Privacy Policy

1. Introduction and Scope

counciltaxes.org/ ("we," "us," "our," or "the Site") is an independent informational website covering council tax in England, Scotland, and Wales. This policy describes the practices we follow when you read the Site, click around it, or send us an email.

By using counciltaxes.org/ you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy and understand how information about you is collected and used. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, the simplest course of action is to stop using the Site.

This policy applies only to counciltaxes.org/. It does not apply to any third-party websites linked from our content, including GOV.UK, the Valuation Office Agency, the Scottish Assessors Association, the Welsh Government, individual councils, or any debt-advice charity. Each of those operates under its own privacy notice, which we encourage you to review independently.

2. Data Controller

For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the data controller of counciltaxes.org/ is the operator of the Site. Where required by law, registration and contact details are available on request by emailing info@counciltaxes.org.

The Site is operated as an editorial publication. There are no user accounts, no payment processing, and no e-commerce. The data we control is therefore limited to server logs, analytics data, advertising cookies (set by partners), and any email correspondence you initiate with us.

3. Information We Collect

The information we hold falls into two categories: information you choose to give us, and information that is collected automatically when you visit the Site.

3.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily

The only way you actively give us information is by emailing us. When you write — typically to flag a correction, suggest a topic, or ask a question about a guide — we receive your email address and the content of your message. The Site has no signup forms, no comment sections, no account systems, no paid newsletters tied to personal data, and no checkout flows.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you load any page, certain technical information is captured automatically by our servers and the third-party services we use. This typically includes:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address, in full or truncated form depending on the service
• Browser type and version (for example, Safari 17 on macOS)
• Operating system and device category (desktop, mobile, tablet)
• Referring URL — the page or search you arrived from, where available
• Pages viewed on our Site and time spent on each
• Approximate geographic location, derived from IP (typically town or region level)
• Date and time of your visit
• Screen resolution and language preferences
• Interaction events such as scroll depth and clicks on outbound links

We do not deliberately collect names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, National Insurance numbers, council tax account numbers, payment card details, or any other directly identifying personal data through automatic means.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

UK GDPR Article 6 requires every data controller to identify a lawful basis for each processing activity. The bases we rely on are:

• Legitimate interests for operating, maintaining, and improving the Site, for analytics, and for security purposes. We have considered the impact on data subjects and concluded these limited uses do not override individual rights and freedoms.
• Consent for non-essential cookies (analytics and advertising), where required by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Consent is requested through a cookie banner on first visit and can be withdrawn at any time.
• Compliance with a legal obligation where we are required by law to retain or disclose information.

5. Cookies and PECR

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) sit alongside UK GDPR and govern how cookies and similar technologies can be used on websites accessed in the UK. We comply with PECR by setting only strictly necessary cookies before consent and by requesting consent for analytics, advertising, and other non-essential cookies.

5.1 Categories of Cookies Used

5.2 Managing Cookies

You have full control over cookies. You can change your consent choices at any time using the cookie banner or by clearing cookies in your browser. Every modern browser also lets you view, block, or delete cookies on a per-site or global basis. Direct links:

• Google Chrome cookie settings
• Mozilla Firefox cookie settings
• Safari cookie settings (Mac)
• Microsoft Edge cookie settings

For an independent overview of cookies and your rights under PECR, see the ICO’s guidance at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/online/cookies.

6. Advertising and Google AdSense

counciltaxes.org/ displays third-party advertisements served primarily by Google AdSense and its associated networks. Advertising revenue is what allows the Site to remain free to read and to fund the verification work that sits behind every guide.

6.1 How AdSense Works on This Site

Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on counciltaxes.org/. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to this Site and to other sites on the internet.

• 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 sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• Users in the UK and EU may also opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting Your Online Choices.

6.2 What Ads You May See

Ad content is selected by the ad network, not by us. We do not pre-screen or approve individual creative, and the appearance of an advertisement on this Site is not an endorsement of the advertiser, product, or service. We filter against advertising categories that conflict with the informational nature of the Site, but we cannot guarantee perfect category exclusion at all times.

