Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 2 October 2026

1. Who We Are

The Planning Review Limited ("we", "us", "our") operates the website theplanningreview.co.uk and any associated subdomains. We are registered in England and Wales, Company No. 16643777. We are the "data controller" of your personal data.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following information about you:

  • Account Information: name, email address, phone number, company details;
  • Subscription & Billing Information: payment details handled securely by Stripe (we do not store card details);
  • Usage Data: search preferences, planning applications viewed, bookmarks;
  • Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, cookies;
  • Communications: correspondence you send to us (e.g. support emails).

2A. Planning Specialist Information We Process

In addition to user account data, we collect and process publicly available information about planning specialists (including planning agents, architects, project managers and other planning professionals) from local authority planning websites:

What we collect:

  • Names and company details as listed on planning applications
  • Professional contact information (email addresses, phone numbers) published for business purposes
  • Associated planning application reference numbers and project details
  • Company names of consultants and contractors identified in planning documents

We only process contact details published for professional purposes, not personal or residential information.

Source of this data:

  • Public planning authority websites across the UK
  • Companies House, the UK registrar of companies
  • Publicly accessible company websites
  • Information already published in the public domain for legitimate planning purposes

Data accuracy:

Data completeness and accuracy depends on information published by each council. We cannot guarantee all contact information is current or complete. We review and update our data regularly to maintain accuracy.

Why we process this data:

We process this information under our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR) to:

  • Connect planning specialists with relevant project opportunities
  • Facilitate efficient delivery of approved planning projects
  • Support the planning and development sector through improved information accessibility

Your rights as a planning specialist:

If you are a planning specialist whose contact details appear in our service:

  • You have the right to object to this processing at any time
  • You can request removal of your contact information from our database
  • To exercise these rights, email: admin@theplanningreview.co.uk with "Profile Removal" in the subject line

We will action removal requests in line with our obligations under UK GDPR.

Balancing of interests:

We have conducted a legitimate interests assessment and concluded that:

  • The data is already public and relates to professional/business activities
  • Processing supports legitimate business networking in the planning sector
  • The impact on individuals is minimal as we only use publicly available business information
  • We provide clear opt-out mechanisms to respect individual preferences

2B. Applicant Information Processing

We also process publicly available applicant information from planning applications:

  • Names and contact details as listed on applications
  • Property addresses associated with planning applications
  • Project details and development descriptions

Your rights as an applicant: Applicants have the same opt-out rights as planning specialists.

To request removal, email: admin@theplanningreview.co.uk with "Applicant Data Removal" in the subject line.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data to:

  • Provide and personalise our Services;
  • Manage subscriptions, payments and account access;
  • Connect specialists with relevant project opportunities;
  • Analyse use of the Services and improve functionality;
  • Generate aggregated market intelligence and industry insights;
  • Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security issues;
  • Comply with legal obligations (e.g. tax and record keeping).

4. Legal Bases for Processing

We process personal data under the following legal grounds:

  • Contract: where necessary to deliver the Services you have subscribed to;
  • Legitimate Interests: to improve our Services, ensure security, and market to existing business customers;
  • Legal Obligation: where required by law (e.g. tax records).

5. Data Sharing

We share personal data only with trusted third parties necessary to deliver our Services, including:

  • Stripe (payment processing);
  • Firebase (Google) (authentication & hosting);
  • Netlify (website hosting);
  • Neon (database infrastructure);
  • Google Maps (geocoding services);
  • Google Analytics (understanding how our websites are used);
  • Google Ads (measuring how our own advertising performs);
  • Google AdSense (advertising shown on our websites, see section 7);
  • Instantly (Leadsy) (identifying the organisations that visit our website, see section 7);
  • Cloudflare Turnstile (checking that a visitor to the platform is a person rather than an automated program).

These providers process data on our behalf in line with UK GDPR.

Directory profiles are published on our website, so the company information they contain is visible to visitors and to search engines. Contact details are released to signed-in users and, where a company has opted in, to clients requesting quotes.

6. International Transfers

Some service providers may process data outside the UK/EEA (e.g. Google, Stripe). Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses are in place.

7. Cookies, Analytics and Advertising

We and the third parties named below use cookies, web beacons (small pieces of code that report a page being loaded), IP addresses and device identifiers on theplanningreview.co.uk and app.theplanningreview.co.uk. Each use is described here; the full list of cookies and similar technologies, and how to change your choices, is in our Cookie Policy.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics and our own records of page visits to understand how our websites are used, for example which pages are visited and how visitors arrive. Google processes your IP address and a device identifier to produce these reports.

Measuring our own advertising

When we advertise our services on Google, Google Ads tags on our websites tell us whether a visit that started from one of our adverts went on to register. These tags use cookies and a device identifier.

Advertising shown on our websites

Some pages of our websites show advertising. Some of it is sold by us directly to companies in the planning and construction sector and is shown without third-party cookies. Some of it may be served by Google AdSense, and the following applies to that advertising:

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites.
  • Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our websites and/or other sites on the Internet.
  • As a result of ad serving on our websites, third parties may place and read cookies on your browser, or use web beacons or IP addresses, to collect information.
  • You may opt out of personalised advertising from Google by visiting Google's Ads Settings. You can opt out of other third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info/choices or, in the UK and Europe, youronlinechoices.eu.
  • How Google uses information from sites that use its services is explained at How Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps.

Visitors in the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland are asked for their consent, through Google's consent message, before Google uses cookies or other local storage to personalise the ads they see. You can change that choice at any time from the privacy and cookie settings link the message provides. Without that consent, Google shows only ads that are not personalised to you.

Identifying the organisations that visit our website

We use a visitor identification service provided by Instantly (Leadsy). It uses your IP address and information your browser sends, and may set cookies, to identify the organisation a visit comes from, so that we can contact organisations that have shown an interest in our services. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests. You can object at any time by emailing admin@theplanningreview.co.uk.

8. Data Retention

  • Account data: retained while your account is active;
  • Search history: retained for up to 12 months;
  • Billing records: retained for 7 years as required by law;
  • Planning specialist data: retained for as long as it remains relevant to the directory. Data is removed if you object, or on request;
  • Applicant data: retained using the same criteria as planning specialist data above.

After deletion of your account, residual data may be retained in backups for a limited time.

9. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access a copy of your personal data;
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • Request deletion of your data;
  • Request restriction or object to processing;
  • Request data portability.

To exercise your rights, email: admin@theplanningreview.co.uk.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

10. Children

Our Services are not intended for individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

11. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit, secure authentication, and regular monitoring. No online service can be guaranteed 100% secure.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be posted on our Website.