Privacy Policy

Last updated: 4 September 2026

Support Local MK is a local business discovery project designed to help people discover, understand and connect with independent businesses in Milton Keynes and the surrounding area.

This Privacy Policy explains how Support Local MK collects and uses personal information, why we use it, who it may be shared with, how long we keep it and the rights available to you.

Support Local MK is operated by Carsten Jaxon, who is responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

For privacy and data protection queries, contact: queries@supportlocalmk.co.uk

You can also contact us through the Contact Us page and select Privacy & data protection as the subject.

Information we collect when you visit the website

Support Local MK is hosted by IONOS.

When you visit the website, technical information may be processed as part of delivering, securing and maintaining the site. This can include information associated with a website request, such as:

  • the page or file requested;
  • date and time of access;
  • browser and browser version;
  • operating system;
  • device type;
  • referring website; and
  • IP-related technical information.

We use this information where necessary for the legitimate interests of operating, protecting and maintaining the website.

IONOS SiteAnalytics

Support Local MK currently uses IONOS SiteAnalytics for basic website statistics and technical optimisation.

IONOS SiteAnalytics does not use cookies. IONOS states that an IP address is transmitted as part of the page request and anonymised directly after transmission. The resulting statistics cannot be used by Support Local MK to identify individual website visitors.

Contacting Support Local MK

If you use the Contact Us form, we collect:

  • your name;
  • your email address;
  • the subject you enter; and
  • the message you send.

We use this information to receive, assess and respond to your enquiry.

Our lawful basis for this is legitimate interests, specifically our legitimate interest in receiving and responding to genuine enquiries and operating Support Local MK effectively.

Contact Us enquiries are received by email and are normally retained for up to 90 days. They may be deleted sooner once the enquiry has been dealt with and the email is no longer reasonably needed.

Using the Contact Us form does not subscribe you to Discovery Updates.

Recommending a business

If you use the Recommend a Business form, we may collect:

  • the business name;
  • business postcode;
  • business website;
  • Facebook business page;
  • information about what the business offers;
  • other information you choose to provide about the business;
  • your name;
  • your email address;
  • your relationship to the business; and
  • whether you identify yourself as an owner or authorised decision-maker, where applicable.

We use this information to review and qualify recommendations, consider whether a business may be suitable for Support Local MK, and contact you if clarification is needed.

Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.

Recommend a Business submissions are normally retained for 365 days.

Recommending a business does not subscribe you to Discovery Updates.

If you provide information about another person, please only provide personal information that is genuinely relevant to the recommendation.

Discovery Updates

You can choose to subscribe to Support Local MK Discovery Updates by email.

For this service, we collect:

  • your email address;
  • your name, if you choose to provide it;
  • your signup and consent record; and
  • information needed to confirm and manage your subscription.

Our lawful basis for sending Discovery Updates is consent.

The Discovery Updates consent checkbox is separate from other website activities and is not selected automatically.

We use MailerLite to manage the subscriber list and emails. MailerLite also provides a double opt-in process, so you must confirm your subscription before becoming an active subscriber.

The website’s Discovery Updates submission and consent record is normally retained for 24 months.

MailerLite may also record information needed to manage your subscription, such as:

  • subscription status;
  • confirmation date;
  • opt-in information;
  • technical information associated with confirmation; and
  • information about interaction with emails.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe option included in Discovery Updates emails.

Unsubscribing stops marketing emails. A limited unsubscribe or suppression record may remain where this is needed to make sure we do not accidentally send further marketing to an address that has opted out.

You can separately ask us to erase personal information where your right to erasure applies.

We will not add you to Discovery Updates simply because you contact Support Local MK, recommend a business or participate in a Discovery Profile.

Businesses participating in Discovery Profiles

Discovery Profiles are researched and written by Support Local MK to help visitors understand, evaluate and connect with participating local businesses.

Full Discovery Profile research begins after a business has responded positively to participation.

