Privacy policy

This policy explains how LocalPilot collects and uses personal information through this website and when we work with you.

Who we are

LocalPilot is a trading name of Jack Simpson, a sole trader based in England, providing Google Business Profile management for UK businesses. For the purposes of UK data protection law, Jack Simpson (trading as LocalPilot) is the controller of the personal information described here. You can contact us at hello@localpilot.co.uk.

What we collect

• Audit requests: your name, business name, email address, phone number (if given), town or city, a link to your Google profile (if given) and anything you write in the message box.
• Emails and enquiries: the details you include when you contact us.
• Clients: contact and billing details, the details you give us in our onboarding form, and the information needed to manage your Google Business Profile.
• Payments: when you buy a package, our payment provider Stripe collects your name, business name, email address and payment details. We receive your name, business name, email address and a record of your payments, but never your full card details.
• Newsletter: if you join our monthly newsletter, your email address, the date you joined and the page you joined from.

How we use it and why

• To reply to your enquiry and prepare your free audit. We rely on our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us, and on taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.
• To provide our services if you become a client, which is necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To keep business and accounting records, which we are required to do by law.

We do not sell your information or use it for anything unrelated to your enquiry or our services.

Who we share it with

We only share information with service providers that help us run LocalPilot, such as our website hosting and email providers, Stripe (which processes payments and subscriptions securely on our behalf, and is responsible for its own use of payment data under its privacy policy) and, if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics. We only share what is needed. If you become a client, we access your Google Business Profile through Google’s own tools.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that don’t lead to working together: up to 12 months.
• Client records: for as long as we work together, and then up to 6 years for tax and accounting purposes.

Our monthly newsletter

If you join our monthly newsletter (“Your monthly flight log”), we use your email address to send you practical Google Business Profile tips, occasional LocalPilot news and occasional offers, about once a month.

• Lawful basis: your consent, which you give by entering your email address and clicking Join the list. We keep a record of when you joined and the wording you saw.
• Unsubscribing: you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any newsletter, or by emailing hello@localpilot.co.uk.
• How long we keep it: until you unsubscribe. After that we keep only your email address on a do-not-contact list, so we don’t email you again by mistake.
• Who handles it: your address is stored on our website and in our email account. We may use an email newsletter service to send the newsletter; it would only use your address to send our emails on our behalf.

If you close the sign-up box or join the list, we remember that in your browser’s local storage so the box doesn’t keep appearing. This stays on your device and is not used for tracking.

Cookies and analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use this website, for example which pages are viewed and which buttons are clicked, so we can improve it. Google Analytics only runs if you click Accept on our cookie banner. If you reject, or ignore the banner, no analytics cookies are set.

• Cookies used if you accept: _ga and _ga_* (Google Analytics). They distinguish visitors and last up to 2 years.
• What Google receives: pages visited, approximate location (country or city), device and browser type, and how you arrived at the site. We do not send your name, email address or anything you type into our forms.
• Lawful basis: your consent. You can change your mind at any time using Cookie Settings in the website footer.

Google may process this data outside the UK. Google provides safeguards for these transfers; see Google’s privacy policy for details.

We remember your cookie choice using your browser’s local storage and a small cookie called lp_consent (lasts 6 months), so we don’t ask again on every page. This is strictly necessary to respect your choice and is not used for tracking. No advertising cookies are used.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to or restrict how we use it, and to ask us to transfer it. Email hello@localpilot.co.uk and we will respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.