Privacy policy

What information do we collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, respond to a survey or fill out a form.

When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number or bank details. You may, however, visit our site anonymously.

What do we use your information for?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

• To personalise your experience (your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs)
• To improve our website (we continually strive to improve our website offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you)
• To improve customer service (your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs)
• To process transactions. Your information, whether public or private, will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or given to any other company for any reason whatsoever, without your consent, other than for the express purpose of delivering the purchased product or service requested.
• To send periodic emails. The email address you provide for order processing, will only be used to send you information and updates pertaining to your order.

If you decide to opt-in to our mailing list, you will receive emails that may include company news, updates, related product or service information, etc.

Note: If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include detailed unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.

How do we protect your information?

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or access your personal information.

We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our Payment gateway providers database only to be accessible by those authorised with special access rights to such systems and are required to keep the information confidential.

Our web services are hosted by Hostek Limited.

We comply fully with the UK GDPR legislation & retention of personal data as appropriate to the product or service purchased, where the legislation dictates differing timescales.

All data retention is stored securely with limited access, for a period of time in line with our data retention policy, for example, referencing application data is retained for 6 years from either the application date, or the tenancy end date.

When data is deleted it is done so irretrievably.

Cyber Resiliance Act

We are committed to ensuring the highest level of cybersecurity for our products. In compliance with the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), we have implemented robust security measures throughout the design, development, and maintenance of our products. These measures include:

• We use secure development practices to minimise the risk of introducing vulnerabilities during development. We ensure data it delivered and stored security using data encryption and use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage user permissions effectively.
• We provide regular security updates and patches to address newly discovered vulnerabilities.
• We provide user awareness and training to employees to raise awareness about cybersecurity threats and best practices.

We believe in transparency and are dedicated to informing our users about the cybersecurity features of our products. We encourage our users to follow best practices, such as applying updates promptly and using strong, unique passwords, to further enhance their security.

By adhering to the CRA, we aim to provide our users with secure and trustworthy products, contributing to a safer digital environment for everyone.

Do we use cookies?

Yes (Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computers hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognise your browser and capture and remember certain information).

We use cookies to help us remember and process the information you provide upon registering, understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future, and to gather stats on visitor numbers via Google Analytics.

If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings. Like most websites, if you turn your cookies off, some of our services may not function properly. However, you can still enquire over the telephone or by contacting Client Liaison.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information without your consent. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety.

Transferring data outside of the UK?

We may need to transfer data outside of the UK in certain circumstances, such as acquiring an overseas reference. In doing so, we will comply with applicable UK laws designed to ensure the privacy of your personal data. Both the UK Government and EU Commission have decided that adequate safeguards are in place for personal data in such circumstances (per Articles 45 of the UK and EU GDPR's).

Third party links

As part of some of the services, such as Tenant Referencing, we process credit checks and enhanced ID Checks through a third party licensed data provider.

This information may be verified against some or all of the following: referees supplied on an application form, a credit referencing agency and money laundering search via a 3rd party (TransUnion is our preferred partner who conduct these searches - https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal-information/bureau-privacy-notice), who will keep a record of the search, any other relevant internal or external databases, or any other information in support of an application supplied for the purpose of the application. The results of FCC Paragon's findings will be forwarded to the appointed Letting Agent or Landlord.

We also utilise Open Banking, which is the secure way to give access to your financial information, Equifax is our preferred supplier.

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

How and why we use your personal data

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason, eg:

• where you have given consent;
• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract; or
• for our legitimate interests or those of a third party

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We will carry out an assessment when relying on legitimate interests, to balance our interests against your own.

Terms and Conditions

Please also visit our Terms and Conditions and Consent Declarations section establishing the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our website by clicking here.

Your Consent

By using our site, you consent at any time to our online privacy policy. If you opted in to receiving marketing information, you have the opportunity to opt out of marketing information by emailing "UNSUBSCRIBE" to marketing@fccparagon.com

Changes to our Privacy Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will update the Privacy Policy modification date shown here: 14/02/2025.

Your Rights

• Under the UK GDPR you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data. You have the right to request from us access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data, subject to the limitations of any other legislation which may dictate that not all requests can be complied with. Insurance transactions/policies are required to be retained for 6 years after the end of the contract. Referencing applications and any subsequent data collected will remain on file for 6 years. As part of the required financial assessment a credit search is performed and remains on record with the registry trust for 6 years.
• If you have provided consent for the processing of your data you have the right in certain circumstances to withdraw that consent at any time which will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent was withdrawn.
• You have the right to lodge a complaint to the ICO if you believe we have not complied with the requirements of the UK GDPR with regard to your personal data. You should however raise your complaint in the first instance with the Data Controller.

FCC Paragon Group Limited are the controllers and processors of data for the purposes of the UK GDPR. Data Controller is FCC Paragon Group Limited, Unit 11 Projects House, Fitzherbert Road, Portsmouth, PO6 1RU.