Been sent a KeyProof link? Here is what it is.
A car or van hire firm you are booking with uses KeyProof to run its pre-hire checks, and the link they sent you is the check-in for your hire. Sensible of you to look the name up before tapping it. This page explains what the check is, who sees what, what it costs, and what gets deleted when, in plain English.
Why the firm asks
Before handing a vehicle to someone they have usually never met, a hire firm needs three things: to know who is collecting it, to know they are allowed to drive, and a record of the condition it left in. Without KeyProof, that usually means photographing your licence over the counter and keeping copies of your documents in a camera roll or a folder. The link does the same checks properly instead, and files the results as one record for your hire, without the firm ever holding your documents.
Your ID goes to Stripe, not to the hire firm
The identity check is run by Stripe, the regulated payments company, on Stripe's own pages. You photograph your photo ID and take a live selfie; Stripe checks the document is genuine and matches your face to it. The hire firm sees a verified result. It does not receive or keep a copy of your passport or licence, and neither does KeyProof: we store the session reference and the pass or fail outcome only. The one deliberate exception is at handover, where the firm can view your verified selfie to confirm the person collecting the vehicle is the person who verified. That image is fetched from Stripe for that view and is not stored by KeyProof.
The licence check happens on gov.uk
You generate a one-time code through the government's own Share Driving Licence service and give the last 8 characters of your licence number. The hire firm runs the free check itself on gov.uk, which is where your driving record actually lives. KeyProof records that the check was done and when; it never sees your points, categories or anything else on the record. The share code is erased from our systems 30 days after you sign, and the code itself expires at the DVLA sooner than that.
The deposit is between you and the firm
The deposit is a hold on the hire firm's own Stripe account, exactly as it would be if you paid at a counter. KeyProof Ltd never holds your deposit money, and returning it is the firm's decision under its own agreement with you, not ours.
What it costs you
A flat £4.99 verification fee is added at booking and covers the checks. That is the only thing KeyProof charges a renter. The hire price and the deposit are set by the firm and paid to the firm.
No app, no account
The whole check-in runs in your phone's browser from the one link you were sent. There is nothing to install, no account to create and no password to remember. When the hire is over, you have nothing of ours left on your phone.
What we keep, and when it deletes
Deletion runs on scheduled code rather than on someone remembering. Your DVLA share code is erased 30 days after signing. The booking record itself, including the condition photos and your signed agreement, is deleted in full 24 months after the hire ends, because until then it is the evidence either side may need if there is a damage dispute, an insurance claim or a traffic fine. If one of those is still open at 24 months, the record is held until the matter is settled and deleted once it is. And when a record that ran an identity check is erased, we also ask Stripe to erase the documents and selfie held on their side, so deletion does not stop at our own database.
Your rights
The hire firm is the controller of your check-in data and KeyProof processes it on the firm's instructions, so requests about your record go to the firm you dealt with. If you would rather start with us, email privacy@keyproof.co.uk and we will pass the request on and assist. The full detail is in the privacy notice, and how the data is protected is on the security page.
See it before you do it
If you want to know exactly what the link will ask before you tap the real one, the demo walks the same flow on a made-up booking. Nothing in it is recorded and nothing is charged.