Information used in preparing and maintaining a Discovery Profile may include:

  • business identity and contact information;
  • information supplied directly by the business;
  • products and services;
  • business location or service area;
  • how the business operates;
  • website and business social media information;
  • information used to verify relevant facts;
  • correspondence with the business; and
  • information relating to factual review or approval.

Where genuinely relevant, some information may also relate to a sole trader, owner or another identifiable individual associated with the business.

Our lawful basis for necessary Discovery Profile research, verification, maintenance and proportionate publication of personal information is generally legitimate interests.

Our legitimate interest is to research, verify and publish useful information about participating local businesses so people can make informed decisions about them.

We consider whether personal information is genuinely necessary and balance this against the privacy rights of the individual concerned.

Information researched from public sources

Support Local MK may verify business information using sources such as:

  • official business websites;
  • business-owned social media pages;
  • official booking or contact services;
  • public business information;
  • appropriate public registers; and
  • other reliable sources relevant to verification.

Information being publicly available does not mean that we automatically republish it.

Public information is treated as evidence and is used selectively where relevant and proportionate.

In particular:

owner and staff names are not published by default;
private or home addresses are not published by default; and
we prefer appropriate business contact routes rather than unnecessarily publishing personal contact information.

For a home-based, mobile or service-area business, we may publish a broader location or service area instead of a private residential address.

Information retained internally for research and verification may therefore be broader than the smaller amount ultimately published in a Discovery Profile.

Participating businesses are directed to this Privacy Policy as part of the participation process.

AI-assisted research and drafting

Support Local MK may use ChatGPT, provided by OpenAI, to help with tasks such as:

  • researching public business information;
  • organising and comparing information;
  • summarising research;
  • identifying gaps or inconsistencies; and
  • assisting with drafting Discovery Profile content.

AI is used as an assisting tool. Support Local MK retains human responsibility for research decisions, factual verification, editorial decisions and publication.

We minimise personal information before using AI tools.

We do not routinely provide ChatGPT with:

  • recommender names or email addresses;
  • personal details from Contact Us enquiries;
  • private or home addresses;
  • unrelated staff or customer information; or
  • sensitive personal information.

Where business-related personal information is genuinely necessary for research, we aim to use only the minimum information reasonably required.

Where information is entered into ChatGPT, OpenAI processes that information in accordance with its own privacy arrangements.

Support Local MK does not use AI to make automated decisions about individuals that have legal or similarly significant effects.

Publication, correction and removal of Discovery Profiles

A published Discovery Profile is intentionally available to the public.

Only information considered relevant and appropriate for helping people understand and evaluate the business should be published.

A participating business can contact Support Local MK to:

  • correct inaccurate factual information;
  • clarify information about the business; or
  • ask for its Discovery Profile to be removed.

If a participating business asks for its Discovery Profile to be removed, we remove the public profile and the associated live research and approval records rather than maintaining them as a standing archive.

Older copies may remain temporarily in website backups until the relevant backup is removed or replaced.

Information may also be retained where genuinely necessary to comply with a legal obligation or to deal with a privacy request, complaint or legal claim.

Who we share information with

Support Local MK does not sell personal information.

We use a limited number of services to operate the project.

IONOS

IONOS provides:

  • website hosting;
  • website infrastructure; and
  • operational email services.

MailerLite

MailerLite provides the subscriber-management and email-delivery service used for Discovery Updates.

The Support Local MK MailerLite account is registered in the United Kingdom. MailerLite states that UK customers are provided services by MailerLite Limited in Ireland, and that subscriber data for UK customers does not leave the EU.

OpenAI / ChatGPT

OpenAI may process limited information where ChatGPT is used for the AI-assisted activities described in this policy.

We minimise personal information before using ChatGPT.

Other disclosures

We may disclose personal information where required by law or where genuinely necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Contact Us and Recommend a Business submissions are not routinely forwarded to the business named in them.

International processing

Some technology services may process information outside the United Kingdom.

For Support Local MK’s UK MailerLite account, MailerLite states that subscriber data does not leave the EU.

