Last updated: 17 March 2026

1. Introduction

PetrolPal ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our fuel price comparison and EV charger finder service.

2. Information We Collect

Location Data

With your permission, we collect your device's geographic location to show you nearby fuel stations and EV charging points. This location data is:

Only collected when you grant permission through your browser
Used solely to find fuel stations and chargers near you
Not stored on our servers or shared with third parties
Processed in real-time and not retained after your session

Search Data

When you search for a postcode or town name, this information is used to:

Convert your search into geographic coordinates
Find fuel stations and chargers in that area

Search queries are not stored or linked to any personal identifier.

Cookies and Local Storage

We use browser local storage to remember:

Your cookie consent preferences
Your dark/light mode preference (if manually set)
Your preferred fuel type (petrol or diesel)
Your preferred view mode (fuel stations or EV chargers)

Analytics

We use PostHog, a product analytics service, to understand how people use PetrolPal so we can improve the service. PostHog collects anonymous usage data such as pages visited, features used, and general interaction patterns.

If you accept analytics in our cookie banner, PostHog may use cookies and local storage to track sessions and returning visits.
If you decline analytics (or have not yet chosen), PostHog operates in a privacy-preserving cookieless mode — no cookies or persistent identifiers are stored on your device. Basic pageview counts are still recorded anonymously but cannot be linked across sessions.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies or share analytics data with advertisers.

3. How We Use Your Information

Your information is used exclusively to:

Display fuel stations and their prices near your location
Display EV charging points near your location
Calculate distances to stations and chargers
Provide directions to your chosen destination
Plan fuel-efficient routes with automatic fuel stop calculation

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

UK Government Fuel Finder API - To retrieve fuel station locations and prices
Open Charge Map API - To retrieve EV charging point locations
OpenStreetMap / Nominatim - To convert place names to coordinates
postcodes.io - To convert UK postcodes to coordinates
Google Maps / Apple Maps / Waze - When you click "Get Directions", you are redirected to your chosen mapping service
OSRM (Open Source Routing Machine) - To calculate driving routes
PostHog - For anonymous product analytics (see Analytics section above)

Each of these services has their own privacy policies which govern their handling of any data they receive.

5. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information. All data transmission between your browser and our service uses HTTPS encryption. Since we don't store personal data on our servers, there is minimal risk of data breach.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

Withdraw consent for location access at any time via your browser settings
Clear local storage data via your browser settings
Request information about what data we hold (which is none, as we don't store personal data)

7. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to report a bug, provide feedback, or request a feature, please visit our Contact Us page or email us at [email protected].