Last updated: 6 October 2026

HertsPartners is operated by 1stklass LTD, company number 16619410, registered office: Suite 468, 80a Ruskin Ave, Welling, Greater London, DA16 3QQ. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and protect personal information when you use our website.

We may collect information you provide when you register, log in, submit a business listing, apply for a paid membership, submit a local update, event, job vacancy, offer, or community or volunteering listing, use the CV Creator tool, contact us, or use forms on the website. This may include your name, business name, email address, phone number, website link, business information, listing content, CV content, account details, payment-related details processed by our payment provider, and messages sent to us.

We use this information to operate the HertsPartners directory and related features (including Local Updates, What’s On, HertsJobs, Offers, the Community group and Volunteering listings), manage user accounts and paid memberships, review and publish business listings and other submissions, provide the CV Creator tool, respond to enquiries, send service or newsletter communications where you have agreed to receive them, improve the website, prevent misuse, and keep appropriate business records.

We may also collect basic technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information and website usage data. Cookies and similar technologies may be used to support website functionality, analytics and user preferences. Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.

We do not sell personal information. We may share information only where necessary with service providers who help operate the website and its features, including: website hosting providers; Stripe, our payment processor, for handling paid membership and subscription payments; Brevo, our email and newsletter provider, for sending service and (where you have opted in) newsletter communications; OpenAI, which powers the optional CV Creator tool and processes the CV content you choose to submit to it, and which helps us write, fact-check and illustrate local news posts (see below); Meta (Facebook) and Google, if you choose to sign in or register using Facebook Login or Google Sign-In — we then receive your name, email address and public profile photo from whichever provider you use, to create and manage your account, and never receive your Facebook or Google password; security tools; analytics providers; legal or professional advisers; or authorities where required by law. Some of these providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we rely on legally recognised safeguards, such as the UK’s International Data Transfer Addendum or an adequacy decision, to protect your information.

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, including managing accounts, listings, memberships, enquiries, business records, legal obligations and dispute handling. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the feature it relates to, and are reviewed regularly.

We process your information on the basis of: your consent (for example, for the newsletter or the CV Creator tool); the need to perform a contract with you (for example, a paid membership); our legitimate interests in operating and improving the HertsPartners platform; and, where relevant, our legal obligations.

If you signed in using Facebook or Google and want that connection and its associated data removed, see our Data Deletion page or contact us using the email above.

You have rights under UK data protection law, including the right to request access to your personal information, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, request deletion in certain circumstances, object to certain processing, restrict processing, and withdraw consent where consent is used.

To contact us about privacy matters, email: privacy@hertspartners.co.uk

If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, you can contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

This policy may be updated from time to time.

Local news and automated tools

We use automated tools, including OpenAI, to help write, fact-check and illustrate local news posts from public sources such as council, police, NHS and weather notices. Those sources can sometimes name people. We only use what the original publisher has made public, we credit and link the original source, and stories on serious or sensitive subjects are held for a person to decide before they are published. Illustrations are abstract designs and never show real people. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in providing a reliable local information service. If you are named in a story and want it corrected or removed, contact privacy@hertspartners.co.uk.

Event Parking (Knebworth 2027)

If you reserve, book or host a parking space through HertsPartners Event Parking, we also process the following.

Drivers: your name, email address and phone number if you give it; the show date, number and type of vehicles and, where asked, the vehicle registration; your reservation and booking history; and messages with hosts or with us. Payments are taken by Stripe; we receive the payment status and reference, never your full card details.

Hosts: your name or business name, contact details, the address and description of the space, parking times and rules, listing photos you upload, and your booking and payout history. Payouts are set up with Stripe, which verifies your identity and holds your bank details; we do not store them. UK rules for digital platforms require us to collect, and report to HMRC each year, the earnings of people who sell through us together with their details: for an individual, full name, date of birth, home address and National Insurance number; for a business, its legal name, registered address and company number or UTR. We keep these encrypted and use them only for that reporting.

Who sees what: the exact address of a space is shared with a driver once they have paid for it; before that, the public map shows an approximate area only. Hosts who sell as a business must show their business contact details before booking, and these may include an address. A host sees the name, vehicle details and arrival information of the drivers booked into their space. We share information with Stripe to take payments and pay hosts, with HMRC where the law requires it, and with our email provider to send reservation and booking emails.

Why we use it: to provide the reservation and booking you asked for (contract); to meet tax reporting and record-keeping duties (legal obligation); and to keep the marketplace safe, prevent fraud and resolve disputes (legitimate interests).

How long we keep it: unpaid reservations are deleted within 12 months after the last 2027 show date. Records of paid bookings and payments are kept for six years after the end of the company financial year they belong to, as company accounting rules require. The details we must hold for HMRC digital-platform reporting are kept for five years after the end of the reporting period they relate to. After that they are deleted or anonymised.

Your rights described above apply to Event Parking information too. Contact privacy@hertspartners.co.uk.

Maps and website hosting

Our website and app use OpenStreetMap map tiles to display local places and signals. When a map loads, your browser or app connects to servers used by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). OSMF receives network and request information, such as your IP address, device or browser information and the map tiles requested. Its service uses an international content-delivery network. OSMF acts as an independent data controller for that processing. For details and your rights, see the OSMF Privacy Policy. A map pin you choose describes the place or incident you submit; it is not an automatic reading of your device’s GPS location.

IONOS hosts our website and database and provides technical operation, security and backup services. We use these services to operate and protect HertsPartners. Backups can contain earlier copies of account and service data. Removing data from the active service does not immediately remove every backup copy. If we restore a backup, we must reapply relevant erasure and suppression decisions before using the restored data. We can explain any applicable retention or restriction when responding to a data-rights request.