7. Web Analytics

We use web analytics services, primarily Google Analytics, to understand how visitors arrive at the Site, which pages are read most, and where the experience can be improved. Analytics tools collect information such as page URLs viewed, time on page, scroll depth, device type, and approximate location (town or region).

This information is aggregated and used to make editorial decisions — for example, identifying which guides need updating because they receive heavy traffic, or which topics are underserved. We do not use analytics data to identify individual visitors.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the official Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

8. Third-Party Services

The Site uses or links to several external services that have their own privacy practices. The most common are:

When you click an outbound link in any of our guides — for example, to a council page, GOV.UK, or a debt-advice charity — you leave the Site and that destination’s privacy practices apply. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any external site, even those we link to.

9. How We Use Information

The information we collect is used for a small set of clearly defined purposes:

• To deliver, operate, and maintain the Site and its content
• To understand which guides are useful and where editorial improvements are needed
• To detect, prevent, and respond to abuse, security incidents, or technical errors
• To serve and measure third-party advertising in line with relevant ad network policies
• To respond to email enquiries, corrections, and feedback you send us
• To comply with applicable legal obligations or respond to lawful requests from authorities

We do not sell personal data. We do not rent email lists. We do not use information collected on this Site to build standalone marketing profiles for our own products, because we do not sell any products or services.

10. Information Sharing

We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With service providers who operate the technical infrastructure of the Site (hosting, security, analytics, advertising) under contractual obligations that limit their use of the data.
• With ad networks as described in the Advertising section, for the purpose of serving and measuring ads.
• For legal compliance if we receive a valid legal request, court order, or are required by applicable law to disclose information.
• To protect rights and safety where disclosure is reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, abuse, security threats, or violations of our terms.
• In connection with a business transfer if the Site is ever sold, merged, or restructured, in which case any information held would transfer to the successor under the same privacy obligations.

11. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

If you are a resident of the United Kingdom, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 give you specific rights regarding your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@counciltaxes.org with the subject line “Data Protection Request.” We respond within one calendar month, as required by UK GDPR. In some cases we may extend this by a further two months for complex requests, in which case we will inform you within the first month.

You may withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time using the cookie banner. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

12. Children’s Privacy

counciltaxes.org/ is intended for an adult audience and is not directed at children under the age of thirteen. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child under thirteen has provided personal information to us through the contact email, please write to info@counciltaxes.org and we will delete the information as quickly as reasonably possible.

We aim to follow the principles of the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code (Children’s Code) where relevant, including by minimising the personal data we collect and by setting strict default privacy settings.

13. Data Security

We use commercially reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the limited information we collect, including HTTPS encryption for all pages, restricted server access, and use of reputable hosting and security providers. No system that transmits or stores data over the internet can be guaranteed one hundred percent secure, and we cannot make absolute guarantees about the security of information transmitted to or from our Site.

14. Data Retention

We retain different categories of data for different periods:

• Server log data is typically retained for up to ninety days for security and abuse-prevention purposes, after which it is deleted or anonymised.
• Analytics data is retained according to the retention settings of the analytics provider, typically fourteen to twenty-six months in aggregated form.
• Advertising cookies follow the retention rules of the relevant ad network, set independently by Google or other partners.
• Email correspondence is retained as long as necessary to complete the conversation and any related editorial follow-up, after which it may be archived or deleted.

15. International Data Transfers

The Site may store data with hosting and analytics partners located in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, the United States, or other jurisdictions. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we and our partners use appropriate safeguards required by UK GDPR — typically the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or transfers to jurisdictions covered by an adequacy decision.

16. Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we use, or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, post a more prominent notice on the Site. Continued use of the Site after a change indicates acceptance of the revised policy.

We recommend reviewing this page periodically. The most recent version is always the one published here.

17. Complaints to the ICO

If you have a concern about how your personal data has been handled by counciltaxes.org/, we would prefer that you contact us first so we have the opportunity to put it right. However, you have the right at any time to lodge a complaint directly with the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk
Make a complaint: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint