Martins Group, a trading division of Saftdwin Limited (“we”/”us”) are committed to protecting and respecting any personal information you share with us.
This statement describes what types of information we collect from you, how it is used by us, how we share it with others, how you can manage the information we hold and how you can contact us.
We will always give you the option not to receive marketing communications from us. We will never send you unsolicited ‘junk’ email or communications, or share your data with anyone else who might. We do not sell your information to third parties, but we do work closely with selected partners who help us to provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us. For example the companies who provide roadside assistance on our behalf.
The contents of this statement may change from time to time so you may wish to check this page occasionally to ensure you are still happy to share your information with us. Where possible, we will also contact you directly to notify you of these changes.
This version of our Privacy Statement is live from March 2025
Privacy Policy
This privacy policy sets out how The Martins Group uses and protects any information that you give Martins when you conduct business with ourselves.
You have the right to be forgotten, deleted or removed of all personal data. To make changes visit http://www.martins.uk.com/data-preferences/
The Martins Group is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
The Martins Group may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from March 2025.
As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers we record all telephone calls answered in our contact centres. This helps us to identify ways that we can provide you with a better service.
What we collect
We may collect the following information:
- name and job title
- contact information including email address
- demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
- other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
We record calls:
- for staff training purposes, helping us to improve the quality of our customer service and to ensure the information we provide is consistent and accurate
- for reporting on the types and numbers of enquiries we receive
- so we can find ways to simplify and improve our service to you,
We understand your personal information is important and we are committed to protecting your privacy.
We generally store the recordings securely for up to 60 days and delete them after this period unless the recording is retained:
- for the purposes of more particular coaching or complaint investigation
- as required under legislation or industry codes
What we do with the information we gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
- Internal record keeping.
- We may use the information to improve our products and services.
- We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
- From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. For information about how our website uses cookies, please see our Cookies Policy.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict part or all of the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
- whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
- if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at addresses shown in ‘contact us’ on the website.
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998 or as amended. A small fee may be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to us.
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
To make changes visit http://www.martins.uk.com/data-preferences/
What information do we collect?
We collect information about you and your vehicle when you engage with our website, applications or directly with ourselves. We only collect information which is necessary, relevant and adequate for the purpose you are providing it for.
We collect information about you or your vehicle when you use Martins Group’s websites, applications and our service centres. Some of this information does not identify you personally, but provides us with information about how you use our services and engage with us (we use this information to improve our services and make them more useful to you). The information we collect includes some or all of the following:
- Name (including title);
- Address;
- Phone number;
- Date of birth;
- Email address;
- Vehicle information (including registration number, VIN, service reminders, mileage and warranty repair information);
- The date and time you used our services;
- The pages you visited on our website and how long you visited us for;
- Your IP address;
- Your GPS location (where you have permitted access to this);
- The internet browser and devices you are using;
- Cookie, Pixels or Beacon information (for more information please see our Cookie Policy);
- The website address from which you accessed our website;
- Details of any transactions between you and us or any authorised repairer;
- Where you engage with us in a business context, we may collect your job title, company contact details (including email addresses), fleet size and company details (some of which we may obtain from an online or public business directories);
- Voice recordings of calls you make to our customer service centre;
- “Live chat” records; and
- Any information within correspondence you send to us.
How do we use this information?
Martins Group will only process information that is necessary for the purpose for which it has been collected. You will always have the option not to receive marketing communications from us (and you can withdraw your consent or object at any time). We will never send you unsolicited ‘junk’ email or communications, or share your personal information with anyone else who might.
There are various ways in which we may use or process your personal information. We list these below:
Consent
Where you have provided your consent, we may use and process your information to:
- Contact you from time to time about promotions, events, products, services or information which we think may be of interest to you (don’t worry, we won’t bombard you);
- To share your personal information with our recommended third party partners, so that they can contact you with marketing information about their products and services (we will, of course, give your details about these third parties before you give your permission for us to send information to them).
You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us on the details provided within the 'How can I manage the information we hold about you' section below or, in relation to any marketing messages you receive, by using the unsubscribe option included in those messages.
Contractual performance
We may use and process your personal information where this is necessary to perform a contract with you and to fulfil and complete your orders, purchases and other transactions entered into with us.
Legitimate interests
We may use and process your personal information as set out below where it is necessary for us to carry out activities for which it is in our legitimate interests as a business to do so.
