Privacy Policy
PolicyDepartment Ltd. Last updated: 25 September 2026
1. About this Privacy Policy
1.1 The website www.policydepartment.com (the Site) is operated by POLICYDEPARTMENT LTD (“we”, “us”, “our”), a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 12384503. Our registered office is at 3rd Floor 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE, England.
1.2 We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with our data protection obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA 2018), the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the UK GDPR) and any other applicable UK legislation (together, Data Protection Law).
1.3 When you interact with us or use the Site, we act as the data controller of your personal data. This means that we are responsible for processing your personal data and deciding how to use it. This privacy policy explains the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us, why we collect it, what we use it for and what rights you have over that data. Personal data is any information about an identifiable person. Processing is anything we do with your personal data, including using, storing, sharing and deleting it.
1.4 This policy was last updated on the date shown at the top. We may change this policy at any time by posting an updated version on the Site and will make reasonable efforts to bring any material changes to your attention. You may wish to check it before using the Site as any changes will be effective from the date that they are made.
2. Contact information
2.1 If you have any concerns or would like further information about our use of data or this policy in general, you can contact Mike Spicer at mike@policydepartment.com or on 02074594362.
3. What information do we collect?
3.1 We collect, store and use the types of personal data set out in the table at the end of this policy.
4. How will we use your personal data?
4.1 We will use your personal data for the purposes set out in the table at the end of this policy.
4.2 The website hosts four free online guidance and advisory tools, each assigned to a service page. The tools return advice tailored to user inputs, with more detailed feedback available to those who share their email address. This is visible to the website owner.
5. How do we share your personal data?
5.1 When we share personal data, we do so in accordance with Data Protection Law. We may share certain personal data, where necessary, with employees, contractors, consultants or advisers, to facilitate sales and for general commercial purposes.
In addition, where necessary, your personal data may be shared:
5.1.1 with parties who provide products or services to us, such as software development and data hosting etc.
5.1.2 with government or quasi-governmental organisations, law enforcement and other regulatory authorities or third parties when required or permitted by law, including but not limited to in response to court orders, for the prevention and detection of crime and to protect intellectual property and any other legal rights.
5.2 We may also provide third parties with aggregated but anonymised information and analytics about our customers. Before we do so we will make sure that it does not identify you.
5.3 In some cases when we share personal data, it will involve the transfer of that personal data to countries outside the UK which have different data protection standards to those which apply in the UK.
5.4 Where we transfer personal data outside the UK, we will ensure that there are adequate safeguards to protect your privacy rights under Data Protection Law. You can request a copy of the safeguards we have put in place by contacting us using the details in paragraph 2 above.
6. Third party links
6.1 This Site may contain links to other websites over which we have no control. We are not responsible for and do not review or endorse the privacy policies or practices of other websites which you choose to access from this Site. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those other websites, so you can understand how they collect, use and share your personal information.
7. Your rights
7.1 We respect your rights to privacy and will respond to requests for access or control over information about you in accordance with Data Protection Law. We may require you to verify your identity before we take any action.
7.2 Depending on the reason we have your personal data, you have a right to:
7.2.1 access the personal information we hold about you (commonly known as subject access);
7.2.2 request that we correct or complete personal information we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete;
7.2.3 request that we erase your personal information in some circumstances, or object to our processing it as detailed at paragraph 7.5;
7.2.4 restrict how we use your personal information, in certain circumstances;
7.2.5 request that we provide you with copies of your personal information in a machine-readable format or transfer it across different services; and
7.2.6 where we have asked for your consent to process your data, to withdraw this consent.
7.3 These rights are limited in some situations under Data Protection Law – for example, where we can demonstrate that we are under a legal obligation to process your data.
7.4 If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in paragraph 2 above.
7.5 Your right to object
You have a right to object to our processing of your personal data and ask us to stop doing so. If we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes (which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing) and you object to this, we will stop processing your personal data immediately.
If our processing of your personal data, including any profiling activities, is in the public interest or pursuant to our legitimate interests and you object to this, we will stop processing your personal data unless we have compelling reasons which override your interests, or our use of your personal data is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
7.6 Your right to complain
You have the right to complain to us if you consider that we have infringed data protection law in relation to your personal data. The best way to contact us with your complaint is by email at info@policydepartment.com.