OpenAI states that personal information used with its individual services may be processed on servers outside the UK, including in the United States and other countries. OpenAI states that it uses recognised international transfer mechanisms and safeguards where required.

Where another service involves an international transfer of personal information, Support Local MK will use the service only where an appropriate legal basis or safeguard applies.

Cookies and browser storage

Support Local MK does not currently use advertising or analytics cookies for ordinary public website visitors.

Testing of the current public website in a fresh anonymous browser session found no cookies, Local Storage or Session Storage created during normal page loading.

IONOS SiteAnalytics does not use cookies.

WordPress and other website systems may use necessary technical cookies or browser storage in particular administrative or functional circumstances.

If we introduce technology that changes the way cookies or similar browser technologies are used, we will review this policy and introduce any required consent controls before that technology is activated.

Google Analytics

Support Local MK does not currently use Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

If GA4 is introduced in the future, we will review the relevant privacy and cookie requirements and update this Privacy Policy before it begins collecting visitor information.

How long we keep information

We do not keep personal information for longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

Our current main retention periods and rules are:

  • Contact Us enquiry emails: Up to 90 days, and may be deleted sooner when no longer reasonably needed
  • Recommend a Business submissions: 365 days
  • Discovery Updates website signup/consent record: 24 months
  • Discovery Updates subscriber information: While subscribed, with limited unsubscribe/suppression information retained where necessary
  • Temporary website email-delivery logs: Up to 14 days while troubleshooting/QA logging is enabled
  • Active Discovery Profile research and approval information: While needed to prepare and maintain the participating profile
  • Removed Discovery Profile: Public profile and associated live research/approval records removed
  • Website backups: Recent restore points kept only while reasonably needed for recovery

Because backups represent an earlier copy of the website, information deleted from the live website may remain temporarily within an existing backup until that backup is removed or replaced.

Technical records controlled by service providers may be retained according to their own operational, security and legal retention arrangements.

Security

Support Local MK takes proportionate steps to protect the personal information it handles.

Current measures include:

  • restricted website administration access;
  • authenticated operational email delivery;
  • spam protection on public forms;
  • managed website hosting;
  • software maintenance; and
  • website recovery backups.

No internet-based system can provide an absolute guarantee of security.

If we become aware of a personal data breach, we will assess and handle it in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis being used, you may have rights including:

  • the right to access personal information held about you;
  • the right to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • the right to ask for information to be erased in appropriate circumstances;
  • the right to restrict processing in appropriate circumstances;
  • the right to object to certain processing;
  • the right to data portability where that right applies; and
  • the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise a right or ask a privacy question, contact: queries@supportlocalmk.co.uk

We may need enough information to identify the relevant records and confirm that we are dealing with the correct person.

Your right to object

Where Support Local MK relies on legitimate interests, you have the right to object to the use of your personal information.

If you object, we will consider your circumstances and whether there are compelling legitimate grounds for the processing to continue.

For Discovery Updates and other direct marketing based on consent, you can withdraw consent or unsubscribe at any time.

Privacy and data protection complaints

If you are concerned about how Support Local MK has handled your personal information, please contact: queries@supportlocalmk.co.uk

You can also use the Contact Us form and select Privacy & data protection.

We will acknowledge a data protection complaint within 30 days, investigate it appropriately and communicate the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection regulator.

Providing personal information

You are generally not under a legal or contractual obligation to provide Support Local MK with personal information.

However, some information is necessary if you choose to use a particular service.

For example:

  • we need an appropriate contact method to respond to an enquiry;
  • the Recommend a Business form requires certain information to process a recommendation; and
  • an email address and affirmative consent are required to subscribe to Discovery Updates.

Choosing not to provide optional information will not prevent you from using unrelated parts of the website.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We will review this Privacy Policy as Support Local MK develops and whenever the way we use personal information materially changes.

Where a new use of personal information requires updated privacy information or consent, we will make the necessary changes before that processing begins.

The latest revision date will be shown at the top of this page.