Privacy, cookies & terms

Privacy

This explains what Cannock Ads collects, why, and how to ask us to delete it. It is written for the UK GDPR. Last updated 3 September 2026.

Who is responsible

The data controller is Cannock Ads, which operates cannockads.co.uk.

Contact: user@cannockads.co.uk.

We do not currently publish a registered company number or ICO registration number. If we register either, we will update this page.

What we collect

• Email address — used to create your account and send you a sign-in link. There is no password.
• Listings you post — title, description, category, area, price, photos, and (for shops) catalogue fields such as SKU, stock and product links.
• Photos — stored on this server as compressed images. Originals are not kept. Images from a shop feed or CSV URL are cached the same way, or shown as a placeholder if they cannot be fetched.
• Passkeys — if you turn Passkey on, we store what is needed to recognise that passkey. Biometrics (Face ID, fingerprint, Windows Hello) stay on your device. We never receive them.
• Session — a signed-in session (see Cookies).
• Enquiries — messages you send through a listing. We relay them by email. The seller’s email is not shown on the page to people who are not signed in. Message bodies are purged after 30 days.
• Business details — if you apply as a Cannock Business: shop name, website, and optional Google product feed or CSV upload URLs.
• Optional payments — if you buy Business Plus or Ai Lister credits, Stripe handles the card payment. We store payment references (for example a Stripe session or event id, amount and status), not your full card number.
• Ai Lister — if you use it, the photos and instructions you send are processed to draft an advert. You review and approve anything that goes live.
• Server logs — our UK host keeps normal access logs (IP address and browser / user-agent) for security, abuse and debugging. Staff actions may also record an IP.
• Reputation and reports — points, reports you make or receive, and related moderation history.

We do not ask for your name, home address or phone number to use the site. You might choose to put contact details in a listing or an enquiry — that is your choice, and other users may see them.

Why we use it (legal bases)

• Contract / to provide the service you asked for: run your account, show your ads, send sign-in emails, relay enquiries, and deliver optional paid features you buy.
• Legitimate interests: keep the noticeboard usable and safe — security, fraud and spam control, listing renewal and inventory-confirm emails, and community reputation.
• Legal obligation: keep records we need for tax or to answer a lawful request, if that arises.

We do not send marketing newsletters. Email from us is for sign-in, listing renewals, inventory confirmations, enquiries, paid-feature receipts / reminders, and account or safety notices.

Who we share it with

• Hosting: the website and its database are hosted in the UK. The database is not publicly accessible.
• Cloudflare: we use Cloudflare for DNS, CDN and security. Some requests may be processed outside the UK. Where that happens, Cloudflare relies on the UK’s adequacy arrangements and/or the standard contractual clauses it publishes.
• Email: we send email from our cannockads.co.uk mailbox.
• Stripe: only if you pay for Business Plus or Ai Lister credits. Stripe is the payment provider. See Stripe’s own terms and privacy notice.
• OpenAI: only if you use Ai Lister. Photos and your written instructions are sent so a draft can be written. Do not upload images you are not allowed to share.
• The other party to an enquiry: if you contact a seller, they receive your message and can reply to your email. If you are the seller, that is how buyers reach you.
• Fonts: pages load typefaces from Google Fonts. That is a font file request, not advertising analytics.

We do not sell your data. We do not use Google Analytics, advertising networks or marketing pixels on this site today.

How long we keep it

• Listings: live for the period shown on the site (and on reputation). Expired and sold-then-archived ads are deleted after 14 days. Ads you Remove go to Archive and are deleted after 1000 days.
• Ai Lister drafts you discard are deleted after 28 days.
• Accounts: until you ask us to delete them (or we close an account for serious abuse).
• Enquiry text: purged after 30 days. A short record that a message was sent may remain for abuse limits.
• Sign-in links: one-time; unused links are cleared automatically.
• Mail and server logs: kept long enough to diagnose failed emails and security issues, then rotated by the host.
• Stripe references: kept with the account so we can see that a paid feature was fulfilled.

Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of the data we hold, to correct it, or to erase your account. Email user@cannockads.co.uk and we will deal with it.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

How to delete your account

Email user@cannockads.co.uk from the address on the account and ask us to erase it. We will delete the account and its listings. We may keep a minimal record if we must (for example a payment reference or an abuse ban) — we will say so if that applies.

Children

The site is a general local noticeboard, including a Kids & Baby category for items. We do not target children and we do not offer accounts designed for under-18s. Do not list age-restricted goods. If a parent or guardian wants an account removed, email us.

International transfers

The website and database are hosted in the UK. Cloudflare (and, if you use them, Stripe and OpenAI) may process data outside the UK. Those companies publish their own transfer safeguards. We do not send listing-sale payments through this site.

Cookies

This is our cookie notice under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Last updated 3 September 2026.

Cookies we set

What we do not set

We do not set Google Analytics, advertising, or social-media tracking cookies. There is no cookie consent banner because we only use cookies needed to run the site and to remember choices you make on the page. If we later add analytics or advertising cookies, we will update this section and add a banner before those cookies are set.

