Last updated: 28 October 2026
This policy explains what personal data www.factory-manuals.com ("Factory-Manuals", "we") collects, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We keep it short and only describe what the website really does.
1. Who we are
The website www.factory-manuals.com is run by Factory-Manuals, which is responsible for your personal data (the "data controller"). For any privacy question or request, email us at email.
2. What we collect
- Order details: your name, email address, billing address and country as given to us by the payment provider, the manuals you ordered, the price paid and the order date.
- Your car's VIN: we need it to create a manual for your exact car.
- Account details: if you create an account, your email address, password and order history. A phone number only if you add one.
- Messages: what you send us by email, WhatsApp or the contact form.
- Technical data: your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you visit. We use your IP address to work out your country, so the correct tax can be applied.
- Payment details: card and bank details are entered directly with PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay or Google Pay. We never see or store your full card number.
3. Why we use it (and the legal basis)
- To fulfil your order: creating your VIN-specific manual, sending the download link, order emails and VIN reminders, and customer support. Basis: performance of our contract with you.
- To keep invoices and tax records. Basis: legal obligation.
- To protect the website and prevent fraud, and to ask happy customers for a review. Basis: our legitimate interests.
- Statistics and advertising cookies: only if you accept them in the cookie banner. Basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
We only send emails about your orders. We do not send newsletters and we do not sell your personal data.
4. Who we share it with
We share only what each service needs to do its job:
- The vehicle manufacturer's service information systems: we use your VIN to obtain the manual for your car.
- Payment providers: PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay and Google Pay, to process your payment.
- Email: Google (Gmail), which sends our order emails.
- Hosting and security: the providers that run and protect our website.
- Reviews: Shopper Approved and Trustpilot, which may invite you to review your order.
- Statistics and advertising (only with your consent): Google Analytics, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising (Bing) and Microsoft Clarity. Clarity records how visitors use our pages, such as clicks and scrolling, to help us improve the website.
- Embedded content: YouTube videos and Google Fonts load from Google's servers, which see your IP address.
- Cookie consent: TermsFeed, which shows the cookie banner and remembers your choice.
- Authorities, only when the law requires it.
Some of these providers are in the United States or other countries outside the EU. In those cases the transfer is covered by safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
5. Cookies
When you first visit, a banner lets you accept or reject cookies that are not strictly necessary. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie preferences link at the bottom of every page.
- Strictly necessary (always on): your session and shopping cart (PHPSESSID), your cookie choice (cookie_consent_*), and payment fraud prevention by Stripe (__stripe_mid).
- Statistics (with consent): Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*, __utm*) and Microsoft Clarity (_clck, _clsk).
- Advertising (with consent): Google Ads (_gcl_au and Google advertising cookies) and Microsoft Advertising (_uetsid, _uetvid), which measure our ads and can show you our ads on other websites.
You can also delete cookies in your browser settings. You can opt out of Google ads personalisation at adssettings.google.com.
6. How long we keep it
- Order and invoice records: as long as tax and accounting laws require, usually up to 10 years.
- Your account: until you ask us to delete it.
- Download links: they stop working after 4 weeks. We do not host customers' files.
- Messages: as long as needed to help you, and then for a reasonable period in case of follow-up questions.
- Cookies: for the period shown in your browser, or until you delete them.
7. Your rights
You can ask us to:
- give you a copy of your personal data
- correct it
- delete it
- restrict how we use it, or object to its use
- send it to you in a portable format
Where you gave consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Email email and we will reply within one month. We may ask you to confirm your identity first. If you are in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
California residents: we do not sell your personal information. Advertising cookies can count as "sharing" under California law. You can opt out at any time with the Cookie preferences link.
8. Security
The whole website uses HTTPS encryption and is protected by security services. Access to order data is limited to the people who handle your order. No website is 100% secure, so please don't send passwords or card numbers by email or WhatsApp.
9. Children
Our website is not meant for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
10. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top.
