Privacy Policy
Last updated: March 2026
1. Who We Are
PostcodeWatch is a community interest platform operated by its founder, registered in England and Wales.
For privacy enquiries, please contact us at: [email protected]
2. What Data We Collect
We collect only the minimum data necessary to provide our service:
- Email address — when you request a crime report or sign up for crime alerts.
- Postcode — to generate your crime intelligence report or send relevant alerts.
- Alert preferences — your chosen frequency (weekly or monthly) for crime alerts.
- Usage data — standard web server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited) for security and performance monitoring.
- Cookie data — as described in our Cookie Policy.
We do not collect names, phone numbers, payment information, or any sensitive personal data.
3. How We Use Your Data
We use your data solely for the following purposes:
- To generate and email you your crime intelligence report for the postcode you requested.
- To send you regular crime alert digests for your postcode (only if you have opted in and confirmed your subscription).
- To maintain security, prevent abuse, and improve the performance of our service.
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any automated decision-making.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Under UK GDPR, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:
- Consent — for sending crime reports and alert emails. You provide your email address voluntarily and confirm your subscription via a double opt-in email.
- Legitimate interests — for security logging and service improvement, where our interests do not override your rights.
5. Data Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties, except:
- Resend (email delivery provider) — your email address is shared solely to deliver transactional emails on our behalf. Resend processes data in accordance with GDPR.
- Legal obligations — we may disclose data if required by law or to protect the rights and safety of our users.
Crime data displayed on PostcodeWatch is sourced from the Police.UK API and is publicly available. No personal data is involved in this data source.
6. Data Retention
- Report access tokens — stored for 7 days, then eligible for deletion.
- Crime alert subscriptions — retained while your subscription is active. Deleted within 30 days of unsubscribing.
- Server logs — retained for up to 90 days for security purposes.
7. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data.
- Erasure — request deletion of your personal data.
- Withdraw consent — unsubscribe from crime alerts at any time via the unsubscribe link in any alert email.
- Complain — lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.
8. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted data transmission (HTTPS), secure token-based access for reports, and access controls on our database. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Cookies
We use cookies to remember your cookie consent preference. For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify subscribers of material changes via email. Continued use of PostcodeWatch after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact Us
PostcodeWatch CIC (establishing)
London, United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]