Who we are
PlanWatch compiles lists of addresses that have planning applications on council planning registers and supplies them to trades and other firms that want to write to those households by post. The firm that wrote to you decided to send the letter. We and that firm each have responsibility for our own part. You can contact either of us; contact PlanWatch at hello@planwatch.co.uk.
What information we have about you
- the address of the property in the planning application,
- the application’s council, reference number, date and a short description of the building work,
- the type of work our system matched it to (for example, “roofing”).
We do not store the name, phone number or email of the person who applied, and we do not give the firm those details. The letter is addressed to “The Owner/Occupier”. The planning reference is on the letter, and the council register may show more about the application; we have no control over that.
Where it came from
The council’s public planning register, which by law is open for anyone to inspect. This is a publicly accessible source. We did not collect it from you.
Why we use it, and our legal basis
To help firms that do the kind of work in your application tell you about their services by post. Our legal basis is “legitimate interests” (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)): our interest and the firm’s interest in marketing relevant services, and we have weighed it against your privacy. We keep a written assessment and update it.
We think a single, relevant letter to someone who has just applied for building work has a low impact, and we reduce it by: posting only (never email, text or calls), limiting how many firms can write to one home in a month, never writing twice from the same firm, and removing anyone who asks.
Who gets your information
The firm that wrote to you (and, if it uses one, its printer or mailing house). Another firm in a different trade may also write to you; each can only do so within the monthly limit and the rules in our contract with them. We do not publish addresses for marketing and do not sell them to anyone else.
How long we keep it
If you ask us to stop mail we keep your address on a stop list for as long as we compile lists, so we do not write to you again. That is the only reason we keep it.
Your rights
- Stop the mail (right to object). You can object to direct marketing at any time and we must stop. It is free and you do not need to give a reason. See planwatch.co.uk/stop-mail.
- See what we hold about your address, correct it, ask us to erase it (we will keep it on the stop list unless you tell us you do not want that, and explain what that means), restrict use, and object to other uses.
- Complain. To us first at hello@planwatch.co.uk and we will answer within one month. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
Automated decisions
Our system matches planning descriptions to trades using rules. No decision with legal or similarly significant effect is made about you.
The firm’s own notice
The firm that wrote to you may give you its own information.