Last updated: 12^th July 2026

Project Open Gov is committed to handling personal data fairly, transparently and securely. This page explains what personal data may be collected through this website, why it is collected, how it is used, and what rights individuals may have in relation to that information.

Project Open Gov keeps personal data collection to a minimum. The website is intended to provide clear public information, not to build profiles of individual visitors.

Who we are

Project Open Gov is an independent public-information website intended to make the UK Parliament and government easier to follow through clear, neutral and accessible public information.

Website: projectopengov.org
Privacy contact: [email protected]

For privacy or data protection enquiries, please use the contact details above.

What personal data may be collected

Project Open Gov keeps personal data collection to a minimum.

If you use the contact form, the site may collect your name, your email address, the content of your message, and any other personal information you choose to include in that message.

If you choose to support the project through the Support page, payment-related information may also be processed. Depending on the payment method and what the payment provider makes available, this may include your name, email address, payment amount, payment status, recurring-support status, and limited transaction reference information.

The site may also process limited technical and security-related information when the website, contact form or Support page is used. This may include IP address, browser or device information, and security signals used to help protect the site against spam, bots, abusive activity, misuse, or payment-related abuse.

Where a visitor accepts optional analytics cookies, Project Open Gov may also receive or access aggregated website usage information through Google Analytics 4. This may include information such as pages visited, approximate location, device or browser type, referral source, broad interaction information, and whether visitors use the site on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Project Open Gov does not use Google Analytics to identify individual visitors. Analytics is used to understand how the website is being used overall, so that the site can be improved and development work can be focused on content and features that readers genuinely find helpful.

The site may also keep limited records of cookie consent choices, such as the consent category selected, the time of the choice, region, and a limited technical identifier used to manage and evidence consent.

How personal data is used

Personal data may be used to:

• receive and review enquiries, feedback, corrections or other messages sent through the contact form;
• reply where a response is appropriate;
• keep a basic record of correspondence;
• protect the website and contact form from spam, bot activity, misuse or other security risks;
• administer voluntary support payments;
• keep basic bookkeeping and payment records;
• respond to support-related queries;
• maintain the security and reliability of the website;
• understand website usage through optional analytics where consent has been given;
• improve the website, its content, and its features.

Analytics is used only to understand broad patterns of website use. Project Open Gov is not interested in identifying individual visitors through analytics.

Personal data submitted through the contact form or processed in connection with support payments is not used for advertising or sold to third parties.

Project Open Gov does not use Google Analytics for advertising, remarketing, personalised advertising, or user profiling.

Lawful basis

Project Open Gov relies on legitimate interests as the main lawful basis for processing personal data submitted through the contact form and for basic website security.

Those legitimate interests include operating and administering the website, receiving and responding to genuine enquiries, corrections and feedback, protecting the site from spam, bots, malicious traffic and abuse, and maintaining the security and integrity of the website and its systems.

Where optional analytics cookies are used, Project Open Gov relies on the visitor’s consent. Visitors can accept, reject, or manage optional cookies through the cookie banner and cookie preferences tool.

Where personal data must be kept or disclosed to comply with a legal obligation, that processing may also be carried out on that basis where applicable.

Contact form and spam protection

When you submit the contact form, your message may be processed through website and email systems so that it can be received and reviewed.

The contact form also uses Cloudflare Turnstile to reduce spam and abusive submissions. This may involve the processing of technical and security-related information in order to distinguish likely human users from automated traffic.

Support payments

Project Open Gov offers an optional Support page through which visitors may choose to make a one-off or recurring contribution using PayPal.

Payments are processed by PayPal. Project Open Gov does not receive or store full card or payment-account details on its own website.

If you choose to support the project, Project Open Gov may receive limited payment-related information from PayPal, such as your name, email address, payment amount, payment status, recurring-support status, and limited transaction reference information, to the extent made available for payment administration, bookkeeping, record-keeping, and responding to support-related queries.

Google services used on the site

Project Open Gov uses Site Kit by Google for Search Console and PageSpeed Insights.

Project Open Gov also uses Google Analytics 4 through Site Kit to understand how people use the website. Google Analytics is used only for site statistics and improvement.

Google Analytics helps Project Open Gov understand which parts of the site are useful, how people find the site, and where development work should be focused. The purpose is to improve the website and make the public-information service more useful to readers.

