Privacy and cookies
Privacy and cookie policy
Last updated: 18 October 2026
This policy explains what personal information Digital Patchbay collects, why, who sees it, and your rights. We’ve kept it in plain English.
Who we are
Digital Patchbay is a trading name of PJM:Digital Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 11237732), registered office 25-29 Sandy Way, Yeadon, Leeds LS19 7EW. PJM:Digital Ltd is the data controller for the information described here. Our ICO registration number is ZA745606.
If we move Digital Patchbay to a new company, we’ll update this policy and tell members and anyone on our waiting list.
Questions or requests: hello@digitalpatchbay.co.uk
What we collect
| Who you are | What we collect | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting list | Name, email, whether you’re a business or specialist, company name and what you might need help with (if given), and whether you asked for news and updates | You, through the forms on our site |
| Invitation requests | Name, business, email, specialism, location, and who is vouching for you | You, and the person who vouches for you |
| Businesses sending a brief | Your name, email, phone (if given), company, website, sector, location, and what you need: description, specialisms, budget range and timescale | You, through the brief form, or from a call, email or event if you brief us directly |
| Members (specialists and agencies) | Contact details and logins for your team, company details (including company number and registered address from Companies House), profile, client examples, specialisms, budget ranges, availability, billing details, messages, introduction outcomes and project values you choose to add | You and your team, Companies House, and us (our own notes and trust scores) |
| Members signing the partner agreement | Name, job title, the date and time you signed, your email, IP address and browser, and a record of the exact agreement text | Your Channel when you sign |
| Everyone using the site | IP address and basic technical details, used to block spam and keep accounts secure | Automatically when you use our forms or log in |
We don’t collect special category data (such as health or religion) and we ask you not to include any in a brief.
We don’t use your information for automated decisions with legal or similar effects. Our matching tool suggests specialists for a brief, but a person always checks and approves every introduction.
Why we use it, and our legal basis
| What we do | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Tell waiting-list sign-ups when we launch, and send news and updates to those who ticked the box asking for them | Legitimate interests for the launch email, because you asked to hear when we open. Your consent for news and updates, which you can withdraw at any time. Every email has an unsubscribe link |
| Review invitation requests and check with the person vouching for you | Legitimate interests in keeping the Patchbay to trusted specialists |
| Match a brief to members and make an introduction | Legitimate interests, because you asked us to introduce you |
| Run membership: accounts, profiles, introductions, messages, invoices and fees | Contract (our partner agreement with you) |
| Record your signature on the partner agreement | Contract, and our legal obligation to keep business records |
| Ask how an introduction went, and use ratings in matching | Legitimate interests in making better introductions |
| Block spam and keep accounts secure | Legitimate interests |
| Keep accounting and tax records | Legal obligation |
Who we share it with
Introductions. When we introduce a business to a member, the member sees the brief and the business’s contact details, and the business sees the member’s profile and contact details. We share only what’s needed for that introduction, and only after we’ve approved it.
Service providers who handle data on our behalf, under contract:
- SiteGround (website hosting, UK and EU)
- Postmark (sending our emails; may process data in the US)
- Companies House (we look up a member’s company number; we only send the number)
- postcodes.io (we look up a postcode to fill in town and region; we only send the postcode)
When we start taking payments online, we’ll add our payment providers here first.
Where data goes outside the UK, it’s protected by approved safeguards such as the UK–US data bridge or the UK’s international data transfer agreement.
We also share information if the law requires it, and with our accountant and professional advisers. We never sell your data or share it for other companies’ marketing.
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Waiting list | Until you unsubscribe, or 12 months after launch if you haven’t joined or sent a brief |
| Briefs not confirmed by email | Deleted after 7 days |
| Briefs and introductions | 6 years after the introduction, for contract and accounting records |
| Member accounts and profiles | While you’re a member. Your profile leaves matching as soon as you leave; agreements, signing records and invoices are kept 6 years after |
| Spam and security logs | Up to 30 days |
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- give you a copy of your information
- correct anything that’s wrong
- delete your information, where we don’t need to keep it
- stop or limit how we use it, or object to our legitimate interests
- give you your information in a portable format
Email hello@digitalpatchbay.co.uk. We’ll reply within one month. Members can also update most details themselves in their Channel.
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Keeping it safe
The site uses HTTPS throughout. Member and admin areas need a login, passwords are hashed, repeated wrong passwords lock the account for 15 minutes, and members only see their own information. Only our team can see the Control Room.
Cookies
We only use cookies the site needs to work. There’s no advertising, no cross-site tracking and nothing that follows you around the web, so we don’t ask you to accept cookies.
| Cookie | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
| wordpress_test_cookie | Checks your browser accepts cookies before you log in | Until you close your browser |
| wordpress_logged_in_… and wordpress_sec_… | Keep members and our team logged in securely | Until you log out, or up to 14 days if you tick “remember me” |
| wp-settings-… | Remembers screen settings for our own team in the admin area | 1 year |
When you close our cookie notice, your browser remembers that in its own local storage (not a cookie) so we don’t show it again.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block the login cookies, you won’t be able to log in to your Channel.
If we add anything else later, such as simple visitor statistics, we’ll list it here first and explain how to opt out. We won’t add advertising cookies without asking you.
Changes
We’ll update this page if anything changes and show the date at the top. If a change affects members significantly, we’ll email them.