cars
Our search results come from Discover Cars, operated by Discover Car Hire AS, Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve 2, Rīga, LV-1004, Latvia. We are a Discover Cars partner and earn a commission on bookings made through our site. The price you pay is not affected.
- When you search, our server sends your search details to Discover Cars to fetch live prices. Your search goes from our server, not your browser. Car photos and supplier logos in the results may load from Discover Cars’ servers, so they will see your IP address.
- When you choose an offer and click through, you go to the Discover Cars website. The link carries our partner reference so Discover Cars can tell the booking came from us.
- When you book, you give your name, contact details, driver details and payment directly to Discover Cars. Discover Cars and the rental company you book with are responsible for that information, as independent data controllers. Their own privacy and cookie policies apply, including any cookies they set on their site.
You can read the Discover Cars privacy policy and cookie policy on their website. For questions about a booking’s personal data, you can contact Discover Cars at legal@discovercarhire.com. We are also happy to help you get in touch.
Cookies and analytics
We only set non-essential cookies if you agree to them. When you first visit, our cookie banner (run by the Complianz plugin) asks for your choice. Google Analytics does not load until you accept statistics cookies.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Type | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cmplz_* (for example cmplz_statistics, cmplz_banner-status) | Cars 4 Rental (Complianz) | Remembers your cookie choices so we don’t ask on every page | Strictly necessary | 365 days |
| _ga | Google Analytics | Tells one visitor from another, without identifying you by name | Statistics, needs consent | 2 years |
| _ga_[ID] | Google Analytics | Keeps track of your current visit | Statistics, needs consent | 2 years |
Google Analytics shows us trends, such as which pages are popular and how people find the site. Google says it does not log or store IP addresses from UK, EU or Swiss users; it uses them only to estimate a rough location, then discards them. Read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time using the Manage consent link at the bottom of every page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The essential site will still work.
Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie currently in use and is updated automatically when that changes. Discover Cars sets its own cookies once you move to their website; see their cookie policy.
Who we share your information with
We share personal information only with the companies that help us run the site, and only as much as they need. Each one acting on our behalf is bound by a contract to protect your information and to use it only on our instructions.
| Who | What they do for us | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger International Ltd | Hosts our website and its database, including contact form messages and server logs | Servers in the UK |
| Proton AG (Proton Mail) | Our business email, so receives anything you email us | Switzerland |
| Google (Google Ireland Limited and Google LLC) | Website analytics, only if you accept statistics cookies | EU and USA |
| Discover Car Hire AS | Supplies search results and handles bookings, as an independent controller | Latvia (EU) |
We may also share information:
- with our professional advisers, such as accountants and lawyers, under a duty of confidentiality;
- with the police, regulators or courts, where the law requires it or to prevent fraud;
- with a buyer, if we sell or reorganise our business. They would have to respect this policy.
We do not sell or rent your personal information to anyone.
International transfers
Some of the companies above handle information outside the UK. Each transfer is protected in one of these ways:
- Switzerland and the EU (Proton, Discover Cars, Google Ireland). The UK government recognises these countries as giving adequate protection to personal information.
- USA (Google LLC). Google LLC is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, often called the UK-US data bridge. Where that does not apply, Google uses the UK’s approved international data transfer clauses.
You can ask us for more detail on how a particular transfer is protected.
How long we keep your information
We keep information only as long as we need it, then delete it or make it anonymous.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Contact form messages and emails | 2 years after our last contact with you |
| Search details | Not stored against you; cached results are cleared within 24 hours |
| Web server logs | 30 days |
| Google Analytics data | 24 months, then deleted automatically by Google |
| Your cookie choices | 365 days on your device, then we ask again |
| Commission and accounting records | 6 years after the end of the financial year, as UK tax law requires |
We may keep information longer if we need it for a legal claim or the law requires it.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it;
- correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- delete your information, where we have no good reason to keep it;
- restrict how we use your information, for example while we check a complaint;
- object to uses based on our legitimate interests;
- move information you gave us to another organisation, in a common electronic format;
- withdraw consent at any time, for example to analytics cookies.
To use any of these rights, email bookings@cars4rental.co.uk or use our contact form. Tell us which right you are using and give enough detail for us to find your information.
We will reply within one month. If your request is complex, we may extend this by up to two more months and will tell you why. There is normally no charge. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act.
For information Discover Cars holds about your booking, contact Discover Cars directly, as explained in the Car searches and bookings section above.
Security, children and other websites
Security. The whole site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Only authorised people can access our website systems and email, and we keep our software up to date. No website is completely secure, so please take care with what you send online.
Children. Our site is for adults planning car hire, and most rental companies require drivers to be at least 21. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you think a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Other websites. Our pages link to other websites, including Discover Cars, travel guides and our social media pages. This policy does not cover them. Please read their own privacy policies.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first. You can complain through our contact form, by email to bookings@cars4rental.co.uk, or by post to our address above.
We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and look into it without undue delay. We will keep you updated, then tell you the outcome.
If you are still not satisfied, you can complain to the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when the way we use personal information changes. The latest version will always be on this page. If a change significantly affects you, we will make it clear on the site.
Last updated: 14 October 2026.