Privacy Policy

This privacy policy explains how hearingtest.co.uk collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you visit or use our website at www.hearingtest.co.uk. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please read this policy carefully. By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood how we handle your personal data as described below.

1. Who We Are

hearingtest.co.uk is a UK-based website that helps users find and compare hearing test providers across the United Kingdom. For the purposes of data protection law, hearingtest.co.uk is the data controller responsible for your personal data.

If you have any questions about this policy or your personal data, you can contact us at:

2. No User Accounts or Registration

hearingtest.co.uk does not require you to create an account, register, or log in to use our services. You can search for hearing test providers, browse content, and access all features of the website without providing any personal information. We only collect personal data when you voluntarily submit it through one of our forms, as described in section 3 below.

3. What Data We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal data:

• Postcode and location data: When you search for hearing test providers, you enter a postcode or location. This data is sent to postcodes.io (a free UK postcode geocoding service) to determine your approximate geographic coordinates so we can show nearby audiologists. Postcodes entered for search purposes are used transiently to process your request and are not stored long-term on our servers.
• Get-Listed form submissions:If you are an audiologist or hearing care provider and submit our "Get Listed" form, we collect your business name, contact name, email address, phone number, business address, and any additional information you provide. This data is sent to us via email so we can process your listing request.
• At-home hearing test enquiry form: If you submit an enquiry about at-home hearing tests, we collect your name, email address, phone number, postcode, and any details you provide about your requirements. This data is sent to us via email so we can respond to your enquiry and, where applicable, connect you with a suitable provider.
• Usage data: Information about how you use our website, including pages visited, time spent on pages, navigation paths, referring URLs, and search queries performed on the site.
• Technical data: Your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and screen resolution. This data is collected automatically when you visit our website.
• Cookie data: Information collected through cookies and similar technologies (see section 7 below).

4. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To provide our core service — helping you find and compare hearing test providers near your location
• To geocode your postcode via postcodes.io so we can calculate distances to nearby audiologists
• To process Get-Listed form submissions and respond to audiologists who wish to be featured on our website
• To process at-home hearing test enquiries and connect you with relevant providers
• To respond to any other enquiries or requests you submit
• To improve our website, content, and services through analytics and aggregated usage data
• To monitor and maintain the security and performance of our website
• To comply with legal obligations and protect our legitimate interests

5. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Consent: Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose, such as submitting a form or enquiry. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
• Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as improving our service, understanding how users interact with our website, and ensuring the security of our systems. We always balance our interests against your rights and freedoms.
• Legal obligation: Where we need to process your data to comply with a legal requirement applicable to us.

6. Third-Party Booking Redirects

hearingtest.co.uk is a comparison and search service. When you find a hearing test provider through our website and click through to book an appointment, you will be redirected to the provider's own website or booking system. Providers include, but are not limited to, Boots Hearingcare, Specsavers Audiology, Audika, Scrivens, Bayfields, THCP, Leightons, Costco Hearing, and Amplify Hearing.

Once you leave hearingtest.co.uk, you are subject to the third-party provider's own privacy policy and terms of service. We are not responsible for how third-party audiologist providers or their booking systems collect, use, store, or protect your personal data. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any provider before submitting personal information on their website.

We do not receive or have access to any personal data you provide directly to these third-party providers during the booking process.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience and help us understand how the site is used. We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Required for the website to function properly, such as maintaining your session and enabling core features. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website by collecting anonymised data about page views, traffic sources, and user behaviour. We may use tools such as Google Analytics for this purpose.
• Functional cookies: Remember your preferences and settings, such as your postcode for repeat searches.

You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. For more information about cookies, visit aboutcookies.org.

8. Third-Party Services and Data Processors

We use the following third-party services that may process your data as part of delivering our service:

• postcodes.io: UK postcode geocoding service used to convert your postcode into geographic coordinates for our search feature. postcodes.io is operated by Ideal Postcodes and processes postcode data only — no personally identifiable information is sent alongside it.
• Mapbox: For displaying interactive maps and location-based search results. Mapbox may collect usage data in accordance with their privacy policy.
• Google Analytics: For website usage analysis. Data is anonymised and processed by Google in accordance with their privacy policy.
• Vercel: Our website hosting provider. Vercel processes server logs and request data as part of hosting our website.
• Supabase: Our database provider for storing audiologist location data and service-related information.
• Gmail (Google Workspace):Form submissions (Get-Listed and at-home hearing test enquiries) are delivered to us via email through Google's email infrastructure.

9. Advertising, Tracking, and Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third parties.

We do not display third-party advertisements on our website. We do not use retargeting or behavioural advertising technologies. We may use anonymised, aggregated analytics data to understand how our website is used and to improve our services, but this data cannot be used to identify individual users.

We only share personal data with third parties where it is strictly necessary to provide our service (as described in section 8) or where required by law.

10. International Data Transfers

Some of the third-party services we use (including Vercel, Google Analytics, Mapbox, and Supabase) may process data on servers located outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States and other countries.

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with UK GDPR. These safeguards may include:

• Transfers to countries that the UK government has determined provide an adequate level of data protection
• Standard contractual clauses approved by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
• The service provider's binding corporate rules or equivalent data protection commitments

If you would like more information about the specific safeguards applied to international transfers of your data, please contact us at help@hearingtest.co.uk.

11. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:

• Form submissions and enquiry data: Retained for up to 2 years after your last interaction with us, after which it is securely deleted.
• Analytics data: Retained in anonymised form for up to 26 months, in line with standard analytics retention periods.
• Postcode search data: Used transiently to process your search request and not stored long-term.
• Cookie data: Retained for the duration specified in our cookie settings, typically up to 12 months.
• Server logs: Retained by our hosting provider for up to 30 days for security and performance monitoring purposes.

12. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These measures include:

• HTTPS encryption (TLS) on all pages of our website
• Secure, access-controlled hosting infrastructure via Vercel
• Restricted access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
• Regular review of our security practices and third-party service configurations

While we take all reasonable precautions, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

13. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will:

• Notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, as required by UK GDPR
• Notify affected individuals without undue delay if the breach is likely to result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms
• Document the breach, its effects, and the remedial action taken

14. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access:You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (known as a "subject access request").
• Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to erasure:You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances (also known as the "right to be forgotten").
• Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: You can request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent as the legal basis for processing, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
• Rights related to automated decision-making: You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. We do not currently carry out any such automated decision-making.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at help@hearingtest.co.uk. We will respond to your request within one month. In complex cases, we may extend this period by a further two months, but we will inform you of any such extension within the initial one-month period. There is no fee for exercising your rights in most circumstances.

15. AI-Generated Content Disclosure

Some content on hearingtest.co.uk may be created or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. All such content is reviewed for accuracy and quality before publication. The use of AI in content creation does not affect how we collect, use, or protect your personal data. No personal data is shared with AI tools as part of our content creation process.

16. Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us at help@hearingtest.co.uk and we will delete it promptly.

17. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date at the top. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of our website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

18. Complaints

We hope we can resolve any concerns you have about the way we handle your personal data. If you would like to raise a concern, please contact us first at help@hearingtest.co.uk.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection:

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

19. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, how we handle your personal data, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us: