Privacy policy

This privacy policy was last updated on 31 July 2019.

This notice describes how we use your information.

By clicking on the ‘Confirm’ button on sign up, by visiting www.ratedpeople.com or using our apps, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Notice.

  1. What Personal Information About Users Do We Gather?
  2. What About Cookies?
  3. Interest-Based Ads
  4. What About Use Of Your Personal Information To Prevent Or Detect Fraud?
  5. Does RPL Share The Information It Receives?
  6. How Secure Is The Information We Hold About You?
  7. What About Third-Party Advertisers And Links To Other Websites?
  8. What Information Can You Access?
  9. What Choices Do You Have?
  10. Does RPL Send Information It Holds About You Outside The UK Or European Union?
  11. Conditions Of Use, Notices, And Revisions
  12. Examples Of Information Collected And The Purposes For Which We Use Your Information

This Privacy Notice sets out the data processing practices carried out through the use of the Internet and any other electronic communications networks including apps and tablets (we use the term ‘Website’ to refer to any and all types of technology including websites that you use to access our content and services) by Rated People Limited (RPL). If you have any requests concerning your personal information or any queries with regard to these practices please contact us.


1. What Personal Information About Users Do We Gather?

Rated People Limited (“we”, “us”, or “RPL”) collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the Data Protection Laws which include the Data Protection Act 1998 and any replacement legislation, and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The Data Protection Laws apply across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those Laws. The information we gather about Users helps us personalise and continually improve your Rated People experience. Some Users of our Website will also be Members. You are a Member if you register on our Website as a Client or a Trade Business. Here are the types of information we gather.

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2. What About Cookies?

For information about the specific cookies used on this website, please see below:

Type of cookie What it does How to block
Cookies necessary for essential website purposes These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through our Website and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas. These cookies are necessary for us to supply you with certain online features like transactional pages and secure login accounts. You may disable any of these cookies via your browser settings. If you do so, various functions of the Website may be unavailable to you or may not work the way you want them to.
Functionality Cookies Functionality cookies record information about choices you’ve made and allow us to tailor the Website to you. These cookies mean that when you continue to use or come back to the Website, we can provide you with our services as you have asked for them to be provided. For example, these cookies allow us to:

  • Save your location preferences;
  • Remember settings you have applied, such as layout, text size, preferences, and colours;
  • Show you when you are logged in; and
  • Store accessibility options.
You may disable any of these cookies via your browser settings. If you do so, various functions of the Website may be unavailable to you or may not work the way you want them to.
Advertising Cookies (Interest- Based Ads) RPL displays interest-based advertising on its Website and on unaffiliated websites, using information that you make available to us when visiting the Website. Interest-based ads (also referred to as personalised or targeted ads) are displayed based on information from activities such as your visits and use of these websites. Information about the types of information that we gather is set out in the Automatically Collected Information section of this Privacy Policy. You may disable any of these cookies via your browser settings. If you do so, various functions of the Website may be unavailable to you or may not work the way you want them to.

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3. Interest-Based Ads

In addition to using cookies and interest-based ads (as discussed above), we also use web beacons (also known as action tags or single-pixel gifs) and other technologies (collectively, “tracking technologies”). Tracking technologies enable us to learn about what ads you see, what ads you click, and other actions you take on our Website and on other websites. This allows us to provide you with more useful and relevant ads. For example, if we know what ads you are shown we can be careful not to show you the same ones repeatedly. We do not associate your interaction with unaffiliated websites with your identity in providing you with interest-based ads.

In environments that do not support tracking technologies, like some mobile devices and applications, we may use other anonymous technologies for these purposes. To serve our ads in mobile applications we collect identifiers, such as Google Advertising ID or IDFA depending on the operating system of your mobile device. These identifiers consist in a string of anonymous and random characters singling out your device, that our partners may store using a non-reversible encrypting method.

Please note that we do not provide any personal information to advertisers or to third party websites that display our interest-based ads. However, advertisers and other third-parties (including the ad networks, ad-serving companies, and other service providers they may use) may assume that users who interact with or click on a personalized ad or content are part of the group that the ad or content has targeted. Some third parties may provide us with information about you (such as the websites where you have been shown ads or demographic information) from offline and online sources that we may use to provide you more relevant and useful advertising.

Advertisers or ad companies working on their behalf may use technology to serve the ads that appear on our Website directly to your browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use tracking technologies to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize ad content. We do not have access to or have any control over tracking technologies or other features that advertisers and third party websites may use, and the information practices of these advertisers and third party websites are not covered by this Privacy Notice. Please contact them directly or visit their websites for more information about their privacy practices.

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4. What About Use Of Your Personal Information To Prevent Or Detect Fraud?

When you apply through the Website to register with us, we may check our own and the following records about you and your business partners:

We work with a third party (iOvation) for fraud detection and prevention purposes, and to improve the experience of our Users who do not pose a fraud risk. iOvation maintains a central database of devices and internet users that pose a fraud threat to businesses and others on the web. This information is used to mitigate the risk and potential impact of fraudulent activity on our Website and the websites of other users of the iOvation platform. RPL use this service and if we detect potential or actual fraudulent activity then such activity and certain identifying data will be reported to the iOvation database.

In addition, if you give us false or inaccurate information and we suspect or identify fraud we will record this and may also pass this information to FPAs and other organisations involved in crime and fraud prevention.

We may also check your business records at CRAs. When CRAs receive a search from us they will place a search footprint on your business credit file that may be seen by lenders. CRAs supply to us public information (including information from the electoral register) and fraud prevention information. Where such checks are carried out by us, they are necessary for to enable us to enter into contractual arrangements with you as a Trade Business. If you fail a check carried out by us with a CRA, this will automatically disqualify your application. You will be informed if this is the case and may appeal to the us by contacting dataprotection@ratedpeople.com when your application will be considered by an individual.

We will make checks including verifying identities to prevent and detect crime and money laundering. We may also make periodic searches at CRAs and FPAs to manage your account with us particularly if you are a Professional. In addition, if you apply to pay for our services in arrears, information on applications will be sent to CRAs and will be recorded by them. This will include information on your business and its proprietors and CRAs may create a record of the name and address of your business and its proprietors if there is not one already.

In order to process your application we will supply your personal information to credit reference agencies (CRAs) and they will give us information about you, such as about your financial history. We do this to assess creditworthiness and product suitability, check your identity, manage your account, trace and recover debts and prevent criminal activity. We will also continue to exchange information about you with CRAs on an ongoing basis, including about your settled accounts and any debts not fully repaid on time. CRAs will share your information with other organisations. The identities of the CRAs, and the ways in which they use and share personal information, are explained in more detail here.

RPL and other organisations may access and use information recorded by fraud prevention agencies from other countries.

If you want to find out more, you can contact the CRAs currently operating in the UK. The information they hold may not be the same so it is worth contacting them all. They will charge you a small statutory fee.

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5. Does RPL Share The Information It Receives?

Information about our Members is an important part of our business. We share Member information only as described below and with controls that either are subject to this Privacy Notice or follow practices at least as protective as those described in this Privacy Notice. We do not typically share personal information about Users who are not Members.