Last updated: 6 November 2026
This notice explains how Paw Rated uses personal information when you browse this website, contact us, suggest a place or correction, or use our nearby-search and map features.
Who is responsible for your information?
Paw Rated is operated by McKie Family Enterprises Ltd, the data controller for the activities described here. The company is registered in England and Wales, company number 16906566.
Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ.
Privacy contact: mckiefamilyenterprisesltd@gmail.com. Please put “Paw Rated privacy enquiry” in the subject line. You can also write to the registered office.
Information you give us
Our contact, correction and recommendation forms collect the details you choose to submit. These may include your name, email address, message, a place name and location, supporting website links, and an optional date relevant to your visit or correction. The general enquiry form requires an email address so we can reply. Names and contact details are optional on the correction and recommendation forms.
We use submissions to respond to enquiries, check information, consider recommendations and maintain our editorial records. A submission does not automatically create a listing, change a fact or produce a Paw Rating. We do not automatically publish your name, email address or private correspondence. If we want to publish a personal contribution or attribution beyond an ordinary factual correction, we will discuss that with you first.
Please do not include passwords, payment details, identity documents, medical information or unnecessary information about other people. Public accounts, business-owner dashboards, visitor reviews and visitor photo uploads are not currently available. We will update this notice before introducing processing for those features.
Information from other sources
We research venue details using business websites, official records and other public sources, and may receive corrections from business representatives or visitors. Business information can be personal information where it identifies a sole trader or named contact. We use relevant information to maintain a useful, accurate directory and record the source of factual claims. We also publish editorial content and photographs that we own or have permission to use. Contact us if a listing or photograph raises a privacy concern.
Technical information, nearby searches and maps
Our hosting and security systems may process your IP address, browser and device information, requested pages, request times and security or diagnostic information. This helps deliver the site, prevent misuse and investigate problems. Our three visitor forms are configured not to save your IP address in the form entry; this does not prevent ordinary hosting, email or security systems from processing technical information.
If you search near a postcode, we use it to find coordinates and nearby places. Postcode lookups may be sent by our server to Postcodes.io, and postcode-to-coordinate results can be retained in a lookup cache. This cache is not linked to a visitor account or used as a record of an individual’s movements.
If you choose “Use my location”, your browser asks for permission before providing coordinates. We use them to calculate nearby results. Paw Rated Core does not store those device coordinates as a visitor location history. You can decline permission and use a postcode instead. We do not ask for your device location simply because you open a page.
When you open a directory map, your browser requests map tiles from OpenStreetMap. The map provider receives technical information such as your IP address and the tiles requested, which indicate the area being viewed. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy. Following an external venue, booking or other website link takes you to a separate service with its own privacy practices.
Why we use personal information
- Enquiries, corrections and recommendations: our legitimate interests in communicating with visitors, checking submissions and operating an accurate editorial directory.
- Public business information and editorial records: our legitimate interests in researching, publishing and maintaining useful information, balanced against the rights and interests of the people concerned.
- Site delivery, requested nearby results, security and troubleshooting: our legitimate interests in providing a reliable, secure service and responding to the features you choose to use.
- Legal obligations and disputes: compliance with an applicable legal obligation, or our legitimate interests in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims, depending on the circumstances.
- Optional processing requiring consent: consent where the law requires it. Browser location permission does not give us permission to use your location for unrelated purposes.
We consider whether a use of personal information is necessary and proportionate and whether an individual’s rights override our legitimate interests. You can contact us to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Cookies and marketing
WordPress and related services use essential session and security technologies, including cookies for authorised administrator sign-in. Your browser lets you view, restrict or delete cookies, although blocking essential cookies can prevent some features from working.
The current visitor pages do not run optional analytics or advertising tracking, and there is no newsletter sign-up or public account registration. Contacting us does not subscribe you to marketing. Before adding optional tracking or marketing features, we will update the relevant privacy information and provide any consent or choice controls required for the technology used. Any new controls will be explained here.
Who can receive information?
Access is limited to people who need information to operate Paw Rated, handle correspondence, maintain the site or meet a relevant obligation. Our current services include Krystal/Onyx for website hosting and infrastructure, WordPress and Gravity Forms running on our hosting for form storage and administration, and Google Gmail for company correspondence and notification emails. Hosting, backup, security and technical-support services may process information as needed to provide those services.
Map and postcode providers receive the information described above when those features are used. We may also share relevant information with professional advisers, an authority or another recipient where reasonably necessary to meet a legal obligation, address misuse or establish, exercise or defend legal rights. We do not sell personal information.
A factual correction may need to be checked with the venue concerned. We aim to share the substance needed for that check rather than forwarding private correspondence or unnecessary personal details.
Processing outside the UK
Some service providers, including Google, operate internationally and may process information outside the UK. Google describes its use of adequacy mechanisms, the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses in its data-transfer information. The mechanism applicable to a transfer depends on the service and circumstances. You can contact us for information about the providers and safeguards relevant to your information. We do not represent that all information remains exclusively in the UK.
How long we keep information
We keep information for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected. In deciding this, we consider whether an enquiry or complaint is resolved, whether a correction or source record is still needed to maintain accurate information, the sensitivity of the information, and any relevant legal obligation or genuine dispute.
Form entries do not currently have an automatic deletion deadline. Retention therefore requires manual review rather than an assumed automatic expiry. Correspondence may also be held in our company mailbox. Technical logs, cached lookup results and backup copies have separate operational lifecycles; removing information from the live site does not necessarily remove every backup immediately. Contact us if you want information removed or details of the retention arrangements relevant to your enquiry.
Your rights and how to complain
Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law gives you rights to access your personal information, correct inaccurate information, request erasure or restriction, object to processing, and receive certain information in a portable form. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing. These rights are not absolute; we will explain any applicable limits.
To make a request or raise a concern, email mckiefamilyenterprisesltd@gmail.com or write to our registered office. We may ask for proportionate information to confirm your identity. Please do not send identity documents unless we have explained why they are needed and agreed a suitable method.
We normally respond to a data-rights request within one month. Where the law allows extra time or a clarification or identity check is needed, we will explain the position. You can also complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Changes to this notice
We will update this notice when our services or data use change and show the revision date above. New business accounts, public contributions, subscriptions or commercial features will require the relevant privacy information before they are introduced.