Who we are
WhenBin (whenbin.co.uk) is a free UK bin collection lookup service. It is operated as an independent personal project. For privacy enquiries, contact us at hello@whenbin.co.uk.
WhenBin is not affiliated with any local council or government body. We simply retrieve publicly available bin collection information on your behalf.
What data we collect
WhenBin is designed to collect as little personal data as possible. We do not require you to create an account or provide your name or email address to use the service.
| Data | Why we collect it | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
| Postcode entered into the search box | To retrieve bin collection dates from your council's system. Not stored by WhenBin. | Not stored |
| UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number) | Used to identify your address within your council's system. Passed as a URL parameter only. Not stored by WhenBin. | Not stored |
| IP address and browser information | Collected automatically by our hosting provider (Bigrock/web server) in server access logs for security and uptime monitoring. | Up to 30 days |
| Analytics data (pages visited, time on site, approximate location, device type) | Collected via Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with your consent to help us understand how the site is used and improve it. | 14 months (GA4 default) |
| Cookie preferences | Stored locally in your browser to remember whether you accepted or declined analytics cookies. | 12 months |
| Advertising cookie data (cookie IDs, ad interactions) | Used by Google AdSense to serve and measure advertising on WhenBin, with your consent. | Per Google's cookie policy |
Cookies
WhenBin uses three categories of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies — set by WordPress and our cookie consent tool to keep the site functioning and to store your cookie preferences. These do not require your consent.
- Analytics cookies — set by Google Analytics 4 only if you click "Accept All" on the cookie banner. These help us see which pages are visited and how people use the site. You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking "Customize" on the cookie banner.
- Advertising cookies — set by Google AdSense and its partners only if you accept advertising cookies in the cookie banner. These are used to show you ads that are more relevant to you and to measure how well those ads perform. You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking "Customize" on the cookie banner.
Google Analytics 4
If you consent to analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to collect anonymised usage data including pages visited, session duration, approximate geographic region (not precise location), device type, and browser. This data is sent to and stored by Google LLC on servers in the United States.
IP anonymisation is enabled. We do not use GA4 data for advertising purposes and do not share it with third parties.
Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy. You can opt out of GA4 tracking across all websites using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Advertising (Google AdSense)
We use Google AdSense to display advertising on WhenBin, which helps keep the service free to use.
Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this and/or other sites on the internet.
You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. For third-party vendors, you can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting aboutads.info/choices or optout.networkadvertising.org.
Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy. For more on how Google uses information from sites that use its services, see policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
Advertising cookies are only set once you have given consent via our cookie banner, in line with UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
Legal basis for processing
Under UK GDPR, our legal bases for processing personal data are:
- Legitimate interests — server logs for security and uptime monitoring (Article 6(1)(f)).
- Consent — Google Analytics 4 cookies and advertising cookies (Google AdSense), which only activate after you click "Accept All" on the cookie banner (Article 6(1)(a)). You may withdraw consent at any time.
Data sharing
WhenBin does not sell, rent or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. Data is shared only in the following limited circumstances:
- Google LLC — analytics data is sent to Google Analytics 4 if you have consented to analytics cookies.
- Google AdSense and advertising partners — cookie and device data is shared for ad serving and measurement if you have consented to advertising cookies.
- Hosting provider — server logs are held by our web hosting provider (Bigrock) as part of normal hosting operations.
- Council waste systems — your postcode and UPRN are sent to your local council's publicly accessible waste collection API to retrieve bin dates. This is the core function of the service. No personal data beyond the postcode/UPRN is sent, and WhenBin does not store these values.
- Legal requirement — we may disclose data if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request.
Data transfers outside the UK
Google Analytics 4 data and Google AdSense advertising data are transferred to and processed by Google LLC in the United States. Google participates in the UK–US Data Bridge framework, which provides an appropriate level of protection for personal data transferred from the UK to the US.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of personal data we hold about you.
- Erasure — request deletion of your personal data where we have no legitimate reason to continue processing it.
- Restriction — request that we restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
- Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Withdraw consent — withdraw consent to analytics cookies at any time via the cookie banner.
- Complain — lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
As WhenBin does not collect personal identifiers such as names or email addresses during normal use, we may be unable to locate or delete data relating to a specific individual from server logs without additional identifying information.
Children
WhenBin is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. The service is a general household utility intended for use by adults.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of WhenBin after changes are made constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.