1. Who we are
Compare-Vets.org is operated by Face-Fit Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (No. 05032436), correspondence address 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX. Face-Fit Limited is the data controller for personal data processed via this site and is registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office under number ZB127973. Named privacy contact: Simon Wilkins. Email: privacy@compare-vets.org. See also our Company Information page.
2. What we collect
- Account data: email address, display name, password hash.
- Review data: reviews you submit, star rating, date of visit, IP address at submission, and the version of the terms you accepted.
- Evidence uploads: optional proof-of-visit files you provide during moderation. These are stored privately and never published.
- Practice-claim data: if you claim a listing, we hold your role, verification method, and any evidence you upload.
- Technical data: cookies for authentication, basic analytics, and server logs.
3. Why we process it — legal bases
- Contract: to run your account and publish your reviews.
- Legitimate interests: to moderate content, prevent fraud and fake reviews, keep the site secure, and demonstrate compliance with the DMCC Act 2024 and CMA208. A Legitimate Interests Assessment is maintained internally.
- Legal obligation: to respond to court orders, ICO notices and other statutory duties.
- Consent: for optional evidence uploads and for non-essential cookies.
4. What is public and what is private
- Public: your display name, your published reviews and star ratings, the date of visit and date of publication.
- Private: your email address, IP address, evidence uploads, moderation notes and any correspondence with us. These are never shown to the reviewed practice.
5. Sharing
We do not sell personal data. We share it only with: our hosting and email providers under contract; law-enforcement or regulators where legally compelled; and a court where a valid disclosure order (e.g. a Norwich Pharmacal order) requires it.
6. Retention
- Reviews: retained indefinitely to preserve the historic record, unless removed under the Review Rules or on request.
- Account data: retained while your account is active, then deleted or anonymised.
- Moderation evidence: retained for 24 months after a decision, then deleted unless a live legal matter requires retention.
- Server logs: retained for up to 90 days.
7. Your rights
You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, port and object to processing of your personal data, and to withdraw consent where we rely on it. Email privacy@compare-vets.org. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
8. Cookies and advertising
See our Cookie Policy. If we enable advertising in future (e.g. Google AdSense) it will be clearly labelled and separated from review-driven rankings — see the Rating & Ranking Explanation.
9. Security
We use encrypted connections, hashed passwords, role-based access control, private storage buckets for evidence and audit logging. Report a suspected vulnerability to security@compare-vets.org.
10. Children
The site is not directed at people under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their personal data.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be flagged on the site.