Privacy policy

1. Scope and controller

Plenius is an independent editorial project based at 78 High Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1DE, United Kingdom. For privacy questions, write to that address or call +44 131 496 0743.

This policy applies to pages, forms, correspondence and ordinary website security logs. It does not apply to third-party sites reached through an external link. We review the document each year and after material changes to our services or legal obligations.

• Controller: Plenius editorial project.
• Review date: 5 October 2026.
• Applicable framework: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information we collect

We may receive your name, email address, telephone number and the contents of a message when you choose to contact us. Server logs may record an IP address, browser type, requested page, approximate time and referring page.

We do not ask readers to provide medical histories, precise health information or account passwords. If you include sensitive information in a message, we use it only to understand and answer the enquiry, then remove it when it is no longer needed.

3. Purposes and legal basis

We use contact details to respond to enquiries, maintain site security and understand aggregate page performance. The legal basis is legitimate interest for security and editorial administration, and consent where a visitor actively chooses an optional cookie or communication.

You can withdraw an optional consent at any time by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect processing already completed before withdrawal, and refusing analytics does not prevent access to the editorial pages.

4. Retention

Routine enquiries are normally retained for 12 months after the last meaningful exchange. Security logs are generally retained for up to 90 days, while records needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim may be retained for the relevant limitation period.

At the end of each period, records are deleted or irreversibly anonymised. We may retain a minimal suppression record where necessary to respect a request not to receive a particular communication.

5. Processors and sharing

We may use carefully selected service providers for hosting, email delivery, including Vercel for website hosting and delivery, a transactional email provider for contact messages, and a privacy-conscious analytics provider configured for aggregate reporting, website measurement and spam protection. Providers receive only the information needed for their stated task and must protect it under a written agreement.

We do not sell personal information. Information may be disclosed to professional advisers, regulators, courts or law enforcement where lawful and necessary. A provider may process data on our instructions rather than for its own advertising purposes.

6. International transfers

Some infrastructure providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where that occurs, we use an adequacy decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to EU standard contractual clauses, or another lawful safeguard.

You may contact us for a general description of the safeguard used for a relevant transfer. We assess provider security and location when services are reviewed.

7. Your rights and complaints

Subject to legal exceptions, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or portability. Send a clear request to Plenius at the address above or by telephone; we may ask for proportionate identity information before responding.

We aim to acknowledge requests within five working days and respond within one calendar month. Complex requests may take a further two months, with an explanation. You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk if you remain dissatisfied.

8. Changes and contact

This version was reviewed on 5 October 2026. Earlier versions may be available on request where keeping them is necessary for accountability.

Questions about this policy should be sent to 78 High Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1DE, United Kingdom, or raised on +44 131 496 0743. Please include enough context for us to identify the relevant page without sending unnecessary personal details.

For clarity, the information described above is handled only for a defined operational purpose. Contact details are used to reply to an enquiry, while security records are reviewed to identify faults, abuse or unusual traffic. We do not use correspondence to build advertising profiles or infer sensitive characteristics. Where a message contains information that is not needed to answer the question, it is excluded from routine records.

Our usual retention periods are conservative: contact correspondence is normally reviewed for up to 12 months after the last meaningful exchange, security logs are generally kept for up to 90 days, and records needed to establish or respond to a legal request may be retained for the relevant limitation period. A deletion request may be subject to a short verification step so that information is not disclosed to the wrong person. Where deletion is not possible, we explain the reason and restrict further use.

Service providers may process limited information on our instructions, including website hosting, email delivery, spam protection and privacy-conscious measurement. Examples include a UK or European hosting provider, an email transport provider and an analytics service configured to report aggregate page activity. Providers receive only the information required for their task, must protect it contractually, and are not authorised to use it for unrelated purposes.

If information is transferred outside the United Kingdom, Plenius assesses the transfer mechanism and contractual safeguards before the transfer takes place. This may include UK adequacy regulations, an adequacy decision, or approved contractual protections with a supplementary security review. You may ask for a general description of the safeguards used without requesting confidential commercial documents.

To exercise a right of access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection or data portability, contact Plenius at 78 High Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1DE, United Kingdom, or call +44 131 496 0743. We aim to acknowledge a request within five working days and respond within one calendar month, subject to lawful extensions for complex requests. If you remain dissatisfied, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office through its public channels.

This policy was reviewed on 5 October 2026. Future material changes will be dated on this page and will describe the practical effect of the change, while minor wording or formatting corrections may be recorded internally without changing the stated purposes.

Data protection contact

For privacy questions or rights requests, contact the Data Protection Contact at [email protected], write to 78 High Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1DE, United Kingdom, or call +44 131 496 0743. We aim to acknowledge requests within five working days and respond within one calendar month.