Others that may appear

• Cloudflare sits in front of the site and may set a short-lived security cookie (for example to tell people from bots). That is to keep the site up, not to advertise to you.
• Stripe runs on Stripe’s own pages when you buy Business Plus or Ai Lister credits. Stripe sets its own cookies there. We do not put a Stripe tracking cookie on ordinary browsing.

How to delete cookies

In your browser settings, clear cookies for cannockads.co.uk (or use the site-data / lock icon in the address bar). Signing out also ends the session cookie. If you delete ccsid you will need to sign in again.

Terms of use

By using Cannock Ads you agree to these terms. They are meant to be read, not to trap anyone. Last updated 3 September 2026.

What this site is

Cannock Ads is a community noticeboard for Cannock and nearby areas. Neighbours can post free classifieds. Approved local businesses can upload a product catalogue (manually, by CSV, or from a Google product feed).

We are not a party to sales between users. We do not take payment for items sold via listings. Buyers and sellers arrange collection, payment and delivery themselves.

The public line on this site is: A community service for Cannock. No payments are handled on this website — that means listing transactions. Optional extras are different; see Paid features below.

Accounts

• Sign-in is by email link (no password) or a Passkey you choose to save on this site.
• Keep your email account safe — that is the key to your Cannock Ads account.
• One person (or one business) should not run piles of accounts to dodge rules or reputation.
• We can suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, or that the reputation rules automatically suspend.

Free to list

Standard neighbour ads and the free Cannock Business catalogue are free. There is no insertion fee and no commission on items you sell.

You are responsible for your ads: they must be yours to sell (or you must be allowed to advertise them), accurate, legal, and not a scam. Photos and descriptions must match the item. Stolen, counterfeit or misleading listings are not allowed.

We can edit, hide or remove a listing, and we can pause a stale shop catalogue. Community reports can hide a listing pending review — see reputation.

Seller names and off-site links

A shop’s Seller Name and links to the seller’s own website or product page are shown to people who are signed in. Logged-out visitors see the advert on Cannock Ads and a prompt to sign in for the off-site link. That is to cut anonymous scraping and junk traffic, not to charge for the click.

If a business has no website, buyers enquire by email through this site. We forward the message; we do not show the seller’s email on the page to logged-out visitors.

Paid features (Stripe)

We do not take payment for items sold via listings. We may take payment via Stripe for optional paid features:

• Business Plus — currently £99.99 per year as shown on the Business Plus page (Seller Name, a larger catalogue and longer listing periods).
• Ai Lister credit packs — prices as shown at purchase on the credits page.

Card payments are taken by Stripe, not typed into Cannock Ads. Stripe’s terms apply to that checkout. We do not store full card numbers. Refunds, where the law requires them, are handled case by case — email user@cannockads.co.uk.

Ai Lister credits

• 1 credit = 1 charged AI run — used when AI produces a Ready draft from a photo, or when you tell AI more information and ask it to run again (“Tell AI & continue” / “Instruction to AI”).
• If the first system look at a photo cannot identify the item and only asks you what it is, no credit is used. You can then tell AI & continue (1 credit) or complete the draft yourself for free.
• Completing or editing a draft yourself never uses a credit. You still review and approve listings. AI output can be wrong; you are responsible for the final advert.
• Credits do not expire while your account is active. Pack prices are as shown at purchase. Except where required by law, unused credits are non-refundable once purchased.
• Hard technical failures (for example the AI service is down) do not consume a credit.

Hand-Over Agent

Hand-Over Agent (safe-exchange) is coming soon for the public. Independent businesses may later offer a meet-or-hold service under their own terms.

• Cannock Ads is not an escrow service and does not hold sale money.
• We do not verify payment, ownership, authenticity or condition of any item.
• An agent’s own terms apply to their premises. Using an agent is optional and is not a guarantee.

Until it launches, treat it as a planned feature — see Hand-Over Agent.

Acceptable use — what you must not list or do

• Stolen, counterfeit or fraudulently obtained goods.
• Weapons, knives or other items where advertising or sale is illegal in the UK.
• Age-restricted products (including alcohol, tobacco, vapes, and anything that needs an age check we do not provide).
• Offensive, hateful or pornographic material.
• Impersonation — pretending to be another person, shop or Cannock Ads staff.
• Spam, duplicate ads, or using the enquiry form to advertise unrelated things.
• Anything else illegal, or that we reasonably judge is a scam or a danger to other users.

We can remove listings and suspend accounts at our discretion. Serious or repeated abuse may be reported to the police.

Safety

Meet in a public place where you can. Inspect items before you pay. Do not pay in advance to a stranger because an advert looked convincing. Cannock Ads does not handle listing payments and cannot recover money you send to another user.

Our liability

The site is provided as a free community service with optional extras. We do not promise that every advert is genuine, in stock, or accurately described — that is the poster’s job. We are not liable for deals you make off-site, for items, or for downtime, except where the law says we cannot exclude that (including death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or fraud).

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.