Skip to main content
Stuck in a RUC

Privacy Policy

Stuck In A RUC is a free, non-commercial calculator run as a hobby project in New Zealand. We follow the principles of the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. This page describes what actually happens to your data. Last updated 6 October 2026.

1. What you enter

The vehicle details you type in (fuel type, gross vehicle mass, fuel use, prices, kilometres) are used to calculate costs in your browser. We don't ask for your name or email address, and we don't store your inputs on our server. If you type your number plate into the optional plate field, it stays in your browser: it isn't sent to our server, looked up by us, or put in share links. If you choose "Look up on NZTA", your browser opens NZTA's Rightcar website with your plate in the address. We don't receive or keep it. Rightcar's own privacy terms apply there. The page downloads the current RUC rates from our server, but that request doesn't include your inputs.

If you share a result (with Share, "Copy share link", "Copy message" or one of the share buttons), your inputs and the make, model and year of each vehicle you picked are put into the link itself. Your plate never is. Anyone you give the link to can see them. When the link is opened, our server recalculates the result from it to draw the preview that social media and messaging apps show, and our host may keep that page and image in its cache for up to a day. The share buttons are plain links: nothing from Facebook, X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or Reddit loads on our pages, and their own privacy policies apply once you use one.

The "Find your vehicle" picker uses a summary of NZTA's open Motor Vehicle Register that is part of this site (contains data sourced from NZTA, CC BY 4.0). It has no number plates or owner details. When you choose a make, your browser downloads that make's list from our host, Vercel. Nothing is sent to NZTA.

2. Analytics

We use a cookie-free analytics service to see which parts of the site people use and how they find it. It records page views and these actions:

  • picking a vehicle in the picker (the make, model and year from the register);
  • a picker search that finds nothing (not what you typed);
  • typing a number plate (only that you did, once per visit, never the plate) and choosing "Look up on NZTA";
  • opening the help bubble, and parking, duplicating or removing a vehicle in the garage;
  • completing a calculation: the fuel types compared, how many vehicles, whether GST is included, your yearly distance as a range (such as 10,000 to 15,000 km, never the exact figure), whether the admin fee is on, and whether you changed a fuel price;
  • opening a shared result, sharing a result (which share button) and clicking Buy me a coffee;
  • following the "Check prices near you on Gaspy" link (only that you did);
  • reading a blog post to the end (once per post per visit).

We never send your number plate, anything you type, or an exact figure you entered. For each page view and action the service keeps a record of what it was (the page's path, never the part after the "?" where a shared result's inputs are, or the action's name), the site you came from (its domain only), any campaign tags in the link (utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign), your browser and operating system, your screen size, your country and, where recorded, your region, your browser's language, whether the browser looks automated, a random session ID that groups one visit's records for up to eight hours and isn't linked to you, and the time. As with any website, the service receives your IP address and your browser's details to work these out, but it doesn't keep your IP address and sets no cookie. The records are kept on servers in the European Union (Finland and Germany) for two years and aren't shared with anyone else. If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, the service isn't loaded and nothing is recorded. We don't use any other analytics or advertising service.

3. Other services that see your visit

  • Vercel hosts the site. Like any web host, it receives your IP address and request details in order to serve pages, and may keep them in its logs.
  • Links to other sites (for example Buy Me a Coffee, NZTA or Gaspy) are covered by those sites' own privacy policies once you follow them.

The site's fonts are served from this site too, so loading a page doesn't contact Google Fonts or any other font service. We don't sell or share your data with anyone else.

4. Cookies and local storage

We don't set cookies, so there's no consent banner. Your light/dark mode choice is saved in your browser's local storage and never leaves your device. The analytics script only reads one local-storage setting, which lets the site's owner leave their own visits out of the counts.

5. Number plate lookup

Plate lookup is currently switched off. If it is ever switched on, any plate you enter will be sent to a third-party vehicle data provider to look up the vehicle's details, and this page will be updated first to name that provider.

6. Security

The site is served over HTTPS only, with security headers including a Content Security Policy.

7. Contact

Questions about your privacy, or a request to access or correct information about you: email stuckinaruc@gmail.com.