Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Catchment Area ("we", "us", or "our") operates an online platform helping parents and carers discover schools, understand catchment areas, and access school performance data (the "Service"). We are the data controller for personal data processed in connection with the Service.

If you have questions or requests about this policy, please contact us at hi@catchmentarea.co.uk.

2. Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal data when you use the Service at catchmentarea.co.uk, our mobile applications, or any related services, contact us, subscribe to communications, create an account, or otherwise interact with us.

We use cookies on our website. Insofar as those cookies are not strictly necessary for the provision of our website and services, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website.

This policy complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

3. Personal data we collect

3.1 Information you provide

• Account information: name, email address, and password when you create an account.
• Contact details: phone number, postal address, or other contact information if provided.
• Payment information: processed securely by our payment providers. We do not store your full card details on our servers.
• Profile and preferences: saved schools, search criteria, address information, and other preferences you set.
• Communications: enquiries, feedback, and support requests you send to us.

3.2 Information we collect automatically

• Usage and device data: information about how you access and use the Service, including IP address, browser type and version, device identifiers, operating system, pages viewed, referral source, length of visit, page views, website navigation paths, referring/exit pages, and timestamps.
• Location data: approximate geographical location derived from your IP address.
• Cookies and similar technologies: we use necessary cookies to operate the Service and may use analytics cookies to understand usage and improve performance. See the Cookies section below for more details.
• Log files and analytics data: server logs and analytics information from service providers.

3.3 Information from third parties

• School data from government sources and Ofsted
• Geographic and mapping data from licensed providers
• Analytics information from service providers

4. How and why we use personal data

We may process your personal data for the following purposes:

• to provide, maintain, and improve the Service, including displaying school information, catchment area data, and performance data;
• to process payments and manage your subscription;
• to create and manage your account;
• to communicate with you about your account, updates, and our services;
• to personalise your experience and provide tailored recommendations;
• to respond to enquiries and provide customer support;
• to monitor usage, analyse trends, and improve the website and services;
• to prevent fraud or abuse and keep the Service secure;
• to send service communications and, where permitted, marketing about our Service;
• to comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

5. Legal bases (UK GDPR)

We rely on the following legal bases, depending on the activity:

• Consent: for optional analytics cookies, for sending marketing communications, and for processing any special category data (such as health-related information) you may include in communications with us.
• Performance of a contract: to provide our Service, process your subscription, respond to your requests, and manage your account.
• Legitimate interests: to operate and improve the Service, prevent fraud and abuse, provide users with accurate school and catchment area data to make informed decisions about their children's education, and communicate with you about similar services where lawful. We balance our interests against your rights and expectations.
• Legal obligation: to comply with applicable laws, regulatory requests, and court orders.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device. We use the following categories of cookies:

• Essential cookies: required for the website to function properly. They enable core functionalities like security, performance optimisation, and basic site operation. We do not seek your consent before we place these cookies and you cannot disable them.
• Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors interact with our website. They help us track which pages are visited, how long users stay on the site, how they interact with the site and where they come from. We use this data to improve our service.
• Functional cookies: remember your preferences and settings to enhance your experience.
• Marketing cookies: used to make our website and any advertising displayed on it more relevant to you and your interests.

You can control cookies through your browser settings or our cookie consent tool. Blocking all cookies may affect site functionality.

7. Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: we may share personal data with trusted vendors who perform services on our behalf, such as hosting, payment processing, analytics, email delivery, data storage, backup, and IT support. They may only process personal data per our instructions.
• Legal and compliance: we may disclose information if required by law, in response to valid legal requests, or for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.
• Protection: to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, or that of our users or the public.
• Business transfers: if we undergo a reorganisation, merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction.
• Professional advisers: we may disclose personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers for obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice.
• Consent: with your explicit consent for specific purposes.

8. International transfers

Some of our service providers may be located outside the UK or EEA. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK/EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, transfers to countries that have been identified as providing adequate protection for personal data, or other mechanisms approved by regulators.

You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.

9. Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Specific retention periods are:

• Account data: retained whilst your account is active and for 3 years after closure or last login
• Usage data: retained for up to 50 months for analytics purposes
• Payment and transaction data: retained for up to 7 years for tax and accounting purposes
• Marketing data: retained until you withdraw consent

Notwithstanding the above, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

10. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following principal rights:

• The right to access: you have the right to confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data together with certain additional information.
• The right to rectification: you have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data completed.
• The right to erasure: in some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay.
• The right to restrict processing: in some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data.
• The right to object to processing: you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is legitimate interests.
• The right to data portability: to the extent that the legal basis for processing is consent or performance of a contract, and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
• The right to withdraw consent: to the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
• The right to complain to a supervisory authority: if you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at hi@catchmentarea.co.uk. We may ask for information to verify your identity. We aim to respond within one month.

11. Children

The Service is intended for use by adults. Do not provide personal data about children unless you are legally authorised to do so and it is necessary (for example, as a parent researching schools for your child). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16.

If we have reason to believe that we hold personal data of a person under the age of 16 in our databases, we will delete that personal data.

12. Security

We will take appropriate technical and organisational precautions to secure your personal data and to prevent the loss, misuse, or alteration of your personal data.

We will store all your personal data on secure servers. The following personal data will be stored by us in encrypted form: password(s).

Data sent from your web browser to our web server, or from our web server to your web browser, will be protected using encryption technology.

We implement regular security assessments and updates, access controls, and authentication measures. Our hosting is provided by reputable providers with appropriate security certifications.

You acknowledge that the transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

You should ensure that your password is not susceptible to being guessed, whether by a person or a computer program. You are responsible for keeping the password you use for accessing our website confidential and we will not ask you for your password (except when you log in to our website).

13. Marketing communications

We may send you marketing communications about our services if you have given consent or where we have a legitimate interest. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by:

• Clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails
• Updating your preferences in your account settings
• Contacting us at hi@catchmentarea.co.uk

14. Complaints

If you have concerns about our use of your personal data, please contact us first at hi@catchmentarea.co.uk.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/ or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the latest changes were made.

You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy. We may notify you of significant changes to this policy by email or through displaying a message in your account.

Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

16. Contact

For any questions about this policy or your personal data, please contact us at hi@catchmentarea.co.uk.