Who we are
Straight Outta Japan is a trading name of First Choice Car Imports Ltd. First Choice Car Imports Ltd is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice.
Company number 09853912Registered office: Unit 15B Magees Nurseries, Windsor Gardens, Hockley, England, SS5 4LH
Showroom: 366 Rayleigh Road, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 5PT
Email: Email us
Telephone: 01702 741730
Information we collect
We collect information you give us when you submit a website enquiry, ask us to source or value a vehicle, enquire about an auction vehicle, buy or import a vehicle, ask about finance, or contact us by phone, email, WhatsApp or social media.
- Your name and contact details
- Your preferred contact method and marketing choices
- Vehicle registration, mileage, make, model, condition and history
- Vehicle preferences, budget, maximum bid and import requirements
- Messages, correspondence and enquiry notes
- Transaction, payment, delivery and aftercare records where you become a customer
Please do not include sensitive personal information in a free-text message unless it is necessary. We may also receive information from someone acting for you, a social-media or messaging platform you use to contact us, finance or service providers, vehicle suppliers, auction providers, and public records where lawful.
Technical information
When you use the website, our hosting and security providers may automatically process your IP address, browser and device type, requested pages, referring page, approximate location derived from IP, timestamps, and security or diagnostic events. We use this limited information to deliver, protect and maintain the site.
How and why we use it
UK data-protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use of personal information.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Respond to enquiries, prepare valuations or quotations, and take steps you request before buying, selling or importing a vehicle. | Steps before entering a contract; and our legitimate interest in answering genuine enquiries and providing customer service. |
| Arrange a purchase, sale, import, transport, registration, delivery, warranty or other agreed service. | Performance of a contract and, where relevant, legal obligation. |
| Keep financial, tax, transaction, consent and compliance records; respond to regulators or lawful requests. | Legal obligation and our legitimate interest in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. |
| Operate, secure, troubleshoot and improve our website and services; prevent spam, fraud and misuse. | Our legitimate interests in running a reliable and secure business and understanding service performance. |
| Send direct marketing where permitted and manage opt-outs. | Your consent, or our legitimate interests where electronic-marketing rules allow us to contact an existing customer about similar services. |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the necessity of the use, its effect on you, and your reasonable expectations. We do not use personal information for solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
International transfers
Some technology, communications and vehicle-service providers may process personal information outside the UK. Where UK data-protection law treats this as a restricted transfer, we require a recognised safeguard, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections including the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum, as applicable. You can contact us for more information about the safeguard used for a particular transfer.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose collected, including legal, accounting and regulatory obligations. As a working guide:
- enquiries that do not become a transaction are normally kept for up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact;
- customer, vehicle import, sales, payment and compliance records are normally kept for up to six years after the transaction or relationship ends, and longer only where a legal or regulatory reason requires it;
- marketing preferences are kept while marketing continues, and suppression details may be kept after an opt-out so we can respect it;
- technical and security records are kept for the shorter periods reasonably required to operate, diagnose and protect the service.
We may keep information longer where a complaint, dispute, investigation or legal claim is ongoing. We securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.
Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and our lawful basis, you may have the right to ask us to:
- give you a copy of your personal information;
- correct incomplete or inaccurate information;
- delete information in certain circumstances;
- restrict how we use information;
- provide certain information in a portable format;
- stop processing based on consent or legitimate interests.
You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful use. These rights are not absolute. We may need to confirm your identity and will explain if an exemption applies. Exercising your rights is normally free of charge. Contact us using the details below.
Marketing choices
Where required, we send electronic marketing only with consent. We may also contact an existing customer about similar services where the law permits. You can opt out at any time by using an unsubscribe instruction in the message or contacting us. Service messages about an active enquiry, transaction or vehicle are not marketing.
Android app
The Straight Outta Japan Android app displays our public vehicle stock feed. It does not require a customer account and does not contain advertising or analytics SDKs. When it fetches the feed, standard connection information such as an IP address may be processed by our hosting provider.
If you choose to call, email, open our website or message us through WhatsApp from the app, your chosen phone, browser, email or messaging provider handles that action under its own privacy terms. We receive only what you choose to send to us.
Security, children and other websites
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information from accidental loss and unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. Access is limited to people and providers who need it for their role. No internet or electronic-storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.
Our services concern vehicle sales and imports and are not directed at children. Our website and social pages may link to other organisations. We are not responsible for their websites or privacy practices, so please read their notices before giving them information.
Contact us or make a complaint
For a question, rights request or privacy complaint, contact:
First Choice Car Imports Ltd, trading as Straight Outta JapanUnit 15B Magees Nurseries, Windsor Gardens, Hockley, England, SS5 4LH
Email: Email us
Telephone: 01702 741730
We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner. Details are available at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal obligations change. The latest version will remain publicly available here and will show its most recent update date.