Privacy policy. What we collect and why.
Last updated 2 November 2026
- We collect what we need to run the club: your account, your profile, what you post and what you pay for.
- We never sell your data or use it for advertising. Employers and sponsors never get your contact details.
- Card and bank details go straight to Stripe. We never see them.
- You can download or delete your data any time from Settings.
- These rights apply wherever you live.
1. Who we are
Search Marketing Club, 125 Queen Street, Sheffield S1 2DU ("the club", "we", "us") runs searchmarketingclub.com (the public site) and platform.searchmarketingclub.com (the members' platform). We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the rights you have.
It applies to members, Professionals, people who run Business accounts, people we invite to leave a review, and anyone who visits the public site or contacts us. Our Terms of use and Cookie policy sit alongside it.
2. What we collect and why
Each type of data, why we use it, and the lawful basis under UK GDPR:
| Data | What it includes | Why we use it | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account and application | Name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), job title, company, work type, years in search, disciplines, LinkedIn URL and why you want to join. If you sign in with Google or LinkedIn, we receive your name and email from them. | To create your account, check that you work in search, and sign you in securely. | Contract |
| Profile | Headline, bio, location, time zone, avatar, reputation points and your privacy choices. For Professionals: services, prices, weekly availability, and a track record built only from sessions paid for through the club (paid sessions, repeat clients, session reviews and average rating). | To show your profile to other members as you choose, and to show times in your own time zone. | Contract |
| What you post | Posts, comments, chat messages, reactions, votes, saved items, library resources, reviews and group content. | To run the community. Posts in channels can be seen by all signed-in members. | Contract |
| Direct messages | Messages between two connected members. | To deliver them. Only the two people in a conversation can read them. Our staff can't see direct messages in the app. | Contract |
| Network | Connection requests, connections, follows, mentoring requests, group memberships and invites. | To run connections, mentoring and groups. | Contract |
| Jobs and events | Job applications (your profile, CV and note) and event RSVPs. | Applications go to the employer you apply to. Event hosts see who is going. | Contract |
| Business accounts | Business name, website, services, listings, listing upgrades, jobs, events, sponsored placements and their analytics. For Agency Verified, the checks we make on your company and website. For Enterprise events, the event details you send us. | To provide business features. | Contract |
| Payments | What you bought, billing period, amounts, any business tax ID you add at checkout, and Stripe customer and subscription IDs. Card details go straight to Stripe. | To bill plans, add-ons, upgrades, event listings, paid groups and bookings, and to keep financial records. | Contract; legal obligation |
| Bookings and payouts | Sessions booked, prices, times and refunds. For Professionals: payout country, the Stripe account you're paid through (Stripe Connect or Stripe Global Payouts), and the amount, currency and status of each payout. Bank and identity details go to Stripe on Stripe's own forms. | To take bookings, protect payments, pay Professionals and meet tax and anti-fraud duties. | Contract; legal obligation |
| Usage counts | Views and clicks on listings, jobs, events, ads and profiles. To count unique viewers, which signed-in member viewed which item on which day. | To show owners how their listings perform and to prevent abuse. Businesses with Software Pro or Agency Verified also see visitor insights: totals of the work type, experience and disciplines of members who viewed their listing, only in groups of 5 or more and never names or individual profiles. | Legitimate interests |
| Review invites | Email addresses a business gives us to invite its customers to review it. | To send that one invite. We keep only a scrambled (hashed) copy of each address, so nobody is invited twice. | Legitimate interests |
| Site and performance analytics | Anonymous page-view and page-speed measurements from Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights, without cookies or anything that identifies you. | To see which pages are used and keep the sites fast. | Legitimate interests |
| Messages to us | Name, email, topic and message from the contact form or email. | To answer you. | Legitimate interests |
| Security records | Sign-in records, and an audit log of actions taken by our admins. | To keep accounts and the platform secure and make admin actions accountable. | Legitimate interests; legal obligation |
We don't use your data for advertising, we don't sell it, and we don't build advertising profiles. Sponsored placements are chosen by where they appear, not by who you are. We don't ask for special category data (such as health, religion or ethnicity). Please don't post it.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we've weighed them against your rights and kept the data to what's needed. You can object at any time (see Your rights).
3. Where your data comes from
- You, when you apply, fill in your profile, post, book, buy or contact us.
- Google or LinkedIn, only if you choose to sign in with them: your name and email address.
- Stripe: whether a payment succeeded or was refunded, and whether your payout account is ready. Never your full card or bank details.
- Other members, for example when they review you, mention you or invite you to a group.
- Businesses, when they ask us to invite you to review them.
4. What other people can see
- Other members see your profile as your privacy settings allow, and what you post in channels, groups you're in, and events you're going to.
- The public sees only what's published on the public site: directory listings, public reviews, jobs, events and library resources that you or our staff choose to publish.
- Employers see your application only when you apply to their job.
- Professionals see the name and booking details of members who book them. Members see the Professional's profile and track record.
6. Members outside the UK
Members can join from anywhere in the world. Wherever you live, your data is stored in the UK (London), and this policy and your rights apply to you in the same way.
Some providers may process data outside the UK, for example Stripe when it pays a Professional in another country. Where they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum. Contact us for a copy of the safeguards that apply.
If you live in the European Economic Area, you have the same rights under the EU GDPR and can also complain to your local data protection authority. If your local law gives you extra rights, we'll respect them.
7. How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Account, profile and content | While you're a member. When you delete your account, they're deleted, except where we must keep something by law. |
| Notifications you've read | 12 months. |
| Unique-viewer records | 90 days. View and click totals are kept only as counts. |
| Review invite records (scrambled addresses) | 12 months. |
| Payment, booking, refund, payout and invoice records | 6 years after the end of the financial year, as UK tax law requires (held by us and Stripe). |
| Contact messages | Up to 2 years. |
| Admin audit log | Up to 6 years. |
8. Your rights
Wherever you live, you can:
- Access your data. Download a copy any time from Settings › Account and security, or ask us for it.
- Correct it. Edit your profile in Settings › Profile, or ask us.
- Delete it. Delete your account from Settings › Account and security. We keep only what the law requires, such as payment records.
- Take it with you. Your download is in a common, machine-readable format.
- Object or restrict. Object to anything we do on the basis of legitimate interests, or ask us to pause using your data while a concern is looked at.
- Withdraw consent where we rely on it, at any time.
To use any of these rights, contact us and choose "Privacy". It's free. We reply within one month, and may ask you to confirm who you are first.
9. Your choices and settings
- Choose who sees your profile in Settings › Privacy.
- Choose which emails and notifications you get in Settings › Notifications. Service emails about your account, payments and bookings will still be sent.
- Set your time zone in Settings › Profile.
10. Automated decisions
We don't make decisions about you using only automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. People review applications to join. Things like leaderboards, directory ordering and badges are worked out from activity on the platform, as described in the Terms of use.
11. Security
Every sign-in is confirmed with a one-time code sent to your email. Access to data is enforced in the database itself, so members only see what they're allowed to. Connections are encrypted, staff accounts use two-step verification, and admin actions are logged. If a breach puts your rights at risk, we'll tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
12. Children
The club is for working professionals and isn't intended for anyone under 18. If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we'll close it.
13. Changes to this policy
If we make important changes, we'll tell members on the platform or by email before they take effect. The date at the top always shows the latest version.
14. Contact and complaints
Questions about your data: contact us and choose "Privacy", or write to Search Marketing Club, 125 Queen Street, Sheffield S1 2DU.
If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or to your local data protection authority if you live outside the UK.