Privacy Policy

UK ETA Assist Online ("we", "us", or "our") respects your privacy and values your trust above all else. This policy explains, in plain English, how we gather, process, safeguard, and disclose your personal details when you access our website or use our UK ETA document review and application assistance services.

We deliver travel documentation assistance globally, including to applicants residing in the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), and United States (US). Consequently, we align our data operations with relevant global privacy standards:

• EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR – Regulation 2016/679)
• UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
• Applicable US state privacy legislation and international data privacy laws

For all privacy inquiries, data rights requests, or supervisory communications, please contact our privacy compliance team via the contact form.

1. Personal Information We Collect

Information Provided Directly by You

To fulfill your application, we collect personal data including:

• Identification Data: Full name, date of birth, gender, and nationality.
• Travel Document Details: Passport number, issuance and expiration dates, issuing authority, and digital passport scans/images.
• Verification Media: Facial photographs or selfies submitted to verify identity against your passport.
• Contact Information: Email address, mobile/telephone number, and home address.
• Journey Details: Intended arrival dates, point of entry, and travel purpose.
• Statutory Declarations: Criminal background or offense declarations strictly where mandated by official immigration entry questionnaires.
• Billing Reference Data: Payment confirmation identifiers. (Complete credit/debit card numbers are handled directly by certified third-party payment gateways and are never stored on our servers.)
• Support Inquiries: Transcripts and correspondence sent through our contact channels.

Technical & Usage Information Collected Automatically

When navigating our portal, our systems automatically collect:

• Network identifiers (IP address and approximate geographic location).
• Device characteristics, browser specifications, and operating system details.
• Navigation paths, time spent on pages, referral links, and cookie interactions (see "Cookies" below).

Third-Party Data Sources

Where permitted by law, we may receive verification signals from accredited identity checks, anti-fraud systems, or payment processors to validate transactions.

2. How We Process Your Data & Legal Grounds

We rely on defined legal bases under UK/EU GDPR to process your personal data:

3. Special Category Data, Biometrics & Automated Checks

Biometric Safeguards

Facial imagery and passport photo uploads used to confirm applicant identity may be categorized as biometric data under applicable law. We handle this sensitive data under explicit user consent and strict necessity.

• Encryption: Biometric media is encrypted during transmission and storage using industry-standard protocols.
• Access Control: Restricted strictly to technical staff directly processing your filing.
• Zero Commercial Use: Biometric assets are never analyzed for marketing, user profiling, or commercial resale.
• Accelerated Deletion: Media files are purged under our accelerated removal schedule below.

Automated Checks & Human Oversight

We utilize automated matching software to compare selfie images against passport documentation to detect fraud. These tools assist—but do not replace—human review. No final decision leading to application rejection or legal consequence is taken solely via automated processing. Applicants can request a manual human review of automated checks by contacting us via the contact form.

4. Cookies

Our website utilizes cookie files and similar technical tracking to maintain portal stability, evaluate site traffic, and support user preferences. We use a small number of essential cookies to keep you signed in; we do not use advertising cookies on our website.

Cookie Choices

When launching our portal, our banner allows you to select:

• Accept All: Enables necessary, analytical, and functional optimization cookies.
• Necessary Only: Restricts tracking exclusively to essential operational cookies.

Categories

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for session management, application step retention, portal security, and secure checkout. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics & Preference Cookies: Allow us to evaluate visitor engagement, detect software errors, and store language settings. Enabled only with your consent.

You may update your preferences at any time by clearing browser cookies or contacting our team.

