Who we are
Vorsprung Connect is a smart charging service for electric car chargers in UK homes. It is made up of the Vorsprung Connect app, the website at vorsprungconnect.com, and the servers that talk to your charger. Vorsprung ("we", "us") runs it and is the controller of the personal data described here.
For anything about your data, write to [email protected].
What we keep
| What | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Your name, email address, phone number and the address where the charger is installed | Your installer, when they add the charger, and you |
| Your sign-in: your email and a one-way hash of your password, or the account ID Google or Apple gives us if you sign in with them | You, Google or Apple |
| Your charger: its serial number, model, charger ID and how it starts charging | Your installer and the charger |
| Your charging settings: charging mode, times, the energy you need and when you leave | You, in the app |
| Your electricity tariff and the postcode it applies to | You, in the app |
| Charging sessions: when each one started and stopped, and the energy used | The charger |
| The names you give RFID cards and the card numbers | You and the charger |
| A push notification token for each phone you sign in on, and which notifications you want | Your phone and you |
| A record of changes to your charger and account, such as a mode change or a remote start | The service |
We do not use advertising or tracking tools in the app or on this website, and we do not sell personal data.
Why we keep it
- To run the service you signed up for (performing our contract with you): showing your charger, starting and scheduling charges, and showing your history.
- To keep the service safe (our legitimate interests): signing you in, stopping misuse, and keeping a record of what changed on a charger and who changed it.
- To meet the law (legal obligation): the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 require the charger and service to work in certain ways, described on our compliance page.
- To send notifications you turned on (your consent, which you give on your phone and can withdraw in the app or your phone's settings).
Who else sees it
Your installer
The company that installed your charger can see your contact details, your charger and its status in our installer console, so they can set up and look after the charger.
Services we use
| Service | What it gets | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services, London | Everything above | Our servers and database run there |
| Cloudflare | Requests to our servers and this website | Network and protection against attacks |
| Octopus Energy | The postcode you enter for your tariff | To find your region and its Agile prices |
| National Grid ESO Carbon Intensity API | The first half of your postcode | To read the carbon forecast for your area |
| Expo | Your push token and the notification text | To deliver notifications and app updates |
| Google and Apple | Your sign-in, if you choose Continue with Google or Apple | To sign you in |
Expo, Google and Apple may handle data outside the UK. Where they do, they rely on the UK's adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Addendum to protect it.
We share data with the police or others only when the law requires it.
How long we keep it
- Your account, contact details and settings: until you delete your account.
- Charging sessions: with the charger, so the next owner of the home sees only their own sessions from the day they link it. The app shows the last 12 months.
- The raw messages between the charger and our servers: 90 days.
- The record of changes: kept for security. It holds a reference number for your account, not your name or email.
When you delete your account, your contact details, sign-in, tariff, notification settings and push tokens are deleted straight away and the charger is unlinked from you. The delete your account page has the full list.
On your phone
The app asks for these permissions, and only when you use the feature that needs them:
- Camera, to scan the QR code on your charger.
- Bluetooth, to connect a new charger to your Wi-Fi.
- Location, while using the app, because Android and iOS only let apps read the name of your Wi-Fi network with it. We do not keep your location.
- Notifications, for the alerts you choose.
The app does not use the microphone.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, delete it, limit how we use it or send it to you in a portable form, and object to how we use it. Write to [email protected] and we will answer within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.