Privacy
How Penn Local handles your information.
Last updated 3 October 2026
This page explains what personal information Penn Local collects, why, who we share it with and what your rights are.
Who we are
Penn Local is a trading name of Digital Inspirations Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 13658960), registered office 5 Brenton Road, Wolverhampton, WV4 5NS. We're the data controller for the information described here. Contact us about anything on this page at hello@pennlocal.co.uk.
What we collect
When you fill in a form. Our forms collect what you type into them:
- Contact form: your name, email address and message.
- Add a listing or event: the details of the listing or event, your email address, and optionally a phone number, website and photo.
- Advertising and website enquiries: your name, business name, email address, phone number (optional) and message.
- Newsletter sign-up: your email address only.
When you pay us. Payments for listing upgrades and adverts are handled by Stripe. When you pay, Stripe collects your name, email address, billing address, card details and the business name you enter. We receive these details apart from your full card number: Stripe only shares the card type, last four digits and expiry date with us. If you followed a "Claim & upgrade" link, we also receive a reference to the listing you're upgrading. If you have a subscription, Stripe keeps a record of it so you can manage or cancel it from your subscription page.
When you browse. If you haven't switched it off (see below), Google Analytics collects information about your visit. We don't receive your name or contact details from it.
How we use it and why
| What we do | Our legal basis |
|---|---|
| Publish listings and events you've sent us, and reply to your messages and enquiries | Our legitimate interest in running a useful community guide, or taking steps you've asked for before a contract |
| Take payment for, set up and manage your paid plan or extra, and contact you about it | Performing our contract with you |
| Keep payment and accounting records | Legal obligation (tax law) |
| Send you the monthly newsletter | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by unsubscribing or emailing us |
| Publish business listings compiled from public information | Our legitimate interest in providing a complete local directory |
| Measure how the site is used, using Google Analytics | Our legitimate interest in improving the site; you can opt out below |
We never sell your personal information or use it for anyone else's marketing.
Who we share it with
We use a small number of trusted services to run the site. They process your information on our behalf, under contract, and only for the purposes above:
- Netlify hosts this website and receives the forms you send us.
- Stripe processes payments and manages subscriptions. Stripe also uses payment information to prevent fraud and meet its own legal obligations, as described in Stripe's privacy policy.
- Google provides Google Analytics.
- Porkbun handles our domain and passes on email sent to hello@pennlocal.co.uk.
- Our email provider stores the emails you send us and our replies.
We'll also share information if the law requires it, for example with HMRC or the police.
International transfers
Some of these providers, including Netlify, Stripe and Google, are based in or use servers in the United States. Where your information leaves the UK, it's protected by safeguards approved under UK data protection law, such as the UK-US data bridge or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.
How long we keep it
- Messages and enquiries: up to 2 years after we last hear from you, unless they lead to a paid plan.
- Payment and accounting records: 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to, as tax law requires.
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe.
- Published listings and events: for as long as they're relevant. We regularly remove past events and listings for businesses that have closed.
- Google Analytics: up to 14 months.
Business listings
Some listings are compiled from publicly available information, such as a business's own website. They contain business details, which can include the name of a sole trader. If you own a listed business and would like it changed or removed, contact us.
Cookies and analytics
This site uses cookies only for Google Analytics. We use it to count visits and see which pages are useful. It sets cookies that record things like the pages you view, roughly where you are (town level) and what device you use. It does not tell us who you are. Google processes this data on our behalf.
Your choice is saved in your browser, so you'll need to choose again if you use a different browser or clear your browsing data.
When you pay, you leave this site for Stripe's checkout page, which sets its own cookies to keep payments secure and prevent fraud. Those cookies are covered by Stripe's cookie policy.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- correct anything that's wrong
- delete your information, where we don't need to keep it (for example, we must keep payment records for tax)
- stop or limit how we use it, or object to us using it for our legitimate interests
- give you your information in a format you can take elsewhere.
Email hello@pennlocal.co.uk and we'll reply within one month. It's free.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this page
We'll update this page if the way we handle information changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed.