Privacy Policy — ID Verification
Last updated: 22 May 2026
Who we are
Empire Trailer Hire operates a trailer hire business in Townsville, Queensland. This policy describes how we collect, hold, use, and disclose personal information when verifying driver's licences as part of our trailer hire bookings.
Privacy contact: Matt Cole — matt@empiretrailerhire.com
What we collect
When you verify your driver's licence with us:
- From you: full name, email address, and a photo of your Australian driver's licence (front, and optionally back).
- From your licence (extracted by AI): first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, licence number, expiry date, issuing state, and the address printed on the licence.
- About your visit: IP address, date and time of verification, how the link was delivered.
What we do NOT keep
Photos of your licence are never stored. They're processed in memory only — read, sent to our AI provider for text extraction, and discarded as soon as the text data has been returned. Never written to disk, never backed up.
Why we collect it
- To verify your identity before handing over a trailer (legal and insurance requirement).
- To meet our record-keeping obligations for vehicle hire.
- To re-verify your identity for future bookings within the validity window.
How long we keep it
- Verification records (extracted text data): up to 7 years after your last activity with us.
- Photos: never stored. Discarded within seconds of extraction.
- Audit logs: up to 7 years.
You can request earlier deletion at any time — subject to legal obligations (active disputes, insurance claims, etc).
Service providers
We use the following providers to operate the system:
| Provider | What they do | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | AI text extraction | USA — photo bytes in transit only, discarded |
| Neon | Database hosting | AWS Sydney — encrypted at rest |
| Vercel | Web hosting | Global edge network |
| Clerk | Staff authentication | USA — no customer data |
| Resend | Verification emails | USA — name + email + link |
| Twilio | SMS reminders (only if phone provided) | USA — phone + link |
| Lockii | Our booking system that shows verification status | Australia — no licence details |
Cross-border disclosure
Some service providers process data outside Australia, principally in the United States. By submitting your information, you consent to this disclosure. Our database itself (where extracted licence text is stored) is in Sydney, Australia.
How we protect your data
- Two layers of encryption at rest for the most sensitive fields (licence number, date of birth).
- HTTPS only for all data in transit.
- Per-staff authentication with audit logging of every record access and edit.
- Rate limiting on the verification form.
- Immediate disposal of licence photos after extraction.
- Australian-hosted database.
Your rights
- Access — email matt@empiretrailerhire.com with the subject "Access request" and we'll send you a copy within 30 days.
- Correct any wrong data — email us.
- Request deletion — subject to legal obligations.
- Complain — to us first, then to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner if unresolved.
Data breach response
If we discover a breach likely to cause serious harm, we will contain it, assess the impact, and notify affected individuals + the OAIC within 30 days (as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme).
Updates
The current version of this policy is always at verify.empiretrailerhire.com/privacy.