Privacy Policy
Last updated: 13 July 2026
Scale Motor Hobby is a small, one-person business. This policy explains — in plain English — what personal data we collect, why, and what your rights are under UK GDPR. We collect the absolute minimum needed to send you your file, and nothing more.
Who we are
Scale Motor Hobby is a sole trader business owned and run by Luke Ward, based in the UK. This means we are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Website: www.scalemotorhobby.com
Contact: scalemotorlw@gmail.com
What we do
Scale Motor Hobby is a web tool that generates custom 3D-printable scale model licence plate STL files. You type in the text you want on your plate, pay £2 via PayPal, and we email you the finished STL file.
What personal data we collect
We collect only what is needed to deliver your order:
- Email address — so we can send you your STL file after purchase.
- Payment information — handled entirely by PayPal. We never see or store your card details; PayPal processes your payment on its own systems under its own privacy policy.
- Order details — the plate type and text you enter, so the correct file can be generated and sent to you.
We do not collect your name, address, phone number, or any other personal details beyond the email address you provide for delivery.
Cookies and local storage
We do not use tracking or advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or marketing pixels of any kind. The only browser storage we use is essential sessionStorage/localStorage, used purely to hold your generated STL file in your browser during the purchase flow. This is cleared automatically once your file has been delivered.
Server logs
When you place an order, our hosting provider's server logs briefly record your email address and order details (plate type and text) as part of normal web server operation. These logs are retained only for as long as our hosting provider, Render, keeps them — typically a few days — after which they are automatically and permanently deleted. We do not manually extract, copy, or store this information elsewhere.
Why we process your data (legal basis)
We process your email address and order details under the legal basis of contract performance (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR). In other words: we collect your email solely because it is necessary to deliver the STL file you have paid for. We do not process your data for marketing, profiling, or any purpose beyond fulfilling your order.
How long we keep your data
- Email addresses are not stored in any database. They appear only briefly in server logs and are automatically purged by our hosting provider within a few days.
- STL files are deleted from our server immediately after they have been successfully emailed to you.
- We do not retain any personal data long-term, and we do not build up a customer database or mailing list.
Marketing and newsletters
We do not send marketing emails or newsletters, and we do not use your email address for anything other than delivering your purchased file. There is nothing to unsubscribe from because we never sign you up to anything beyond your one-off order.
Who we share your data with
We use a small number of trusted third-party services (data processors) to run Scale Motor Hobby. We do not sell or rent your data to anyone.
| Service | Purpose | What they see |
|---|---|---|
| PayPal (paypal.com) | Processes your £2 payment | Your payment details, handled entirely under PayPal's own privacy policy — we never see your card details. |
| Brevo, formerly Sendinblue (brevo.com) | Delivers your STL file by email (SMTP relay) | Your email address, used solely to send your order. |
| Render (render.com) | Hosts our website and server | Your email address and order details, briefly, in temporary server logs. |
Each of these providers acts as a data processor on our behalf and has its own privacy policy governing how it handles data.
International data transfers
Some of our service providers (such as PayPal and Brevo) may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, those providers maintain their own safeguards and standard contractual protections in line with UK GDPR requirements. We do not carry out any transfers ourselves beyond passing your email to these services to fulfil your order.
Your rights under UK GDPR
Because we hold hardly any personal data (no long-term storage, no database), most requests will be quick and simple to resolve. You have the right to:
- Access — ask what personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data.
- Erasure — ask us to delete your data (in most cases, there will be little or nothing left to delete, as logs are purged automatically within days).
- Restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data.
- Portability — ask for a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Object — object to how we process your data.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at scalemotorlw@gmail.com. We will respond as promptly as possible.
How we protect your data
We keep the amount of personal data we handle to an absolute minimum by design — we don't store emails in a database, we don't keep STL files after delivery, and we rely on reputable, security-conscious providers (PayPal, Brevo, and Render) to handle payment, email delivery, and hosting.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first at scalemotorlw@gmail.com so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy occasionally to reflect changes in how Scale Motor Hobby operates. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, email us at scalemotorlw@gmail.com.