Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated 28 August 2026
This policy explains what personal data we collect through axl.co.uk and the axl Recover tool, why we collect it, and the rights you have over it.
Who we are
AXL TECHNOLOGIES LTD ("axl", "we", "us") is the data controller. We are a company registered in England & Wales, company number 17394716, registered office 205 Lower Road, Hullbridge, Hockley, Essex, SS5 6AS. You can reach us at support@axl.co.uk or on 0333 880 9132.
What we collect
- Register-interest and account details. When you register your interest, start a free preview or buy a subscription, we collect your email address and, if you provide it, your name and business details, together with the time of the request and standard technical details of the browser it came from (IP address and user agent).
- Marketplace data for axl Recover. When you connect your B&Q Marketplace account, axl Recover reads order-level data on a read-only basis, such as order numbers, items, prices and return tracking status, to surface potentially eligible orders and fill in claims. We do not store your customers' personal data.
- The spam check on the free preview. That one form is protected by Google reCAPTCHA, which collects hardware and software information about your browser and sends it to Google to tell a person from a script. It is subject to Google's privacy policy and terms, and it runs only on /preview — no other page loads it. It is a security measure rather than analytics, which is why it is not behind the banner: without it, the one page that creates an account without taking payment would be open to scripted abuse.
- Technical data. Like any website, our hosting provider records standard server logs (for example IP address and pages requested) to keep the service secure and running.
- A count of visits, with nothing stored on your device. Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views and where visitors arrived from, so we know how many people reached the site at all. It sets no cookies, writes nothing to your browser's storage, and does not build a profile of you or follow you to other sites — Cloudflare do not fingerprint visitors by IP address or browser for this, and it deliberately does not record query strings. That is why it is not behind the banner: the banner exists because of what is stored on your device, and this stores nothing. It cannot tell us what any one person did, only how many people did it.
- Your theme preference (light or dark) is stored locally in your own browser and never sent to us.
- How the site gets used, but only if you agree to it. If you say yes to the banner, PostHog records the pages you open, the things you click, and a replay of how you moved around, so we can see where sign-up trips people up. Anything you type into our own forms is masked out of the replay, and card fields are Stripe's to begin with. Say no and none of it runs.
We do not use advertising cookies, we do not sell any of this, and none of it is shared for anyone else's marketing. The measurement above is the only measurement on the site and it is ours alone to read. The two halves answer different questions and are not the same promise: the visit count stores nothing on your device and runs for everyone, and anything that would recognise you — the cookie, the replay, the record of what you clicked — does not run unless you agree.
Cookies
There are two kinds here, and only one of them gets a banner. Cloudflare Web Analytics is in neither list, because it sets no cookie and reads none. Stripe's fraud cookies on the sign-up page are set without asking, because UK law treats stopping card fraud as strictly necessary to the payment you asked to make. The analytics cookie is not necessary to anything, so it is not set until you say yes — that is what the banner is for, and a no is remembered so you are not asked again. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal we take that as the no and never ask.
You are asked once for the whole of axl, not once per site. The analytics cookie itself spans this site and axl Recover — that is what lets us count a sign-up as one journey rather than two strangers — so the answer does too: say yes or no here and it settles it for recover.axl.co.uk as well, and either way round. Changing your mind on either one changes it for both.
| Name | Set by | What it does | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| ph_<id>_posthog | PostHog | Product analytics — remembers this browser between pages so a sign-up can be counted as one journey rather than five strangers. Only set if you agree to the banner, and removed again if you change your mind. | 1 year |
| axl_analytics_consent | axl | Your answer to the analytics banner. Set whichever way you answer, because remembering it is the only way to stop asking, and it is the only thing we set before you say yes. Shared with axl Recover so one answer covers both. | 1 year |
| __stripe_mid | Stripe | Fraud prevention on the sign-up payment form — lets Stripe recognise this browser across a payment attempt. Set only on the sign-up page. | 1 year |
| __stripe_sid | Stripe | The same, for the current payment session. | 30 minutes |
Stripe sets its two itself and describes what it collects in its own cookie notice. Blocking those will stop the payment form working, which is the honest reason they are not on the banner. The PostHog one is the opposite: turning it off costs you nothing and you can still buy everything.
One more, on one page: the book-a-demo page embeds the booking calendar of Cal.com, our scheduling provider, which loads from cal.com and sets its own cookies to run the booking. It is on the same footing as Stripe's: booking a demo is that page's whole purpose, it loads nowhere else on the site, and Cal.com describes what it collects in its own privacy policy.
Your answer to the analytics banner, and a way to change it. Turning it off deletes the cookie as well as stopping the counting.
Two things are kept in your own browser rather than sent to us: your theme choice, light or dark, and — only if you followed a link carrying one — the access code for our test environment. Neither leaves your device.
Once you are signed in, axl Recover keeps you signed in and remembers your settings. Those are listed in full at recover.axl.co.uk/cookies, and the control above works there too.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
- To contact you about axl and, if you sign up, to provide the axl Recover service. Lawful basis: your consent and, once you subscribe, performance of our contract with you.
- To keep the site and tool secure and diagnose problems. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in running a safe, reliable service.
Where your data is stored
The site and its data are hosted on Cloudflare, which acts as our processor and stores the data in secure infrastructure on our behalf. Analytics are processed by PostHog, also as our processor, on their EU infrastructure. Demo bookings are scheduled through Cal.com, which handles the details you enter into the booking calendar. Each provider, what it does for us and what reaches it is listed at axl.co.uk/subprocessors. Some providers may process data outside the UK; where they do, appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) apply.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your data and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing. We only share it with the service providers that help us run axl (such as our hosting and payment providers), and where we are required to by law.
How long we keep it
We keep your details for as long as you have an account or an open enquiry with us, and for a reasonable period afterwards. You can ask us to delete your details at any time.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these, email support@axl.co.uk.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
We'll update this page as axl grows and its features expand, and we'll change the "last updated" date above when we do.