Privacy Policy
Last updated 13 October 2026 · Applies to giantfreight.co.uk, the Giant Portal, the application form, the quote tool, and our WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram messaging.
BM Freight Ltd, trading as Giant Freight and Giant Recruit, is the data controller for the personal information described here. We are registered in England and Wales, company number 15309932, at 14 & 15 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PL. You can reach us about anything in this policy at drive@giantfreight.co.uk or on 01392 241441.
What we collect · Why we use it · Who we share it with · WhatsApp & Messenger · How long we keep it · Your rights · Deleting your data · Security · Cookies
1. What we collect
If you apply to drive or work with us
Through the application form and the Giant Portal we collect what we need to assess you for a role and, if you are taken on, to engage you:
- Identity and contact details: name, previous names, date and place of birth, address and address history, phone, email, emergency contact.
- Right to work: nationality, passport or other identity document, Home Office share code and the result of the online check.
- Driving (driving roles): licence details and a photo of the licence, DVLA check code and the licence summary, categories, points and endorsements, Driver CPC and tachograph card details.
- Your vehicle (if you drive your own): registration, type, MOT and insurance details, and the DVLA vehicle record we look up from the registration.
- Your business (if you trade through a company): company name, registration number, VAT number and the public Companies House and HMRC records we check them against.
- Work history, references, availability, and the position you applied for.
- Vetting information required by the clients we supply drivers to, including a criminal record declaration, DBS certificate details and a National Insurance number.
- Health information you give in the medical questionnaire, which we ask for because driving and warehouse work are safety-critical.
- Documents and photos you upload, and your signature on declarations and on a contract for services.
- Portal account: email address, a password (stored only as a one-way hash by our authentication provider), and your role in the portal.
If you ask for a quote, book a job or contact us
Your name, company, phone and email, the collection and delivery details you give us, what you want moved or stored, and our correspondence with you.
If you message us
When you contact us on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Instagram we receive your phone number or profile name, the messages and any photos or files you send, and delivery information about our replies. See section 4.
Automatically
Our hosting provider records technical information such as IP address, browser, device and the pages requested, which we use to keep the site secure and working. We do not use advertising trackers (see cookies).
2. Why we use it and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Assessing your application, contacting you about it, arranging interviews and keeping a record of the outcome | Steps before entering a contract with you; our legitimate interest in recruiting safely |
| Checking your right to work, driving entitlement and identity | Legal obligation; legitimate interest in road safety and preventing fraud |
| Health questionnaire, criminal record declaration and DBS details | Your explicit consent, given on the form, and our obligations for safety-critical roles and client vetting (Schedule 1, Data Protection Act 2018) |
| Preparing a vetting pack for a client you will work at (for example a Parcelforce Worldwide depot) | Your explicit consent, confirmed when you review the pack |
| Setting you up in our driver-management system (DespatchOS) once you are taken on | Performance of your contract for services; your consent to the transfer, given on the form |
| Giving you a quote, booking and carrying out a job, invoicing | Performance of a contract; legitimate interest |
| Replying to your messages on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram | Legitimate interest in answering you; a contract where the message is about a job |
| Telling you about new vacancies by WhatsApp | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by replying STOP |
| Reading your uploaded documents automatically to pre-fill the form | Legitimate interest in an accurate, quicker application; you can type the details instead |
| Keeping records for tax, insurance and legal claims | Legal obligation; legitimate interest |
3. Who we share it with
We never sell personal information. We share it only with:
- Our clients, when you will work at their site and they require vetting. You see and confirm the pack before it is sent.
- DespatchOS, the driver-management and transport platform operated by BM Freight Ltd, once you are engaged.
- Google Cloud / Firebase, which hosts this website, the portal, our database and your uploaded documents in its London (europe-west2) region.
- Meta Platforms, which operates WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Messages pass through Meta's systems under Meta's own terms and privacy policy.
- Anthropic, whose AI service reads the documents you upload so the form can be pre-filled. Images are sent for reading only and are not used to train AI models.
- DVLA (vehicle enquiry service), Companies House and HMRC (company and VAT checks) and GOV.UK right-to-work and licence checking services, where we look up the details you give us.
- Microsoft 365, our email and document provider.
- Our insurers, accountants, legal advisers, and public authorities where the law requires.
Where a provider processes data outside the UK (Meta and Anthropic process data in the United States) the transfer is covered by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
4. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram
Our office number 01392 241441 is used on the WhatsApp Business Platform. When you message it, the conversation is shown to our recruitment and enquiries staff in the Giant Portal, where it may be linked to your application so the person dealing with you can see the history. Replies sent from the office phone and from the portal both appear in the same thread.
- We only start a WhatsApp conversation with you using templates approved by WhatsApp, for example an interview confirmation.
- We send vacancy alerts by WhatsApp only if you ticked "Contact by WhatsApp" on the form. Reply STOP at any time to opt out.
- We keep messages and attachments for 24 months after the last message, or until you ask us to delete them.
- Group chats on the office phone are not imported into the portal.
5. How long we keep it
| Information | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Unsuccessful or withdrawn applications | 12 months after the last activity, then deleted |
| Applications placed in our holding pool | Up to 24 months, unless you ask us to delete sooner |
| Drivers and workers we engage | For the engagement and 6 years after it ends (tax, insurance and legal-claim periods) |
| Client vetting packs | As long as the client requires for the placement, then deleted |
| Quotes, bookings and enquiries | 2 years, or 6 years where a job was carried out |
| Messages (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram) | 24 months after the last message |
| Portal accounts | Until you delete the account or ask us to |
| Failed-submission diagnostics from the application form | 90 days |
6. Your rights
You can ask us to give you a copy of your information, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or give it to you in a portable form. Where we rely on your consent you can withdraw it at any time without affecting what was done before. Email drive@giantfreight.co.uk; we reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
7. Deleting your data
To have your data deleted, email drive@giantfreight.co.uk from the address you applied or messaged with, or write to the address above, saying "delete my data". You can also ask by WhatsApp on 01392 241441.
Within 30 days we delete your application, uploaded documents, vetting packs, message history and your portal login, and we confirm by email. We keep only what the law obliges us to keep, for example payment records for a driver we have paid, and we tell you if that applies.
If you used Facebook or Instagram to contact us, deleting your data here also removes anything we hold from those conversations. Information held by Meta is governed by Meta's own tools and policy.
8. Security
The site and portal run over HTTPS. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access to applications and documents is limited to staff with a recruitment or enquiries role, and portal logins are protected by Firebase Authentication. We keep an audit note of status changes and who made them.
9. Cookies
We use only the cookies and browser storage needed to keep you signed in to the portal, to remember a partly completed application on your own device, and to let the quote tool work. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. If you follow a tracking link from one of our adverts we record which advert it came from, not who you are.
10. Children
Our services are for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger.
11. Changes
We will post any changes here and update the date at the top. Significant changes affecting how we use your information will be notified to applicants and drivers directly.