Privacy notice
Last updated: 11 September 2024
This notice explains what happens to personal data when you use Company Lookup, and what rights you have under UK data protection law.
1. Who is the data controller
The operator of companylookup.org.uk is the controller for the limited processing described in this notice.
The bracketed fields must be completed before publication. Most organisations processing personal data in the UK must pay the ICO data protection fee and appear on the ICO register — check with the ICO self-assessment. A site of this design may qualify for an exemption; confirm rather than assume.
Re-check section 6 if you add analytics, a CDN, error reporting, or any server-side logging — the description below assumes none of those are present.
2. The short version
Company Lookup is a static website. It has no application server, no database and no user accounts. We do not collect, store or transmit your searches. Every search request goes directly from your browser to Companies House.
3. What is stored on your device
The site uses your browser's local storage for one purpose only: to remember an API key, if you choose to save your own instead of using the shared one. It is held on your device, is readable only by this site in this browser, and is deleted when you select Remove saved key or clear your browsing data.
We set no cookies. We run no analytics, no advertising, no tracking pixels and no third-party scripts.
4. Data sent to Companies House
When you search, your browser sends the search term or company number, and the API key in use, directly to the Companies House Public Data API. Companies House will receive your IP address and browser user-agent as part of that request, as it would with any website you visit.
That processing is carried out by Companies House as an independent controller, under its own privacy notice. See the Companies House personal information charter.
5. Data about companies and their officers
The register contains personal data about directors, secretaries and people with significant control — names, partial dates of birth, nationalities, countries of residence and correspondence addresses. Companies House publishes this under the Companies Act 2006, and it is made available under the Open Government Licence.
We do not hold a copy. The information you see is fetched live and is not retained after you close the page.
If you are named in the register and want information about you restricted or removed, that is a matter for Companies House, not for us. It operates statutory suppression and protection regimes — see restricting the disclosure of your information.
6. Hosting
companylookup.org.uk is served as static files. That provider may keep standard server access logs, including IP addresses, for security and operational purposes, under its own retention policy. Those logs record that a page was requested. They do not record what you searched for, because search requests never reach the host — they go from your browser straight to Companies House.
If the host is outside the UK, the transfer is covered by that provider's own safeguards under Articles 44 to 49 UK GDPR. Name the provider and its location above before publication.
7. Lawful basis
Where we process personal data at all, we rely on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR in operating and securing a public information service. Storing an API key on your device is done at your request and is necessary to provide the functionality you asked for.
8. Retention
We hold no personal data on our own systems, so we have nothing to retain. Anything stored in your browser stays there until you remove it.
9. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict and object to the processing of your personal data, and the right to data portability. Because we do not hold personal data about visitors, there is usually nothing for us to act on — but you can still contact [email protected] and we will respond within one month, as required by law.
For data held on the register itself, direct your request to Companies House.
10. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or by calling 0303 123 1113. We would ask that you raise it with us first.
11. Changes
We may update this notice. The date at the top shows when it last changed.