Last updated: 7 September 2026
Sites: pcflipper.co.uk and pcflipper.uk
This explains what we collect and why. It sits next to our Terms. By creating an account you agree to both.
PC Flipper is a UK marketplace noticeboard. We are the controller of personal data collected on the site.
Account: name, email, password (stored hashed), optional profile details, role (including admin). Listings: titles, descriptions, specs, prices in GBP, location, photos (compressed), status, dates. Messages between users about ads. Watchlists, sold-buyer links, reviews (including pending stranger reviews). Technical: IP address, browser, cookies needed to keep you signed in and keep the site working. We do not collect card numbers for sales, because we do not take payment between buyers and sellers.
To run the site: accounts, ads, messages, reviews, safety (bans, fraud), and to contact you in-app (for example when an ad becomes Inactive after 2 months, or when someone reviews you). Legal bases we rely on: contract (providing the service you signed up for), legitimate interests (keeping the marketplace fair and secure), and consent where we ask for it.
We do not sell your data. We may share with: hosting and infrastructure providers who process data for us in order to run the site; the law, if required; the other user, where that is the point (your public ad, a review you published, a message you sent). Public ads, public reviews, and your public profile name are visible to guests.
Under UK GDPR, we follow the storage limitation principle: we do not keep personal data longer than we need it for the purposes we collected it. Below is our retention schedule.
| Data | How long we keep it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account (name, email, hashed password, avatar, profile) | While your account is open. After you close/delete it: we delete or anonymise within 30 days, unless we must keep a thin record for safety (ban/fraud) | Provide the service; honour erasure |
| Listings (title, description, specs, photos, location, status) | While the listing is on your account. After you remove it or mark sold: keep up to 24 months, then delete or anonymise content/photos | Disputes, abuse, trust |
| Messages (DMs about ads) | While needed for the conversation and your account. After account closure: delete or anonymise with the account within 30 days | Messaging feature |
| Reviews you publish / receive | While published. After account closure: up to 24 months, then anonymise or remove where we can | Marketplace trust |
| Watchlists / likes | While account open; deleted with account (within 30 days) | Feature |
| Contact-form messages | Up to 24 months | Reply to enquiries |
| Security / server logs (e.g. IP, technical) | Up to 12 months | Security, abuse |
| Listing-fee / invoice records (if/when we charge listing fees) | Up to 6 years | Tax / legal record-keeping |
| Backups | Follow backup rotation; purged on the backup cycle after primary deletion (target within 90 days) | Continuity |
What this means: We do not keep chat forever "just in case", and we do not hold onto old listings indefinitely. If your account is deactivated or you delete it, it is permanently removed within the 30-day window. We may keep minimal data where the law requires it or for establishing/defending legal claims and safety (for example, if an account was banned for fraud).
You may request access to your data or ask us to erase it via our Contact page.
You can ask to access, correct, delete, or restrict your data, and to object to some processing. You can complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk). Use our Contact page to make a request.
We use cookies or local storage to keep you signed in and for basic site function. Not for third-party advertising.
The site is not for under-18s.
We will update this policy as the product grows. The date at the top will change.