Area report privacy notice

Last updated: 24 October 2026. This covers the area report pages under /area only. The rest of the site is covered by the main privacy policy.

Who is responsible

SchoolsGPT is run by an individual, not a registered company. For any question about this notice or your data, or to have your data deleted, use the Contact page. That is the only contact channel at the moment.

What we record when you use the area report

We count how the report is used, to find out whether it is worth building further. This stays on our own server. There are no cookies and no third-party analytics or advertising tools on these pages.

• Searches and report views: the postcode you searched for or opened, the time, and whether each section of the report loaded. If what you typed isn't a postcode we keep only what kind of text it was (for example "a postcode district" or "words"), never the text itself.
• What you looked at and clicked: which sections came into view, and whether you clicked through to a school, the map or the PDF waitlist. Nothing you type is read.
• A tab id: a random code kept in your browser's session storage so the clicks above can be counted per visit. Your browser deletes it when you close the tab. It is not a cookie and isn't linked to anything else on the site.
• A scrambled version of your IP address: a one-way hash made with a random key that changes every day and is then deleted. It lets us tell one visitor from many, or spot a scraper, on a single day. It can't be turned back into your address and can't link your visits on different days.
• Device type and where you came from: whether the browser looks like a phone, a computer or an automated bot, and the name of the website that linked you here (for example google.com), not the full address.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are honoured. If your browser sends either signal, the page sends us nothing about what you view or click, and searches and report views are counted without the IP hash or referring site.

Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in understanding whether the area report is useful, using the minimum of data described above.

The PDF report waitlist

The PDF report (free, like this one) doesn't exist yet. If you join the waitlist we store:

• your email address and the postcode you entered;
• that you ticked the consent box, when, and which wording you agreed to;
• the report page you signed up from, a scrambled IP address (as above) and device type, to protect the list from abuse.

We use your email for one thing: to email you once when the PDF report is ready. It is not added to a marketing list or newsletter and is not shared with or sold to anyone. The email will be sent through our email provider (Google's Gmail service).

Lawful basis: your consent. The wording you agree to is:

Email me once when the PDF area report is ready. SchoolsGPT will keep my email address and the postcode above for that one email only: no marketing list, no newsletter, and it won't be shared with anyone. I can withdraw at any time and have them deleted by asking through the Contact page.

How long we keep it

• Usage records: 13 months (396 days), then deleted automatically.
• The daily key used to scramble IP addresses: deleted at the end of each day.
• Waitlist entries: until we've sent the one email, and deleted no later than 12 months after the PDF report launches, or 12 months after we decide not to build it. Sooner if you ask.

Withdrawing consent and deleting your data

You can withdraw your consent at any time. Send a message through the Contact page saying "remove me from the area report waitlist" and include the email address you used. We delete every waitlist entry for that address, whatever postcode it was for. Usage records don't contain your email.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask to see, correct or delete the personal data we hold about you, and you can withdraw consent at any time. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).