Processing necessary for us to support customers with sales and other enquiries
- To respond to correspondence you send to us and fulfil the requests you make to us (for example: test drives, service requests, brochure requests or information about specific vehicles);
- To provide vehicle support and services (for example warranty services);
Processing necessary for us to respond to understanding customers’ and drivers’ needs
- To analyse, evaluate and improve our products and services so that your visit and use of our website, applications, customer service centre and authorised repairer network are more useful and enjoyable (we will generally use data amalgamated from many people so that it doesn’t identify you personally);
- To undertake market analysis and research (including contacting you with customer surveys) so that we can better understand you as a customer and provide tailored offers, products and services that we think you will be interested in. We will only send marketing communications to you if you have provided your consent for us to do so or which we have obtained in the ways mentioned in the paragraphs above;
- For product development purposes (for example to improve vehicle quality, performance and safety);
- In some cases we may use automated methods to analyse, combine and evaluate information that you have provided to us. We collect and analyse this information in this way so that we can deliver the most appropriate customer experience to you by tailoring and making relevant all our service and communications (for example, when your mileage suggests your vehicle is due for a service);
Processing necessary for us to promote our business, brands and products and measure the reach and effectiveness of our campaigns
- To send you marketing information from time to time after you have purchased a product or service from us or made a purchasing enquiry, closed your browser with items in your shopping basket or requested a test drive, brochure or other information of interest. We will only contact you with information about our own products and services (and in ways the law allows), which we hope you will like. You have the right to object to us sending you this information at any time;
- To contact you from time to time with marketing information (unless you object) if you have expressly indicated to us that you are acting on behalf of a business or where we have obtained your business contact details from our authorised repairer network or an online or public business directory. In relation to any such information we send by email or SMS, we will include an option allowing you to object to receiving future messages by unsubscribing;
- To contact you with targeted advertising delivered online through social media and other platforms operated by other companies, unless you object. You may receive advertising based on information about you that we have provided to the platform or because, at our request, the platform has identified you as having similar attributes to the individuals whose details it has received from us. To find out more, please refer to the information provided in the help pages of the platforms on which you receive advertising from us;
- To identify and record when you have received, opened or engaged with our website or electronic communications (please see our Cookie Policy for more information);
- To administer competitions and promotions that you enter with us from time to time and to distribute prizes;
- To verify the accuracy of information that we hold about you and create a better understanding of you as a customer;
- For network and information security purposes i.e. in order for us to take steps to protect your information against loss, damage, theft or unauthorised access;
- To comply with a request from you in connection with the exercise of your rights (for example where you have asked us not to contact you for marketing purposes, we will keep a record of this on our suppression lists in order to be able to comply with your request);
- To inform you of updates to our terms and conditions and policies.
Legal obligation
We may process your personal information to comply with our legal requirements (for example to register your car with the DVLA).
Vital interest
Sometimes we will need to process your personal information to contact you if there is an urgent safety or product recall notice and we need to tell you about it.
How do we share this information?
We do not sell your information to third parties, but we do work closely with third party suppliers who fulfil business activities for us (like roadside assistance, marketing, events and market research etc.)
We do not sell your information to third parties. However, we may from time to time disclose your information to the following categories of companies or organisations to which we pass the responsibility to handle services on our behalf: roadside assistance service providers, customer contact centres, mobility and car hire providers, direct marketing communications agencies and consultants, market research and market analytics service providers, our legal and other professional advisors.
We take steps to ensure that any third-party partners who handle your information comply with data protection legislation and protect your information just as we do. We only disclose personal information that is necessary for them to provide the service that they are undertaking on our behalf. We will aim to anonymise your information or use aggregated none specific data sets where ever possible.
There are circumstances where we share your information within our Group or Brands in order to fulfil orders, transactions, handle complaints or provide you with a service or information that you have requested. For example; we will share information with Brand Financial Services where you enquire about their services through us or where you make a complaint to us and later make the same or similar complaint to them. Brand Financial Services may use your information to provide you with information and carry out their obligations arising from contracts you enter into with them. For more information, please see their privacy statement. www.volkswagen.co.uk/privacy / www.renault.co.uk/privacy.html / www.nissan.co.uk/legal/privacy.html / www.dacia.co.uk/legal-and-privacy.html
How long do we keep your information for?
We will not hold your personal information in an identifiable format for any longer than is necessary. If you are a customer or otherwise have a relationship with us we will hold personal information about you for a longer period than if we have obtained your details in connection with a prospective relationship.
We do not retain personal information in an identifiable format for longer than is necessary.
If we have a relationship with you (e.g. you are a customer or the registered driver of a leased or other vehicle purchased from us or an authorised repairer), we hold your personal information for 6 years from the date our relationship ends. We hold your personal information for this period to establish, bring or defend legal claims. Our relationship may end for a number of reasons including where the vehicle warranty or lease expires, or we have been made aware that you no longer own or drive that vehicle.
Where we have obtained your personal information following a request for information, test drive, brochure, quotation or any other information on any of our products or services, we hold your personal information for 1 year and 6 months from the date we collect that information, unless during that period we form a relationship with you e.g. you purchase or lease a vehicle, or use our aftersales service (service, repair, MOT, etc.) We hold your personal information for this period to give us an opportunity to form a relationship with you.
