Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal data VanCAD collects, why, how long we keep it, who processes it on our behalf, and the rights you have. It covers both this website (vancad.com) and the design app (app.vancad.com). It is written in plain language on purpose.

If you only want the short version: we store the account and designs you create, we collect anonymous usage measurements to improve the product, we never sell your data or collect the content of your designs beyond storing them for you, and you can ask us to delete everything at any time by emailing hello@vancad.com.

Who we are

VanCAD is a browser-based 3D tool for planning camper-van conversions. VanCAD is a trading name of HJT Engineering Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company no. 16640462), whose registered office is 61 Bridge Street, Kington, HR5 3DJ, United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), HJT Engineering Ltd is the data controller for the personal data described here. The best way to reach us about privacy is hello@vancad.com.

What we collect and why

If you only browse this website, we collect no personal data that identifies you - see Cookies and analytics below.

If you use the design app, we may process:

• Your account - the email address you sign up with, and a securely hashed password (we never see or store your password in readable form). This is needed to create your account, sign you in, and send you account emails (confirmation and password reset).
• Your designs - if you subscribe to VanCAD Pro and save a design, the design document is stored in your account so you can load it again and sync it across devices. A design is data you author (van model, components, layout); we store it to provide the service and do not use its contents for anything else.
• Your subscription - if you subscribe, our payment processor (Stripe) handles your card details and tells us your subscription status. We never receive or store your full card number.
• Anonymous usage analytics - measurements about how the product is used (see below).
• Basic technical data - like any web service, our hosting provider processes the network requests needed to serve pages, including your IP address, transiently, to deliver content and protect against abuse.

We ask for the minimum needed to run the service. We do not collect the content of your designs for any purpose beyond storing them for you, we do not run advertising trackers, and we do not sell or share your personal data.

Cookies and analytics

This website uses no cookie consent banner, because it stores nothing on your device for analytics - no cookies, no local storage, no durable identifier. We collect anonymous, aggregate measurements (which pages are viewed, which links are clicked) so we can see whether the site works and improve it. This is never linked to you or any account, and falls outside the scope of personal data.

The design app collects usage analytics at two levels:

• Anonymous, always on. By default every measurement is anonymous - not linked to you or your account, and nothing analytics-related is stored on your device - so it falls outside the scope of personal data. This is always collected; there is no separate opt-out for it (turning it fully off would leave us unable to see whether the product works at all). We never collect the content of your designs (no geometry, no design names).
• Account-linked, optional. When you are signed in, we additionally link your usage to your account, so we can understand the experience of real customers and support you better. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in improving VanCAD. You can turn this off at any time in Account → Privacy → “Link usage analytics to my account”; we also honour your browser’s Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track signals as an automatic opt-out. Turning it off stops the account link immediately - anonymous, aggregate collection continues.

Our analytics is handled on our behalf by a specialist provider, hosted in the EU (Frankfurt); your IP address is discarded at collection. The app does use first-party storage for essential functions (keeping you signed in), which does not require consent.

Who processes your data

We use a small number of trusted service providers to run VanCAD. Each only processes what it needs to provide its part of the service, under a data-processing agreement, and we choose providers that host data in the UK or EU wherever we can:

• Cloud hosting and database (EU) - stores your account and your saved designs.
• Payment processing - subscriptions are handled by Stripe, our payment provider. You are taken to Stripe’s secure checkout, so we never receive or store your card number; Stripe is an independent controller of your payment data under its own privacy policy, and tells us only your subscription status.
• Product analytics (EU, Frankfurt) - anonymous usage measurement.
• Transactional email - sends your account emails (sign-up confirmation, password reset).
• Content delivery and security - serves the site and app, runs the sign-in challenge, and protects against abuse.

We’re happy to tell you the specific companies behind each of these - email hello@vancad.com for our current list of providers.

Lawful bases (UK GDPR)

• Performance of a contract - creating and running your account and, if you subscribe, providing and billing VanCAD Pro.
• Legitimate interests - improving the product (analytics), keeping the service secure, and preventing abuse. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights; you can object at any time (see Your rights).
• Legal obligation - retaining what we must for tax and accounting where a payment is involved (handled largely by Stripe as the payment processor).

How long we keep it

• Account and designs - kept while your account exists. If you delete your account or ask us to delete your data, we remove your account and designs.
• Analytics - retained for 1 year, then deleted.
• Payment records - Stripe retains transaction records for as long as its own legal obligations require.

International transfers

Your account, designs and analytics are hosted in the EU/UK region. Some providers (for example our payment provider, and our content-delivery and security provider) are global and may process limited data outside the UK/EU; where they do, they rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Standard Contractual Clauses.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to processing, and to data portability. Your designs are yours - you can export them from the app at any time.

To exercise any of these, email hello@vancad.com and we will respond within one month. You also have the right to complain to the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), though we’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Children

VanCAD is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product changes. When we make a material change we will update the “Last updated” date above, and - if the change affects how we use your personal data - tell account holders by email. Adding any new analytics or tracking that stored data on your device would re-open the question of consent, and we would address it before doing so.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a data request? Email hello@vancad.com.