WhenIsBinswhenisbins

Privacy

We only ask for what we need to tell you your bin days. Here is what that is, in plain words.

The API and the MCP server

This policy also covers the WhenIsBins API (https://whenisbins.com/v1/guide) and our MCP server for AI assistants (whenisbins.com/mcp). The MCP server works through the same API. A postcode or address sent through either is handled exactly like one typed on this website: the same council lookups, saved schedules, AI processing and deletion periods described on this page apply.

  • If you use an API token, we keep the name it was issued under (usually the person or integration it is for), when it was created and whether it is still active. We store only a fingerprint of the token, never the token itself.
  • To enforce fair-use limits, we keep a scrambled form of the network address a request came from, for up to 25 hours.
  • If you use WhenIsBins through an AI assistant, that assistant and its provider also see what you ask it and what we return, under their own privacy terms.

What we ask you for

  • Your postcode and address. We need these to look up your bin days on your council's website. We pass them to your council's own checker, the same as if you typed them there yourself.
  • Your email address - only if you give it. You never have to. We ask for it only if you'd like us to email you your bin days, or send reminders the evening before a collection.
  • Feedback, if you choose to give it. We keep what you write together with the lookup it was about, so we can check what happened. If you leave an email address it is stored encrypted and used only to reply. Ninety days after we've dealt with it, what you wrote is deleted.

What we do with it

  • We save verified collection information so repeat lookups can be quicker and your calendar feed and reminders can stay up to date. Availability and matching still depend on the address.
  • We show the exact address while you check your result, but we leave it out of the reusable schedule link, calendar feed and routine reminders.
  • If you give us your email, we use it for the notification, reminders or reply you asked for. Our email provider processes the address and message to deliver it. We do not use it for marketing.
  • Your email is stored encrypted. Even we can't read it straight out of the database.
  • We sometimes keep a record of how a council's website was read so we can teach our system to do it faster next time. That record is encrypted, kept private, and deleted after 14 days.
  • For up to seven days, we keep a short record of the steps taken through this website and whether bin dates were shown. A password-protected operator page may join that record to the address already held with the lookup, so we can investigate where people get stuck. We do not copy the address into the statistics record. We record whether a lookup started on the homepage or a council page, a broad source category (such as search, or one of our adverts, with which of our two advert messages it was), and a broad device category. We discard the rest of the advert link (including any advertising click identifier) and browser description.
  • When another website links you to our start page, we keep the web address of the page that sent you, as your browser reports it, for 90 days. It is kept on its own, with the time, and is never linked to your lookup, your address or the steps you took. Most browsers report only the other website’s name.
  • If a visit looks as though it comes from an automated AI agent, or uses the kind of browser such agents use (Chrome on a Linux desktop), we keep technical details of that visit for 30 days so we can learn to recognise such agents: the internet address it came from, what the browser reported about itself, and how the pointer and keyboard were used on the page (positions and timings, never what was typed). It is kept apart from lookups and is not linked to an address.

Services that process information for us

We use hosting and database services to operate the website and store results; postcode and address services to find the right council and property; council websites to retrieve dates; and an email delivery service to send messages you request.

If you add a calendar to Google, Apple or another calendar service, that service receives the calendar URL and dates. The calendar contents omit your street address and email, but its URL can identify the property. Anyone with a public property-calendar URL may subscribe to it.

How long information is kept

  • Our completed lookup jobs and sent notification records are normally deleted after 30 days. We keep minimal email delivery-event records for 90 days. These periods describe our records; delivery providers also process messages under their own arrangements.
  • Saved collection schedules, property references and council address lists are kept separately so the service can answer repeat requests and refresh calendars. They do not all expire with a lookup job. Contact us if you want information about your property removed.
  • We keep private versions of saved property calendars, linked to their property reference and UPRN when known, for 13 calendar months so we can check how collection dates changed. These versions contain collection information, not your email or written address. Older versions are deleted by daily housekeeping.
  • Reminders retain the contact information needed while the subscription is active. After you stop, contact information is removed when no subscription or retained notification still needs it. If delivery is suppressed, we may retain a protected do-not-send identifier to avoid sending again.
  • Private records used to improve council lookups expire after 14 days. Website journey records last up to seven days, and referring web addresses 90 days. Records of visits that look like automated AI agents last 30 days. Private daily totals are kept for up to 13 months, without addresses, journey identifiers or lookup identifiers. Feedback text and its reply contact are deleted 90 days after the feedback is marked dealt with.

What we don't do

  • We do not sell your personal information. We share information with the services needed to run WhenIsBins, for the purposes explained below.
  • We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.
  • We don't ask you to create an account or make a password.
  • We don't put your address in long-term statistics. After seven days, journey reporting contains no link back to an individual lookup.

Cookies

We use a few small cookies that only make the site work - for example, to protect the forms from misuse and to remember a lookup you are waiting on. Visit measurement uses a hidden value carried by the lookup forms, not a tracking cookie. Nothing is used to track you across other websites.

Stopping reminders

Every reminder email has a stop link at the bottom. Follow it and confirm that you want to stop. The subscription is removed immediately. Previously sent notification records may remain until their normal deletion date, as explained above.

Keeping things safe

We record the internet address of your computer for a short while to stop the site being overloaded, and we keep basic logs to fix problems. Our routine notification logs do not include your email address.

Questions

If you have a question about your information, or want us to delete it, just ask. Email hello@whenisbins.com.

This free AI demonstrator is operated and funded by Public Digital Limited. It is not a government service, and it is not run by your council.