The only exceptions to the periods mentioned above are where:
- The law requires us to hold your personal information for a longer period, or delete it sooner;
- Where you have raised a complaint or concern regarding a product or service offered by us, in which case we will retain your information for a period of 6 years following the date of that complaint or query; or
- You exercise your right to have the information erased (where it applies) and we do not need to hold it in connection with any of the reasons permitted or required under the law (see further How can I manage the information we hold about you);
How can I manage the information we hold about you?
You have the right as an individual to access your personal information we hold about you and make corrections if necessary. You also have the right to withdraw any consent you have previously given us and ask us to erase information we hold about you.
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information under data protection law. In relation to most rights, we will ask you for information to confirm your identity and, where applicable, to help us search for your personal information. Except in rare cases, we will respond to you within 30 days after we have received any request (including any identification documents requested).
You have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the information that we hold about you;
- Correct and update your information;
- Withdraw your consent (where we rely on it). Please see further How do we use this information;
- Object to our use of your information (where we rely on our legitimate interests to use your personal information) provided we do not have any continuing lawful reason to continue to use and process the information. When we do rely on our legitimate interests to use your personal information for direct marketing, we will always comply with your right to object;
- Erase your information (or restrict the use of it), provided we do not have any continuing lawful reason to continue to use and process that information;
- Transfer your information in a structured data file (in a commonly used and machine readable format), where we rely on your consent to use and process your personal information or need to process it in connection with your contract.
You can exercise the above rights and/or manage your information by contacting us using the details below:
Post: Martins Group, London Road, Hatch, Basingstoke, RG24 7NZ
Email:
gdpr@martins.uk.com
If you have any specific data protection concerns or a complaint, you can address it to our Data Protection Team at the above contact address.
If you are unhappy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection regulator in Europe, in particular in a country you work or live or where your legal rights have been infringed. The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office, the data protection regulator in the UK, are below:
Post: Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
What are cookies?
"Cookies" are small text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website.
They allow the website to recognise your device and remember if you've been to the website before.
Cookies are very common web technology - most websites use cookies and have done for years. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work more efficiently, as well as providing information to the owners of websites.
Cookies are used to measure which parts of the website people visit and to customise your experience. Cookies also provide information that helps us monitor and improve the website's performance.
You can read more about the different types of cookies that we use on this website on this page.
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your computer and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org
For information about how our website uses cookies, please see our Cookies Policy.
Our Providers.
Our website is provided by Bluesky Interactive Ltd (“Bluesky”), our third party web services provider. Bluesky is committed to ensuring that data is processed in accordance with applicable data privacy laws, and is kept secure. Bluesky is certified to the standard of ISO27001 (an international standard for information security). Bluesky uses Amazon Web Services, Inc. as its cloud platform provider. All data processed by Bluesky is stored on Amazon’s web servers in the EEA.
When you visit our website
When someone visits our website, Bluesky collects standard internet log information (your IP address, browser, and type of device) and details of visitor behaviour patterns (where you joined our site from, the path you take through our site and where you leave). These are stored against unique IDs (which are strings of numbers). Bluesky collects this information for the legitimate business purpose of monitoring the number of visitors to the various parts of the site, the general geographic location of visitors and engagement levels, which in turn enables it to make improvements to its websites and services, and provide business intelligence. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. It is kept indefinitely. Bluesky also uses Google Analytics to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns, which are stored against unique IDs (i.e. strings of numbers). We collect this information for the legitimate business purpose of monitoring website traffic and engagement levels, which in turn enables us to make improvements to our website and the way we sell our cars and services. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. It is kept indefinitely.
When you use our enquiry forms
When you submit information using an online form, Bluesky processes the data collected and stores it for 31 days for the legitimate business purpose of enabling us to access the information and deal with your request (it is then kept for a further 14 days in Bluesky routine back-ups for business continuity purposes). If you enter your post code, Bluesky stores the first part of it (e.g. ‘ME14’ or ‘SW1’) and links it to standard internet log information already collected (it is used for the same purposes as that information, as outlined above).
When you use our LiveChat service
We use a third party provider, Gubagoo Inc.to supply and support our LiveChat service. If you use the LiveChat service we will collect your name and email address if you provide this and any other personal information that you volunteer to us. This is used for the legitimate business purpose of handling customer enquiries in real time and then following up. This data is stored by Gubagoo for 2 years to enable us to access the information and deal with your enquiry. Gubagoo stores the information in the US under the EU-US privacy shield framework. Please see Gubagoo’s privacy policy for more information on how they use your data. https://www.gubagoo.com/about/policy.
Ver.7.1
Reviewed by GDPR Officers