Privacy Notice

Last reviewed: 27 July 2026

1. Who we are

This privacy notice covers the In North Somerset website at innorthsomerset.co.uk. The website is run by the Economy Team at North Somerset Council.

North Somerset Council is the data controller for the personal data described in this notice, and is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

If you have any questions about how we use your personal data, contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk.

For general information about how North Somerset Council handles personal data across all its services, see the North Somerset Council privacy notices page.

2. What this website does and does not collect

In North Somerset is a public information website. There is no user account, login or registration, and you do not need to give us any personal information to read the content on this site.

We collect personal data only in the specific circumstances set out below.

Newsletter sign-up

If you sign up to our monthly newsletter we collect your email address.

We use this to send you news about business support, funding, events and skills opportunities in North Somerset. We do not use it for anything else, and we do not sell or rent our mailing list.

Lawful basis: Consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every newsletter we send. Unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

Our newsletter is sent using Mailchimp. See the Mailchimp (Intuit) privacy statement for details of how they handle data.

Online forms

From time to time this website hosts forms — for example to register for an event, apply to a support programme, or request advice. The forms available change as programmes open and close, and each one collects only what is needed for that particular purpose. This will usually include your name, email address, and where relevant your business name and contact details.

Where a form collects anything beyond this, we will tell you what we are collecting and why at the point you fill it in.

Lawful basis: Public task. This website supports North Somerset Council’s economic development, skills and business support functions.

Forms on this website are built and processed using Cognito Forms. See the Cognito Forms privacy policy for details of how they handle data.

Contacting us directly

If you email us at business@n-somerset.gov.uk, or contact us by phone or post, we will hold the information you give us so that we can respond and keep a record of the enquiry.

Lawful basis: Public task.

3. Website analytics

We use Google Analytics, deployed through Google Tag Manager, to understand how visitors use this website — for example which pages are most read, and roughly which part of the country visitors come from. We do not use analytics to identify individual visitors, and we do not combine analytics data with any other information you give us.

Lawful basis: Consent. Analytics cookies are set only if you accept them in our cookie banner, and you can change or withdraw that choice at any time using the Consent Preferences button in the bottom left corner of any page. See our Cookie Policy for details.

We also use Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and Yandex Webmaster to see how this website performs in search results. These tools report on aggregate search data and are verified through a code in the page header. They do not set cookies and do not identify individual visitors to this site.

4. Cookies

This website uses cookies. For full details of what we set, why, and how to change your choices, see our Cookie Policy.

5. Content we embed from other websites

Some pages on this website include content hosted elsewhere:

  • Google Maps — used to show the location of business sites, premises and employment drop-in hubs. Maps do not load until you accept cookies.
  • YouTube videos — embedded on a small number of pages.
  • Mailchimp — our newsletter sign-up page includes a form hosted by Mailchimp.

Embedded content behaves as though you had visited the other website directly. Those providers may collect data about you, use cookies, and track your interaction with the embedded content. This is outside our control. See Google’s privacy policy for how Google handles data across Google Maps and YouTube.

This website also loads fonts and code libraries hosted by Google. This means Google receives your IP address when a page loads.

6. How we store and share your data

Personal data collected through this website is stored securely by North Somerset Council and is accessible only to council staff who need it to do their job.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with third parties except:

  • where we are required to do so by law
  • where it is necessary to deliver a service you have asked for
  • where we are required to report on a funded programme, as set out below

Reporting on funded programmes

Some of the support promoted on this website is delivered through externally funded programmes. Where a programme is externally funded and you take part in it, we may be required by the terms of that funding to report information about participants and beneficiaries to the funding body.

Any such reporting is governed by the relevant grant agreement and is separate from your use of this website. Where a programme collects personal data, you will be given a specific privacy notice for that programme at the point you apply.

Records relating to programmes that have now closed are retained in line with the council’s records retention schedule and the terms of the original grant agreement.

Transfers outside the UK

Some of our suppliers are based outside the United Kingdom. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the safeguards required by UK data protection law, such as International Data Transfer Agreements or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

7. How long we keep your data

  • Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe.
  • Form submissions and enquiries — in line with North Somerset Council’s records retention schedule unless a shorter or longer period is specified for a particular service or funding programme.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

  • access the personal data we hold about you
  • request correction of inaccurate data
  • request deletion of your data
  • object to how we use your data
  • request restriction of processing
  • withdraw consent, where we rely on consent

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at business@n-somerset.gov.uk or write to: Economy Team, Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1UJ.

You can also make a subject access request to see the data we hold about you.

9. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk in the first instance.

You can also complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

10. Changes to this notice

We review this notice annually, and whenever we change how this website collects or uses personal data. This notice was last reviewed on 27 July 2026.