Data Deletion Requests

This page explains how to ask for personal data to be deleted, what we need in order to act on the request, and what happens afterwards.

1. How to submit a request

Choose whichever applies to you.

If you messaged a business through Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp

You can remove CargoFlows’s access from your Facebook settings, under Settings & Privacy → Settings → Apps and Websites, and choose to request deletion. We receive that request automatically, record it, and give you a confirmation code and a status link.

You can also write to us directly using the details below — you do not have to go through Facebook.

If you want to write to us

A dedicated address for deletion requests is being finalised and will be published on this page. In the meantime, please contact the business you dealt with directly — they control the records and can action your request.

Please put “Data deletion request” in the subject line.

2. What to include

We can only act on a request we can match to a record. Please tell us as much of the following as you can:

• The email address or phone number you used with the business, or with CargoFlows. This is the single most useful piece of information, and without at least one of them we usually cannot find anything.
• The name the records are likely to be under, including a company name if the dealings were commercial.
• Which business you dealt with, if you know it — the freight company or agency whose service you used.
• Which channel you used, if the request concerns messages: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, email or SMS.
• What you want deleted — everything, or something specific such as a conversation.

Please do not send identity documents, payment card details or other sensitive material in your first message. If we need proof of identity we will tell you what to send and how.

3. Requests about records a business controls

Where the records belong to a freight company or agency using CargoFlows, that business decides them. In that case we will:

• Acknowledge your request and record it.
• Identify the business concerned, where the information you gave us allows it.
• Pass the request to that business and support them in responding.
• Tell you who they are so you can follow up directly.

We do not delete a business’s operational records on the say-so of a third party. That protects you as well: it is the same rule that stops someone else erasing your shipment history.

4. Verifying who you are

We may need to verify your identity before acting, particularly where a request would delete records or where the contact details do not match what we hold. Acting on an unverified deletion request would let one person destroy another person’s records, so this step protects you rather than delaying you unnecessarily. We ask for the least we need, and we do not keep verification material longer than the request requires.

5. What happens after you send a request

• We acknowledge it and give you a reference. Requests arriving through Facebook also receive a confirmation code and a status link.
• We work out what we holdand whether the records are ours or a business’s.
• We verify your identity if that is necessary.
• We act on the request — deleting what can be deleted, removing the link between you and records that must be kept, and telling you about anything we cannot delete and why.
• We confirm the outcome to the address you contacted us from.

We aim to respond promptly and to complete valid requests without undue delay. Where a request is complex or involves another business, it may take longer, and we will keep you informed.

6. Information that may be kept

A deletion request does not always erase everything, and it would be misleading to imply otherwise. We may need to keep certain records where there is a legal, financial or security reason to do so, including:

• Shipment and customs records, where transport, customs or trade rules require the business or us to retain them.
• Invoices, payments and accounting records, which tax and accounting rules generally require to be kept for a set period.
• Security and audit logs, which record who did what in the system and exist precisely so that they cannot be edited after the fact.
• Records needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or to comply with a legal obligation or lawful request.

Where we keep a record for one of these reasons, we limit it to what the reason requires and, where we can, we remove the details that identify you while keeping the operational or financial fact. We will tell you if this applies to your request.

7. Checking the status of a request

If your request came through Facebook, you were given a status link containing a reference. Opening it shows the current stage of that request and nothing else — it does not display personal information, so the link is safe to keep but shows nobody anything about you.

If you wrote to us by email, reply to the acknowledgement and we will update you.

8. If you are not satisfied

Tell us, and we will look at it again. Depending on where you live you may also have the right to complain to a data protection authority. Our Privacy Policy explains more about the rights that may apply to you.