Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

GuardOpinion is a consumer review platform that helps people share genuine experiences with businesses and helps businesses build trust through honest feedback. We are committed to processing your personal data in a transparent, lawful, and responsible manner in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable national law.

The data controller is GUARDOPINION LTD, registered in England & Wales (Company No. 17170105), with registered office at 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA, United Kingdom. Contact: [email protected].

2. What Data We Collect

We collect only what we genuinely need to operate the platform. Here is what that includes:

• Account data: your name, email address, hashed password, optional profile photo, and language preference when you register.
• Review data: the content of reviews you write, including ratings, titles, text, and any attached evidence you choose to submit.
• Usage data: IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, and interaction patterns — used for fraud detection, platform security, and aggregate analytics.
• Communication data: messages exchanged with our support team or, where applicable, with businesses through our chat feature.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to operate and improve the platform; to verify the authenticity of reviews and detect fraudulent or manipulated content; to send transactional emails such as account confirmation, password reset, and notifications you have opted into; to provide businesses with anonymised trend data about their reputation; and to comply with our legal obligations. We do not sell your personal data to third parties, ever.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

Every action we take with your data has a specific legal basis under GDPR:

If you are in the United Kingdom, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 apply as the primary framework alongside these principles.

• Contractual necessity: processing required to deliver the service you signed up for, such as storing your account and publishing your reviews.
• Legitimate interests: fraud detection, platform security, spam prevention, and aggregated analytics — where those interests do not override your rights.
• Legal obligation: retaining certain records when required to do so by applicable law.
• Consent: sending marketing communications or activating non-essential analytics cookies — only when you have explicitly opted in.

5. Data Sharing

We share your data only when strictly necessary. This means: with hosting and infrastructure providers who process data on our behalf under binding data processing agreements; with our email delivery provider solely to send transactional messages; with law enforcement or regulatory authorities when legally required and only to the extent required; and in the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, with the acquiring entity under equivalent privacy commitments. We do not share your data with advertisers or data brokers.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights regarding your personal data. To exercise any of them, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

• Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: request deletion of your data where there is no overriding legal reason to retain it.
• Right to restriction: ask us to pause processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: object to processing based on legitimate interests, including profiling.
• Right to withdraw consent: withdraw any consent you have given at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

7. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account remains active. If you delete your account, we remove your personal identifiers within 30 days, though reviews you submitted may remain in anonymised or aggregate form as part of the public record. Usage data collected for fraud detection is retained for 12 months. Data we are legally required to retain is held for the minimum period required by law.

8. Cookies

We use cookies to make the platform work and to understand how it is used. Strictly necessary cookies are always active — without them, the service cannot function. Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors navigate the site; these are only activated with your consent. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies by default. You can manage your preferences at any time using the Cookie Preferences link in the footer.

9. Contact & DPO

For privacy-related inquiries, contact [email protected]. You may also write to us at: GUARDOPINION LTD, 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA, United Kingdom.

If you are in the UK, you have rights under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018; we handle requests in line with those laws and respond within 30 days unless the law allows a longer period.