Privacy and removal

What we collect about businesses

Business names, descriptions, locations, services, case studies and business contact details, taken only from each business's own public website. For every detail we record the page it came from and the date we checked it.

Sole traders

We list sole traders' businesses using details they publish on their own websites. Because those details can also be personal information, we show the town rather than a street address, we never show contact details the business hasn't published itself, and a sole trader can have their listing corrected or removed at any time, free; a removal from the business's own email address takes effect straight away.

Correction and removal

Anyone can ask us to correct a listing, and a business can ask to be removed. Use the claim, correct or remove form. Removed businesses are added to a do-not-list register so they aren't re-added in future. Corrections and removals are free.

What we collect about visitors

We don't use advertising trackers, and the only cookie we set is the sign-in cookie for people with an account (see below). We count page views with a privacy-friendly analytics service that doesn't identify you, and we count clicks on “Visit website” and “Contact” buttons per listing and day, without storing IP addresses. We also count, per listing and per day, how often each listing is viewed and shown in results, how visitors arrived (for example from our search or a search engine), the region they were in (as reported by our hosting provider, Cloudflare) whether they used a phone or a computer, how often listings are saved to shortlists, and the words people search for on this site. Only these daily totals are kept, for 13 months, and listed businesses can see their own; groups smaller than five are combined so nobody can be singled out. To count each visitor once a day and to limit abuse of sign-in, we use a one-way scrambled form of your IP address that changes every day and is kept for up to 24 hours. “Saved” listings are kept in your own browser, and also with your account if you're signed in.

If you send us a form, we keep what you send (your name, email and message) only to handle your request, and delete it 90 days after we have dealt with it.

If you send a business an enquiry through its listing, we email your name, email address and message to that business, which then holds them under its own privacy obligations and replies to you directly. We keep a copy for 90 days so you can see your enquiries in your account, then delete it. If you weren't signed in, we first ask you to confirm by email; an enquiry that isn't confirmed is deleted within two days and never sent. Only businesses that have claimed their listing and switched enquiries on can receive them.

If you submit your business to be listed, we use your name and email only to tell you about your listing; they are never published. The listing itself is built from your website, like every other listing, and checked first: by a person, or automatically if you confirmed from an address at your business's own web domain and your website clearly shows the listing fits.

Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to check they are sent by a person rather than a spam bot. It isn't used for advertising.

Accounts

If you create an account we keep your email address, the listings you've claimed or saved, and the enquiries you've sent, so the account works. Signing in uses a single-use link sent to your email; we don't store passwords. We set one cookie to keep you signed in; it's needed for the account to work, isn't used for tracking, and expires after 30 days. You can delete your account at any time from its settings, which removes this information.

Payments for listing enhancements are handled by Stripe, which processes your card details under its own privacy policy; we never see or store them.

Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can ask to see or correct personal information we hold about you. Use the form above and we'll respond promptly.