Privacy Policy

Company

Locals Talk Limited, registered in England and Wales, company no. 09959535

Registered office

128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom

Operations office

Studio X, Innovation Centre, Knowledge Gateway, Boundary Road, Colchester CO4 3ZQ, United Kingdom

Contact

info@localstalk.co · +44 (0)20 3886 2333

Data Protection Officer

Billie Nabeel Tabassum (info@localstalk.co)

Locals Talk Limited also trades as Parley Consulting for systems and automation work. This policy covers both.

Enquiries. When you use a form on this website or email us, we collect your name, email address, company, website, selected services, budget, timeframe and anything else you choose to include. Form submissions are sent to HubSpot so authorised Locals Talk staff can respond. We also send the page address and title, your IP address and, where already present, your HubSpot visitor cookie to provide enquiry context.

Consultation bookings. When you book a call, we collect your name, contact details, company information, preferred times and any notes you provide.

Newsletters. When you subscribe to Locals Talk Marketing on LinkedIn or another platform, we or that platform collect your email address or profile, name where provided, and engagement such as opens and clicks.

Client engagements. When you engage our services, we collect business contact details, billing information, company details, marketing objectives and the access credentials needed for platforms we manage on your behalf.

Information collected automatically. Our analytics tools record your IP address (anonymised where possible), browser and device details, pages visited, time on site, referral source, approximate location and interactions such as clicks and scrolls.

To deliver marketing, website and systems work, and only with your explicit written permission, we may access platforms such as:

• Advertising: Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Microsoft Advertising, TikTok Ads and X Ads
• Analytics: Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, Hotjar, Adjust and Triple Whale
• SEO tools: Ahrefs, Semrush and Screaming Frog
• CRM and email: HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce, Klaviyo and Mailchimp
• Commerce and websites: Shopify, content management systems, hosting and domain registrar accounts
• Business systems: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, project management, communication and other operational tools

We use this data solely to deliver the services you have engaged us for and never for any other purpose without your consent.

• Responding to enquiries, providing quotes and discussing projects
• Delivering services: SEO, advertising, content, websites, branding, analytics, reporting and systems
• Communicating about project progress, reports and strategy
• Sending newsletters and insights, only with your consent
• Processing payments, invoicing and keeping financial records
• Meeting legal obligations, resolving disputes and preventing fraud
• Protecting our forms from spam and abuse
• Understanding how visitors use this website so we can improve it

Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f))

Running and improving our services, communicating with clients and prospects, securing our systems and business administration. We have assessed that these interests are not overridden by your rights.

Contract (Article 6(1)(b))

Delivering services you have engaged us to provide.

Consent (Article 6(1)(a))

Newsletters and certain marketing activities. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c))

Keeping financial records for HMRC and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal data. We share it only with trusted providers who process it on our behalf, including:

Website hosting and backend

Our website uses secure cloud hosting, with content delivered through Cloudflare.

Analytics

Google (Google Analytics and the Google tag), Hotjar Ltd and Ahrefs (Ahrefs Web Analytics).

Spam protection

Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks form submissions are made by people.

Fonts

Google Fonts, which supplies the typefaces on this website.

Email and scheduling

Google Workspace and our meeting scheduling tool.

CRM and marketing

HubSpot and the advertising platforms we manage for clients.

Professional services

Accountants, legal advisers and insurers where necessary.

We may also disclose information where required by law, to enforce our terms, or to a successor entity if Locals Talk Limited is acquired, merged or restructured. Our partnerships with organisations such as Google, Meta, Microsoft Advertising, HubSpot, Shopify, Klaviyo, Trustpilot, the University of Essex and GDPR Local may involve limited data sharing for certification, training and service delivery.

Some providers, including Google, Meta, HubSpot, Hotjar and Cloudflare, process data outside the United Kingdom, mainly in the United States. Where we transfer data internationally we rely on UK adequacy regulations (including the UK-US Data Bridge) or ICO-approved standard contractual clauses, and require providers to apply appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. Ask us for details of the safeguards in place.

Enquiries

Up to 3 years, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.

Newsletter subscribers

Until you unsubscribe; inactive subscribers may be removed after 3 years.

Project documentation, communications and financial records

7 years after an engagement ends, for professional and HMRC purposes.

Platform access credentials

Removed when an engagement ends, unless continued access is agreed.

Campaign performance data

Retained for case studies with brand identification, unless you ask us to anonymise or remove it.

Website analytics

Google Analytics data for 26 months; Hotjar data for 365 days.

When data is no longer needed we securely delete or anonymise it.

Data in transit is encrypted using TLS. Access to personal data, including form submissions, is restricted to authorised staff with individual sign-in. Client credentials are kept in an encrypted password manager with multi-factor authentication, and access to client platforms is removed when an engagement ends. Team members are bound by confidentiality and trained in data protection.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so while we work hard to protect your data we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Have inaccurate data corrected
• Have your data erased in certain circumstances
• Restrict how we process your data
• Receive your data in a portable format
• Object to processing, including an absolute right to object to direct marketing
• Withdraw consent at any time

We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. To exercise your rights, email info@localstalk.co. We respond within one month, extendable by two months for complex requests, and may need to verify your identity. There is normally no fee.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, United Kingdom. Telephone 0303 123 1113. ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Cookies are small files stored on your device. We and our providers use them, together with similar technologies such as local storage and scripts, for the following purposes:

Strictly necessary

Keeping team members signed in to the content editor and protecting forms from spam with Cloudflare Turnstile.

Analytics

Google Analytics (_ga, up to 2 years; _ga_[id], up to 2 years) and Hotjar (_hj cookies, up to 365 days) help us understand how visitors use the site. Ahrefs Web Analytics measures visits without setting cookies.

Use Cookie settings in the footer to review your consent choices. You can also control or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the site works. You can opt out of Google Analytics at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout and Hotjar at hotjar.com/policies/do-not-track.

This site links to client websites, partners, review platforms and Parley Consulting. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites; please review their policies.

Our services are not directed at anyone under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact info@localstalk.co and we will delete it.

Most of our clients are businesses, so much of the data we handle relates to professional contacts. We process it on the basis of legitimate interests for relationship management, proposals, service delivery and relevant business communication. All the rights above still apply.

We review this policy regularly. The date at the top shows when it last changed, and we will notify clients and subscribers of material changes. Previous versions are available on request.

Data Protection Officer, Locals Talk Limited, 128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom. Email info@localstalk.co or call +44 (0)20 3886 2333.