We may ask you for proof of identification if we have any doubts about your identity and/or ask for evidence that you have the appropriate authority to make the complaint (if you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else).
In accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance, we will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days starting the day after we receive the complaint (provided we have received the appropriate proof of identification and/or evidence of authority). If the last day to acknowledge the complaint falls on a weekend or public holiday, we may respond on the next working day.
We will investigate your complaint, and communicate the outcome to you, without undue delay.
7.7 We hope that we can satisfy any queries and/or complaints you may have about the way we process your data. However, if you have unresolved concerns you also have the right to complain to data protection authorities (in the UK, the ICO). You can call the ICO on 0303 123 1113 or go to their website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/).
8. Data retention
8.1 Your personal data will only be kept for as long as necessary for our purposes. Specific retention periods are set out in the table at the end of this policy.
8.2 At the end of the specified retention periods, your personal data will either be securely destroyed or anonymised, unless we are required to keep it to comply with our legal obligations.
9. Data protection principles
9.1 We process your personal data in accordance with the following principles:
9.1.1 we process your personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;
9.1.2 we collect your personal data for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes; any further processing we do is compatible with the original purposes for which we collected it;
9.1.3 we only process personal data that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it is processed;
9.1.4 we take reasonable steps to ensure that all personal data is accurate and kept up to date where necessary;
9.1.5 we do not store personal data in a form that identifies you for any longer than is necessary for the purposes of our processing; and
9.1.6 we process personal data securely and in a way that protects against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage.
9.2 When we ask for your personal data we will tell you whether you are required by law or contract to provide it, and what will happen if you do not provide the data.
9.3 Any request for consent to the processing of your personal data will be made directly to you and will include information about why we require the personal data and what will be done with it.
10. What is our lawful basis for processing?
10.1 We will only process personal data when we have a lawful basis for doing that processing. The table at the end of this policy sets out the lawful basis we rely on for each type of data we process.
10.2 We will choose one of the lawful bases in the UK GDPR to justify how we use your personal data. These are:
10.2.1 Consent: You have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, as detailed in paragraph 7.2.
10.2.2 Contract: The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
10.2.3 Legal obligation: We need to process your personal data to comply with a legal obligation.
10.2.4 Vital interests: The processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or another person.
10.2.5 Public interest: Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of some official authority.
10.2.6 Legitimate interests: Processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by us or someone else, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms requiring the protection of your personal data.
11. Attribution
11.1 This privacy policy was created using a template from Sparqa Legal (https://www.sparqa.com), 25 September 2026.
Table of personal information we use
The table below sets out detailed information about the types of personal information we collect, our purposes for processing, the basis for processing and the retention period for the personal data.
Category of Personal Information | Purpose of Processing | Lawful basis for processing | Retention Period |
|---|---|---|---|
Contact history | To provide customer service and support; To train our staff | Performance of contract; Legitimate interests in dealing with complaints or claims | For six years since you last logged on to the Site |
Browser, device and Site usage information | To improve the site; To protect the Site against fraud; To set default options for you, such as language and currency | Performance of contract; Legitimate interests in dealing with complaints or claims | For six years since you last logged on to the Site |
Information generated in the course of the use of our products and services | For internal research and development purposes; To improve and test the features and functions of our Site | Performance of contract; Legitimate interest in maintaining our Site and improving our products and/or services generally | For four years |
Information collected through cookies and similar technologies | To conduct and store Site usage analytics, statistical and trend analysis and market research; To generate customer profiles to facilitate marketing initiatives; To collect information for statistical purposes about how the Site is used, with a view to making improvements to the Site; To adapt the way the Site appears in line with the user’s preferences or to otherwise enhance the appearance or functionality of the website on the user’s device | Consent (which will be express unless otherwise permitted by law)
Legitimate interest in maintaining our Site, collecting statistical information and improving the appearance or functionality of the Site | For three years since you gave consent, or until you withdraw consent if earlier |