Privacy, terms and cookies.
Written in plain English rather than copied boilerplate, because a page nobody can understand protects nobody. If anything here is unclear, ask me and I’ll explain it.
Who you are dealing with
This website is operated by Top in Local, a local web design and SEO business run by Tony from Clacton on Sea, Essex. Top in Local is the data controller for any personal information you send through this site.
Top in LocalClacton on Sea, Essex
Email: Tony@topinlocal.com
Phone: 01255 442479
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm
The full registered street address and postcode are being added to this page, the site footer and the Google Business Profile together so that all three match. Until then, the email and phone above are the fastest way to reach the person responsible.
Privacy notice
What personal information this site collects, why, and what you can do about it. Written to meet UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
What is collected
- Enquiry details — the name, email address, phone number, business name and message you type into a form on this site, or send by email, text or WhatsApp.
- Technical information — standard web server and analytics data such as pages viewed, approximate location by region, referring site, browser and device type.
- Client records — if you become a client, the information needed to do the work and invoice for it, including website and Google account access you choose to grant.
No special category data (health, ethnicity, political opinions and similar) is asked for or wanted. Please don’t send it.
Why it is used, and the lawful basis
- To reply to your enquiry — lawful basis: steps taken at your request before entering a contract.
- To carry out work and invoice for it — lawful basis: performance of a contract.
- To keep the website working and understand how it is used — lawful basis: legitimate interests, limited to what is needed to run and improve the site.
- To meet tax and accounting obligations — lawful basis: legal obligation.
Your details are not sold, rented or shared for anyone else’s marketing, and you will not be added to a mailing list because you sent an enquiry.
Who else can see it
Only the service providers needed to run the business: website hosting, email, and accounting software. Each processes data on Top in Local’s instructions under its own agreement. Information may also be disclosed where the law requires it.
How long it is kept
- Enquiries that don’t become work: up to 12 months, then deleted.
- Client records: for the duration of the work and up to 6 years afterwards, which is the period tax records must be kept.
- Analytics data: retained for the period set in the analytics tool, currently no longer than 14 months.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of the personal information held about you, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, object to or restrict how it is used, and ask for it in a portable format. Email Tony@topinlocal.com and you’ll get a response within one month, at no charge.
If you are unhappy with how a request has been handled you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, access to email and client accounts is protected by strong passwords and two-factor authentication where the provider supports it, and access to client systems is limited to what is needed for the work. No system is perfectly secure, so please don’t send passwords or card details by email — there will never be a reason to ask for them that way.
Terms of use
The terms on which this website is made available. They cover the website itself; client work is governed by the written proposal and invoice agreed with you.
Using this site
You may read, print and share pages from this site for your own use or to pass on to someone who might find them useful. You may not copy substantial parts of it to publish elsewhere, present it as your own, or use it in a way that damages the site or interferes with anyone else’s use of it.
Information on this site
The guidance here is general and written to be genuinely useful, but it isn’t advice tailored to your business and shouldn’t be relied on as though it were. Search engines change constantly; nothing on this site is a guarantee of any ranking, traffic level or number of enquiries. Where a price is shown it is described as indicative and is not a quotation — a quotation is issued in writing after a conversation about what you actually need.
Content and copyright
The text, layout, code and graphics on this site belong to Top in Local unless stated otherwise. Where work is produced for a client, ownership of the delivered website and its content passes to that client as set out in the written agreement for that project.
Links to other sites
Some pages link to third-party websites. Those sites are outside Top in Local’s control and linking to one is not an endorsement of everything on it.
Liability
The site is provided as it is. As far as the law allows, Top in Local is not liable for loss arising from use of this website or reliance on its general guidance. Nothing here limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded. Nothing here affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and disputes fall to the courts of England and Wales.
Changes
These terms may be updated as the business or the site changes. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.
Cookie notice
What gets stored on your device when you visit, and how to control it.
What this site uses
- Strictly necessary cookies — the small number needed to serve the site securely and remember basic preferences. These don’t require consent because the site cannot work without them.
- Analytics cookies — used to count visits and see which pages are read, so the site can be improved. These are only set if you agree to them, and refusing them changes nothing about how the site works for you.
No advertising or cross-site tracking cookies are used, and there are no social media tracking pixels on this site.
Your choice
Where analytics cookies are in use you will be asked before any are set, and you can change your mind at any time. Every major browser also lets you block or delete cookies in its settings — look for “Privacy” or “Cookies and site data”.
This clears the choice stored on this device and asks again. If the button does nothing, JavaScript is switched off — in which case no analytics cookies were ever set in the first place.
Questions
Anything on this page you want explained, or a request about your data, goes to Tony@topinlocal.com or 01255 442479 during working hours.
This notice was last reviewed on 8 August 2026. It will be updated whenever the site’s analytics or cookie use changes.
Still got a question?
Anything on this page, or anything about the work itself — just ask.