Privacy Policy
This policy explains how ENS Connect Limited ("ENS Connect", "we", "us") handles personal data when you use ENSconnect: the application programming interface (API), the customer dashboard and the related services through which we lodge customs safety and security declarations, goods movement references and logistics envelopes with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the EU Import Control System 2 (ICS2) and the French customs administration (DGDDI) on behalf of our customers.
1. Who we are
ENS Connect Limited is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17454162, registered office 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom. Software development and technical operation of the service are carried out on our behalf by a contracted engineering partner established in the European Union, acting as our processor under a written data processing agreement.
Contact for privacy matters: contact@ensconnect.co.uk.
2. Roles
Our customers are freight forwarders, hauliers and logistics operators (businesses, not consumers). For the data they send us in order to lodge a declaration, the customer is the controller and ENS Connect is the processor, acting on the customer's documented instructions under the service agreement. ENS Connect is the controller for the customer account data, the contractual and billing records, and the technical logs of the service itself.
3. What data we process
| Category | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Customer account data | company name, contact name, business email and phone, API key identifiers (keys are stored only as a cryptographic hash), webhook endpoints | the customer |
| Declaration data | names, addresses and EORI numbers of carriers, consignors, consignees and notify parties; vehicle and trailer registration numbers; transport document numbers; goods descriptions, weights, package counts; ports, routes, expected arrival times | the customer, via API or dashboard |
| Customs responses | movement reference numbers (MRN), goods movement reference numbers (GMR), correlation and notification identifiers, acceptance, rejection, amendment and control (do-not-load, inspection) messages | HMRC, ICS2, DGDDI |
| Technical logs | request timestamps, IP addresses, API key identifiers, error messages, webhook delivery attempts | generated by the service |
Declaration data may include personal data of individuals working for the parties involved (for example a driver's name where a customs regime requires it, or a contact person at a consignee). We do not process special category data.
4. Why we process it and on what basis
- Lodging declarations and relaying customs responses: performance of the contract with the customer; for the customer, compliance with customs legal obligations (UK Safety and Security regime, Goods Vehicle Movement Service, EU ICS2, French Enveloppe Logistique Obligatoire).
- Account management, support and billing: performance of the contract; our legal obligations in accounting and tax law.
- Security, abuse prevention, service integrity: our legitimate interest in running a reliable and secure service, and our obligations under the HMRC Developer Hub terms of use.
5. Who receives the data
- Customs authorities, as instructed by the customer: HMRC (Safety and Security GB, Goods Vehicle Movement Service), the EU ICS2 Shared Trader Interface through a national entry point, and the French customs SI Brexit system (ELO). Where a declaration is routed through an accredited customs intermediary, that intermediary receives the declaration data for the same purpose.
- Sub-processors providing infrastructure: Supabase (database, edge functions, hosted in the European Union) and Vercel (hosting of the dashboard). Both are bound by data processing terms.
- Professional advisers and authorities where the law requires it.
We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for advertising.
6. International transfers
Data is stored in the European Union and transmitted to the United Kingdom, the European Union and France for the purpose of the declarations. Transfers between the UK and the EU rely on the respective adequacy decisions. No data is transferred outside the UK and the EEA for processing.
7. Retention
Declaration data and customs responses are kept for four years after the declaration was lodged, which is the period customs authorities may require records to be available, unless the customer instructs an earlier deletion permitted by law or a longer period is required by a pending enquiry. Account data is kept for the life of the contract and six years thereafter for accounting purposes. Technical logs are kept for twelve months.
8. Security
- All traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher); data is encrypted at rest by the infrastructure provider.
- API keys are stored only as salted hashes. Access tokens issued by customs authorities are held in a restricted vault and never exposed to customers or staff.
- We never see or store Government Gateway credentials; authorisation with HMRC uses OAuth 2.0 tokens issued to our organisation.
- Row-level isolation between customers, role-based access for staff, audit logs of administrative actions.
- Security incidents and vulnerabilities can be reported by anyone at security@ensconnect.co.uk; we acknowledge reports within one working day.
- A personal data breach affecting customer data is notified to the customer without undue delay, to the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours where required, and to HMRC through its support channel as required by the Developer Hub terms.
9. Your rights
Individuals whose data we process have the rights given by the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, subject to the customs record-keeping obligations described above. Because the customer is the controller for declaration data, requests concerning that data are forwarded to the customer, and we assist them in responding. You may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (United Kingdom) or with the supervisory authority of your EU member state.
10. Cookies and local storage
The dashboard uses browser local storage only to remember the signed-in session on the device. We do not use analytics or advertising cookies.
11. Changes
We will publish any change to this policy at this address and notify customers by email at least 30 days before a material change takes effect.