Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Data We Collect We collect personal and non-personal data when you visit or interact with our directory:

Business Contact Data: Name, business name, address, telephone number, email address, website URL, social media handles, and business details submitted when creating or claiming a listing.

User & Partner Data: Name, contact details, account passwords, and payout account details (for users participating in our Referral Bounty Network).

User Submissions: Ratings, reviews, enquiries, or coupons requested through business pages.

Technical Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, device information, referring pages, and interaction data collected automatically via cookies and Cloudflare analytics.

2. How We Use Your Data We process your personal information under the following legal bases:

Performance of a Contract: To process listing registrations, facilitate business-to-consumer contacts, manage profile upgrades, and enable referral bounty tracking and payouts.

Legitimate Interests: To maintain, secure, and optimize our directory, prevent fraudulent reviews or abuse, and improve local business discovery across the East Midlands.

Consent: To send direct email marketing, newsletters, or enable non-essential tracking cookies (where explicitly consented to).

Legal Compliance: To maintain accounting records and comply with statutory obligations.

3. Data Sharing & Third Parties We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share data with trusted third-party service providers only as necessary to operate our service:

Hosting & Security: Cloudflare, Inc. (DNS, web security, and performance management).

Platform Operations: Hosting and database partners operating our directory management system.

Payment Processors: Secure third-party payment gateways (e.g., Stripe) for processing upgraded business listing subscriptions.

Legal Requirements: Law enforcement or regulatory authorities if legally required to do so.

4. Data Security & Storage We employ appropriate technical and organizational measures—including SSL/TLS encryption via Cloudflare—to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, or alteration. Your data is stored securely on cloud infrastructure compliant with UK and EU data protection standards.

5. Your Rights Under UK GDPR As a resident of the UK, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.

Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").

Right to Restrict or Object: Object to direct marketing or processing based on legitimate interests.

Right to Data Portability: Request transfer of your data to another service provider.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (www.ico.org.uk).

Who We Are Digital East Midlands ("we", "us", or "our") operates the website https://www.digitaleastmidlands.uk/.

Data Controller: Digital East Midlands

Contact Email: [email protected]

Address: 32 Chapel Street Kilburn Belper Derbyshire UK

2. Information We Collect We may collect and process the following data about you:

Personal Information: Name, email address, phone number, or company details provided voluntarily via contact forms or newsletter sign-ups.

Technical Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, and details about your visits to our site (e.g., page views, length of stay).

3. How We Use Your Information We use your information to:

Provide and manage our services.

Respond to inquiries submitted via our contact forms.

Send periodic newsletters or promotional emails (only if you have opted in).

Improve website functionality and performance using aggregated analytics.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR) We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

Consent: You have given explicit consent (e.g., opting into emails or accepting non-essential cookies).

Legitimate Interests: To run, maintain, and secure our website and services efficiently.

Contractual Necessity: To fulfill a contract or step prior to entering into a contract with you.

5. Third-Party Services We do not sell or rent your personal data. We may share data with trusted service providers who assist us in operating our website (e.g., website hosting, analytics, email distribution platforms), subject to strict confidentiality agreements.

6. Data Retention We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or to satisfy legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

7. Your Rights Under UK Law Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.

Request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete data.

Request the erasure of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").

Restrict or object to our processing of your data.

Withdraw consent at any time (where processing relies on consent).