Privacy Policy
Last updated: 16 October 2026
This policy explains how Whiff Limited, trading as The Local Website Company, handles personal information when you visit this website, enquire about our services or work with us.
Who is responsible for your information?
Whiff Limited is the data controller. Our company number is 10363429 and our registered office is Ashlands Farm Barn, Southwick, Fareham, PO17 6BJ.
For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email info@thelocalwebsitecompany.co.uk.
Information you give us
When you use our enquiry form, we ask for your name, email address and a message about your business. You can also provide your existing website address. The required fields help us understand and reply to your enquiry; you do not have to supply a website address.
We also handle information you send by email and information needed to discuss, deliver and administer a project. Please avoid including sensitive personal information or details about other people unless they are needed for your enquiry.
Why we use your information
We use enquiry and correspondence details to consider your request, respond and discuss suitable services. Where you ask us to take steps towards a contract with you personally, we rely on the lawful basis of steps before entering a contract. For general enquiries and contact with people representing a business, we rely on our legitimate interests in answering enquiries and running our business.
For client work, we use information needed to perform our contract with you, or our legitimate interests in providing services to the business you represent. We keep accounting and tax records to meet applicable legal obligations.
We do not currently send marketing emails or operate a marketing mailing list. Sending an enquiry does not subscribe you to marketing.
Website operation and security
Hosting and email services may process technical information, such as IP addresses and connection details, to deliver the website and correspondence and help protect them against misuse. Our lawful basis for this necessary operational processing is our legitimate interests in maintaining reliable, secure services.
Our Cookie Policy explains the browser storage identified on this website and the limits of our checks.
Who handles your information?
The business owner handles enquiries. Our hosting and email supplier is 20i. These services process information on our behalf to host the website and deliver and store correspondence. The enquiry form is configured to email enquiries rather than keep a separate form-submission record in WordPress. Copies may still exist in mail systems, service logs and backups.
We may also disclose information where required by law. We do not use additional services specifically to process website enquiries beyond our hosting and email arrangements.
Where information is processed
We have not yet confirmed 20i’s precise processing locations or any international transfers and applicable safeguards. We cannot currently state that all processing remains in the UK. Please contact us if you need further information about these arrangements.
How long we keep information
Unsuccessful enquiries are generally retained for 12 months after the last meaningful contact. If an enquiry becomes a client project, relevant information forms part of the project and business records.
Client and financial records are generally retained for six years in line with our accounting and HMRC record-keeping arrangements. Ordinary enquiries that do not result in work are covered by the 12-month period above, rather than automatically being kept for six years.
Provider service logs and backups may follow separate retention schedules, which we have not yet confirmed with 20i. We may retain relevant records for longer where a specific legal obligation or dispute justifies it.
Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you can ask to access your personal information, correct it, erase it, restrict its use or receive certain information in a portable form. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. If we rely on consent for any future processing, you can withdraw that consent without affecting earlier lawful use.
These rights have conditions and exceptions. For example, we may need to keep records to meet a legal obligation. Contact us at the email address above; we may need information to verify your identity before responding.
We do not make decisions about individuals based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
Questions and complaints
Please email us if you have concerns about how we handle your information so we can investigate and respond. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office through the ICO’s complaints service.
Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our handling of personal information changes. The review date above identifies this version.