Our Privacy & Data Protection Policy
At Know the Plan, we are committed to protecting your personal data with the same seriousness we apply to discussing fire safety in London’s casinos. Transparency and trust are the cornerstones of our work. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and how you can control it, in full compliance with United Kingdom data protection laws, including UK GDPR.
What Information We Collect
To provide and improve our safety content, we collect limited information. This falls into two categories: data you knowingly give us and data collected automatically.
Information You Provide
This is data you voluntarily submit. The primary example is when you sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on topics like UK casino building regulations. This typically includes your email address and, optionally, your name. We may also collect information if you contact us directly via our website’s contact form.
Information Collected Automatically
As you navigate our site, certain technical data is collected. This does not personally identify you on its own but relates to your visit. It can include:
- Your IP address and approximate location (country/city level).
- Device and browser type.
- Pages you view, particularly our guides on fire safety.
- How you arrived at our website (e.g., from a search engine).
- The time and duration of your visit.
How We Use Cookies and Tracking
We use small data files called cookies to make our site function properly and to understand how it is used. We always request your consent for any cookies that are not strictly necessary. Our cookie banner provides clear options to accept, reject, or customise your preferences.
Essential Cookies
These are crucial for the basic functions of the website, such as page navigation. They do not gather information about you for marketing purposes and the site cannot work properly without them. These cookies are typically session-based and expire when you close your browser.
Analytics & Preference Cookies
With your explicit consent, we use analytics cookies from services like Google Analytics. These help us understand how visitors engage with our content, allowing us to improve our resources. Preference cookies remember settings like your language choice. You can manage or withdraw your consent for these cookies at any time.
Our Use of Analytics
We leverage analytics to ensure our safety planning content is effective and relevant. By understanding user behaviour, we can prioritise the most critical safety information and improve the user experience.
Purpose of Analytics
We use analytics to measure engagement with our safety guides. This helps us answer questions like: which articles on fire safety are most useful? How can we improve our coverage? This data is used in an aggregated, non-personal way to guide our editorial focus.
Data Anonymisation
We configure our analytics to anonymise IP addresses wherever possible. This means the data we review cannot be traced back to you as an individual. We use this anonymised data to see broader trends in how our public safety information is consumed.
Sharing Data with Third-Party Services
We only share your data with a minimal number of trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our blog. We never sell your personal data. All providers are bound by strict data processing agreements that mandate they use your information only to provide the service we request.
Service Providers
We use specialised companies to perform key functions. For example, we may use a platform to manage and send our newsletter emails. Our web hosting provider, which stores our website data, and our analytics provider are other examples. These partners only receive the data necessary for their specific function.
Legal Obligations
In rare circumstances, we may be required to disclose your information if mandated by UK law, for example, to comply with a court order or lawful request from authorities to protect rights, property, or safety.
Your Data Rights Under UK GDPR
As a user based in the United Kingdom, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. We are committed to facilitating the exercise of these rights in a timely and transparent manner. You have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data. You can also object to or restrict certain processing and, where applicable, request data portability.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the ‘How to Contact Us’ section below. We will respond to your request within one month, as required by UK law. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests to protect your data’s security.
How Long We Keep Your Data
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. For example, newsletter subscription data is kept until you unsubscribe. Analytics data is typically aggregated and anonymised, and raw logs are not kept indefinitely. We conduct regular reviews to delete data that is no longer required.
How to Contact Us About Privacy
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach our data protection lead via email at [email protected]. We take all privacy inquiries seriously and will endeavour to resolve any issue promptly.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), if you believe our processing of your personal data infringes data protection laws. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns first.