Privacy and cookies
Privacy Notice and Cookie Policy.
Exactly what data we process, why, how long for, who else sees it, and how to exercise your rights. Last reviewed .
1. Data controller
The data controller for personal data processed via fbre.uk is SearchSwitchSave®, the operating trading name through which the FBRE.uk site is run. SearchSwitchSave® is part of the upleashed® group, ultimately owned by Upleashed Limited, an Isle of Man company. Full corporate detail is on /about.
- Email: hello@searchswitchsave.com
- Telephone: 0330 122 1223
- Post: Data Requests, SearchSwitchSave®, c/o Sycamore House, Glen Duff, Lezayre, Isle of Man, IM7 2AT.
- Isle of Man company number (SearchSwitchSave®): 030828B.
- UK intellectual property (SearchSwitchSave®): UK00004211113.
- ICO registration (Isle of Man): registered with the Isle of Man Information Commissioner. Reference R697728.
- Ultimate parent: Upleashed Limited (Isle of Man company 021517V; predecessor BIN 029687B; VAT GB 005 5762 89; D-U-N-S 231670812; UK trademark UK00003877376).
For any data subject request, please put Data subject request in the email subject line so we can route it correctly. The Isle of Man Data Protection Act 2018 applies the GDPR framework with equivalent rights and remedies to UK and EU data subjects, and we honour requests under UK GDPR, EU GDPR and Isle of Man DPA equivalently.
2. What we process, why, and on which lawful basis
We process personal data only where we have a clear lawful basis under UK GDPR Article 6. The table below lists every routine processing activity, the data involved, the purpose, the lawful basis we rely on, and the typical retention.
| Activity | Data involved | Purpose | Lawful basis | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact form submission | Name, email, optional company, topic, message body. | To answer your enquiry and discuss services. | Article 6(1)(b) contract or pre-contract steps; Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interest. | 24 months from last interaction. |
| Direct email correspondence | Email address, name, message content. | Two-way correspondence. | Article 6(1)(b) and Article 6(1)(f). | 24 months from last interaction. |
| Telephone correspondence | Phone number, name, call subject; calls are not routinely recorded. | Two-way correspondence. | Article 6(1)(b) and Article 6(1)(f). | Notes retained 24 months from last interaction. |
| Aggregate site analytics (Ahrefs) | Pseudonymous events: page URL, referer, country, device class, anonymised IP segment. | Understand which content readers value so we can improve the site. | Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interest, balanced against the very low intrusiveness of the data and a clear opt-out. | Up to 14 months at the processor. |
| Site preferences (theme, accessibility, view mode, consent) | No personal data; only your in-browser preference values. | Honour your chosen theme, accessibility settings, network view and cookie decision on return visits. | Strictly necessary: stored client-side; no processing by us occurs. | Persists in your browser until you clear local storage. |
| Server access logs | IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp, response code, bytes transferred. | Site security, abuse prevention, debugging, traffic analysis. | Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interest. | Up to 30 days at the host. |
| Booking a discovery call by email | Name, email, three preferred slots, any context you choose to share. | To confirm and run a 15-minute discovery call. | Article 6(1)(b). | Inbox correspondence, retained for 24 months from last interaction. |
3. Cookies and local storage
We keep cookies to the absolute minimum. Everything below is enumerated explicitly. No tracking pixels, no advertising cookies, no remarketing, no fingerprinting.
First-party storage (set by FBRE.uk itself)
| Name | Type | Purpose | Category | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
fbre_theme |
localStorage |
Remember light or dark theme choice. | Strictly necessary (preference). | Until you clear local storage. |
fbre_a11y |
localStorage |
Remember accessibility settings (text size, contrast, motion, font, link underlines). | Strictly necessary (preference). | Until you clear local storage. |
fbre_netview |
localStorage |
Remember whether you prefer the network grid or the table view on the home page, and column sort state. | Strictly necessary (preference). | Until you clear local storage. |
fbre_cookie_consent |
localStorage |
Record your accept-or-decline choice so we do not re-ask on every page. | Strictly necessary (consent record). | Until you clear local storage or click "Manage cookies" in the footer. |
Third-party cookies and storage (set by other services we use)
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Category | Opt-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ahrefs analytics identifiers (the _aaa and related keys) |
Ahrefs Pte Ltd | Aggregate, pseudonymous site analytics: page views, referrers, country, device class. | Analytics (non-strictly-necessary). | Click Decline in the cookie banner, or use Manage cookies in the footer. The script will not load on subsequent visits. |
| Google Fonts edge cache headers | Google Ireland Ltd | Serve the Geist and JetBrains Mono webfonts. No cookies are set by Google in this configuration; the request is cached by the browser. | Strictly necessary (presentation). | Disable webfonts in your browser, or browse in a font-free mode. |
| Third-party booking widget (none in production) | n/a | FBRE.uk does not embed a third-party calendar booking widget at the moment. All discovery calls are booked by email. If we add one in future, it will appear here and the cookie banner will re-prompt. | None. | n/a |
How our cookie banner works
We want to be honest with you about this. On your first visit, the Ahrefs analytics script loads while you read the banner, so we can capture the same first-visit data that any analytics tool would otherwise collect server-side. Your decision is what we then respect on every subsequent visit:
- Accept all: Ahrefs analytics continues to load. No new processors are added.
-
Decline: from the next page view onwards, the Ahrefs script is not added to the page. A
flag is set to disable it. You will need to keep
fbre_cookie_consentin your browser for this to stick. - Change your mind: click Manage cookies in the footer of any page to reopen the banner.
We do not pre-tick boxes and we do not "dark-pattern" the Decline option. Accept and Decline are both clearly visible.
4. Third-party processors
We keep the processor list deliberately short. Each is covered by a written processing agreement.
| Processor | Role | Location | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Pte Ltd | Pseudonymous site analytics. | Singapore, with EU and UK hosting. | ahrefs.com/privacy |
| Google Ireland Ltd (Google Fonts) | Webfont delivery. | Ireland. | policies.google.com/privacy |
| No third-party booking processor at present | n/a | n/a | If we re-introduce a booking widget we will list the processor here. |
| Apache hosting partner | Site hosting and access logs. | United Kingdom. | Details on request from hello@searchswitchsave.com. |
5. Retention
We do not keep personal data longer than necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Specific retention is in the table above. Where data is held by a processor, the processor's own retention policy applies in addition.
6. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your data (this notice).
- Access a copy of personal data we hold about you.
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Erasure where one of the statutory grounds applies.
- Restrict processing in certain circumstances.
- Object to processing carried out under legitimate interest.
- Data portability for data you provided to us.
- Withdraw consent at any time where consent was the basis.
- Complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, email hello@searchswitchsave.com with Data subject request in the subject line. We will respond within one calendar month.
7. International transfers
Some processors operate outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on UK adequacy decisions and the standard contractual clauses, plus a transfer risk assessment.
8. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice when processing changes or when the law changes. Material updates will be flagged on the home page and dated here.
Notice last reviewed .