5. Data Sharing & Third-Party Vendors

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes. We share data solely with:

• Immigration Authorities: Government agencies (such as HM Government / Home Office) necessary to process your travel authorization.
• Service Infrastructure Partners: Vetted third-party suppliers, including secure cloud hosting providers, encrypted payment gateways, and customer support ticket systems operating under binding Data Processing Agreements (DPAs).
• Legal Authorities: Regulatory agencies, law enforcement, or judicial bodies when legally mandated.
• Fraud Prevention Partners: Third-party anti-fraud engines to evaluate platform security risks.
• Note: Our platform may contain links to external websites, software, or integrations. We have no control over, and accept no responsibility for, the content, security practices, terms, or privacy policies of any third-party site or service, and you access and use such tools entirely at your own risk. In order to provide our services effectively, we may work with trusted third-party service providers — for example, secure payment processors and customer support platforms — each of whom processes user data only under binding data protection agreements.

6. Data Retention & Accelerated Deletion Schedule

We retain personal information only for as long as required to deliver our service and fulfill legal requirements.

General Schedule

• Application Text Records (Name, Travel Dates, Contact Info): Kept for 12 months from submission to resolve service inquiries, then securely archived or deleted.
• Criminal History Declarations: Permanently destroyed within 2 to 4 days following application submission to authorities.
• Financial & Order Records: Retained for 7 years to satisfy accounting and tax audit requirements.
• Support Inquiries: Kept for up to 3 years from the last interaction.

Accelerated Biometric Deletion Schedule

Raw passport images and facial verification photos are deleted under accelerated timelines:

7. Keeping It Safe

Your details are stored securely. Access is limited to the specialists who help with your application. We enforce rigorous technical and organizational controls to safeguard personal data against unauthorized access, loss, or alteration. Measures include AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS encryption in transit, strict role-based access limits, and regular security audits. In the unlikely event of a security incident impacting your rights, we will notify relevant supervisory authorities and affected users as required by law.

8. Protection of Minors

Our services are not intended for independent use by individuals under 18 years of age. Minors may only apply through a parent, legal guardian, or authorized representative who submits data on their behalf. Children's details provided for family travel filings are handled with identical security and retention protections as adult filings. If you suspect a minor has submitted information directly without parental authorization, contact us via the contact form for immediate deletion.

9. Direct Marketing

If you opt-in to receive promotional updates or service announcements, we may send periodic emails. You can withdraw consent at any time via the "Unsubscribe" link in any communication or by contacting support.

10. Policy Modifications

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changing regulatory requirements or service enhancements. Revisions will be published on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date.

11. Region-Specific Provisions

11.1 European Union (EU) Residents

• Data Controller: We act as the data controller for personal data processed via this website.
• International Data Transfers: Transfers of EU personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) rely on European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) to guarantee equivalent data protection.
• Your EU Rights: Under the EU GDPR, you have the right to request access, rectification, erasure, processing restriction, data portability, and objection to processing. You also maintain the right to lodge a complaint with your local EU Data Protection Authority.

11.2 United Kingdom (UK) Residents

• UK Data Framework: Processing of UK data subjects is conducted under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• Cross-Border Transfers: Transfers outside the UK utilize the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or Addendum.
• Your UK Rights: You maintain the right to access, amend, port, or erase your data, and may contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113 for supervisory concerns.

11.3 United States Residents (including California CCPA/CPRA)

• Categories Collected: Identifiers, commercial records, passport/biometric details (for verification), geolocation data, and device activity.
• We Do Not Sell Personal Data: We do not sell or share personal information for third-party targeted advertising.
• California Consumer Rights:
  • Right to Know & Access: Request details regarding personal data collected over the past 12 months.
  • Right to Delete: Request removal of personal information, subject to statutory retention exemptions.
  • Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal records.
  • Limit Sensitive Data Use: Request limits on the processing of sensitive identifiers (passport numbers, biometric verification files).
  • Non-Discrimination: We will not deny services or alter pricing for exercising privacy rights.
• Submitting US Requests: Email us using the contact form with the subject line "US Privacy Rights Request." We acknowledge and process verified requests within state-mandated timelines (e.g., 45 days for CCPA).

12. Contact

For privacy questions, data access requests, or regulatory inquiries, please reach out to our team:

Email: using our contact form