Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Little Neighbourhoods collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data in connection with its website and listing services. We are committed to handling your data responsibly and in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Little Neighbourhoods operates under the trading name Little Neighbourhoods. For data protection purposes, Little Neighbourhoods is the data controller.

1. What Data We Collect

Website Visitors

When you visit little-neighbourhoods.co.uk, we may automatically collect certain technical data including your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on the site. This data is collected through cookies and similar technologies. See Section 6 (Cookies) for more detail.

Business Contacts

When a business registers for a listing or contacts us, we may collect:

• Business name and trading address
• Contact name
• Email address
• Telephone number

For sole traders and partnerships, this information may constitute personal data under UK GDPR.

Reviewers

When a member of the public submits a review, we collect their email address (for verification purposes) and the content of their review. We do not require account registration to leave a review.

Payment Data

All payment processing is handled by Stripe. Little Neighbourhoods does not store card numbers, bank account details, or any payment credentials directly. Stripe's privacy policy applies to payment data: stripe.com/gb/privacy.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

• To create and manage business listings on the platform
• To process subscription payments and send invoices via Stripe
• To deliver monthly listing statistics reports to premium subscribers
• To send operational communications relating to your listing (e.g. content updates, payment notifications)
• To contact businesses about their listing performance and the potential benefits of premium membership — you may opt out of these communications at any time by emailing littleneighbourhoods@gmail.com
• To verify and moderate reviews submitted by members of the public
• To improve and maintain the platform

We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract performance: processing necessary to manage your listing and subscription.
• Legitimate interests: sending operational updates, moderating reviews, and contacting businesses about their listing performance. We have assessed that these interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation: retaining financial records as required by HMRC.

4. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain data only for as long as necessary:

• Business contact data is retained for the duration of an active listing or subscription relationship
• Financial and billing records are retained for a minimum of 6 years from the date of transaction, as required by HMRC
• Reviewer email addresses are retained for moderation and blocking purposes; review content is retained for as long as the associated listing exists
• Website usage data (cookies and analytics) is retained in accordance with the retention periods set out in Section 6

Upon a verified request for erasure, we will delete personal contact data subject to any legal retention obligations.

5. Sharing Your Data

We share data only with the following third-party processors where necessary to operate the platform:

• Base44 — our platform and database host. Data is stored securely within Base44's infrastructure. See base44.com/privacy.
• Stripe — our payment processor. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe. See stripe.com/gb/privacy.

We do not share your data with any other third parties without your consent, except where required by law.

6. Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to enable core functionality and understand how the site is used.

The types of cookies we expect to use include:

• Strictly necessary cookies: required for the website to function (e.g. session management). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: used to understand how visitors interact with the site. These are set only with your consent.
• Payment cookies: set by Stripe when processing payments.

You can control non-essential cookies through your browser settings or our cookie consent tool on the website.

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you
• The right to correct inaccurate data
• The right to request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention obligations)
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• The right to data portability

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at littleneighbourhoods@gmail.com. We will respond within one calendar month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the 'Last updated' date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, or if you wish to lodge a complaint, please use the link below.