Google Analytics is not used for advertising, remarketing, personalised advertising, or selling personal data. Google Signals is not enabled. Google Ads, Google AdSense and Google Tag Manager are not used for this analytics setup.

Google Analytics cookies are optional and should only be used where the visitor has accepted optional cookies through the cookie banner or cookie preferences tool.

Project Open Gov does not routinely export Google Analytics data or keep a separate local analytics database.

Google Analytics data retention is set to 14 months.

Cookie consent

Project Open Gov uses Complianz to manage the cookie banner and cookie preferences.

Visitors can accept or reject optional cookies. They can also manage their preferences. Essential cookies are always active because they are needed for the website to work properly.

A separate Cookies Policy explains the website’s use of cookies and similar technologies in more detail.

Sharing with service providers

Project Open Gov may share personal data only where necessary with service providers that help operate the site.

These may include providers for:

• website hosting;
• domain and DNS services;
• email services;
• contact form delivery;
• spam and bot protection;
• site security;
• site administration;
• webmaster tools;
• analytics;
• consent management;
• payment processing.

Where support payments are made through the Support page, payment-related information is processed by PayPal in accordance with PayPal’s own services and policies.

Where Google Analytics is used, Google may process analytics information in accordance with its own services and policies.

These providers process information only to the extent reasonably necessary to provide their services.

Personal data may also be disclosed where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or to protect the rights, safety, security or integrity of the website and its users.

International processing

Some service providers used to operate the website may process personal data outside the UK.

Where this happens, Project Open Gov intends to use providers and arrangements considered appropriate for the operation of the site and its services. As the service providers used may change over time, this section may also be updated from time to time.

Google, PayPal, Cloudflare and other service providers may process information in countries outside the UK. Where appropriate, this is handled through the terms and safeguards made available by those providers.

How long information is kept

Contact form messages and related contact details are normally kept for up to 12 months after the last substantive contact.

Information may be kept for longer where this is reasonably necessary, for example to deal with an ongoing enquiry or correspondence, to keep a record of repeated abusive or malicious use of the form, to comply with a legal obligation, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Information that is no longer needed should be deleted or removed within a reasonable period.

Payment-related records and support-related correspondence are kept for as long as reasonably necessary for payment administration, bookkeeping, record-keeping, and compliance with legal or accounting obligations, and are then deleted or removed within a reasonable period when no longer needed.

Google Analytics data retention is set to 14 months. Project Open Gov does not routinely export Google Analytics data or keep a separate local analytics database.

Cookie consent records are kept only for as long as reasonably necessary to manage and evidence consent, and may be refreshed when consent is renewed or changed.

Whether you must provide personal data

You do not have to send a message through the contact form.

However, if you choose not to provide the information requested in the form, Project Open Gov may be unable to receive or respond to your message.

You do not have to accept optional analytics cookies. If you reject optional analytics cookies, the website should still remain usable, although Project Open Gov will receive less information about how the site is being used.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights in relation to your personal data, including the right to:

• request access to personal data held about you;
• request correction of inaccurate personal data;
• request deletion of personal data;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• request data portability where applicable.

To make a request, please use the contact details given on this page.

If your personal data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests, you have the right to object to that processing in certain circumstances.

If optional analytics cookies are used on the basis of consent, you can withdraw or change your consent through the cookie preferences tool.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your personal data has been handled unlawfully.

Cookies and related technologies

This Privacy Policy explains how personal data is handled.

A separate Cookies Policy explains the website’s use of cookies and similar technologies in more detail, including essential cookies, analytics cookies, security-related cookies, and third-party technologies that may be used on the Support page or where embedded content is used.

Embedded content

Project Open Gov currently uses embedded third-party payment content on the Support page through a PayPal donate button.

That embedded content may involve PayPal scripts or similar technologies being loaded when the Support page is used, and PayPal may collect technical, device, interaction or payment-related information in accordance with its own policies.

If Project Open Gov later embeds other third-party content, such as video or social media content, those third parties may also collect data about visitors in accordance with their own policies. Where appropriate, this content may be controlled through the cookie banner or cookie preferences system.

Changes to this page

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to the website, its services, or legal requirements.

The latest version will always be published on this page with the updated date shown at the top.