Privacy

Who we are and how to contact us

This site is run as “IVAs & Bankruptcy” (ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk).

The organisation responsible for your data (the “controller”) is IVAs & Bankruptcy. IVAs & Bankruptcy is a free UK information website. Contact us at help@ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk.

For anything about your data, email help@ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk. If you are not happy with how we use your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

What we do not do

• The N244 helper asks for identifying details, court details and your own account of your situation. These answers stay on your device and fill your PDF. We do not receive them through the helper.
• There are no forms that send your details to us or to anyone else.
• We do not use advertising trackers, we do not record your screen, and we never store your internet address with anything we record. We do count clicks on links that leave our site and on a few key buttons, and we use Google Analytics usage statistics that you can switch off. Both are explained below.
• We do not set our own cookies. YouTube videos and, when it is switched on, Google Analytics have separate effects explained below. A session-storage counter limits error reports. It contains a number, never form answers, and clears when your tab session ends. It is used to protect the reporting service, not to track visits.

YouTube videos

Some pages show a video from YouTube. The player loads with the page, so your browser contacts YouTube as soon as the page opens. We do not ask first. YouTube and Google may receive your IP address, browser and device information, and the address of the page you are on.

We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (the youtube-nocookie.com address). That reduces what YouTube stores until you press play, but it is not tracking-free: YouTube can still process data, use storage and show adverts. Videos never start by themselves. We do not send N244 answers or case details to YouTube, put players in the helper or track your viewing.

You do not have to watch. Every video has a written guide on our site that you can read without loading YouTube, and every free-help route works without it. Your browser’s settings or an ad and tracker blocker can also stop the player from loading.

See Google’s Privacy Policy, YouTube’s Terms of Service and Google’s account permissions. We do not request Google account access. Video availability checks use public metadata without viewer identities or per-visitor Data API requests.

Error reports

If a page breaks, your browser sends us a short error report so we can fix it. It contains:

• the kind of error, as a fixed code such as “type-error”
• where in our code it happened (file name, line and column)
• a known site page; unknown addresses are discarded
• browser family from a fixed list (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge or other), not the full user-agent text
• the time it happened

It never contains the error message text or anything you typed into a page. Our server throws away any other field a report might carry.

Counting clicks on links and key buttons

Links from our pages to other websites (the companies we list, free help services, and the official sources we quote) go through a short redirect on our own site first. When you follow one, our server writes one line to a click log and sends you straight on. This works the same with JavaScript switched off. Pressing some key buttons on our own pages (for example “Compare debt-help companies” or “Create my N244”) sends a similar line. Each line contains only:

• the time (UTC), and whether it was a link to another site or one of our own buttons
• the kind of link (a listed company, a free or official service, a source we quote, or our own button) and which company, if any
• the address the link goes to, or the name of our button
• which of our pages it was on, without anything after a “?” or “#”, and which spot on that page
• device type (phone, tablet or computer) and browser family from a fixed list, not the full user-agent text
• the country (such as “GB”) and a short region code that our host derives from the connection
• whether the request looked like an automated crawler rather than a person
• where your visit started, when it is available (see the next section)

It never contains your internet address, a cookie, your name, anything you typed, the full user-agent text or the value of an advertising click id. The link is never slowed down by the log, and works the same if the log is unavailable. For listed companies we also keep daily totals by company, page, spot and paid or unpaid status. We may use the totals to show companies how much traffic we send them. Counts can miss some visits and include some automated traffic, so we call them “clicks”, not customers.

Where your visit started (kept in your tab)

When you open the first page of a visit, your browser keeps a small visit record in this tab’s session storage, not in a cookie. It holds a random visit number, the first page you opened, the name of the website that sent you (for example “www.google.com”, never the full address), any campaign tags in the link you arrived on (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content), and whether that link carried a Google, Microsoft or Facebook advertising click id (yes or no, never the id).

When you follow a link or press a key button, those visit details are added to the click line so we can see which ways of finding us lead people to help. The record disappears when you close the tab and is replaced when a new day starts (UTC), so clicks are never linked across tabs, devices or days. It is not used to recognise you on a later visit. If you switch usage statistics off below, or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, no visit record is kept and no visit details are sent. Our server still records the click line itself, without visit details, when you follow a link.

Usage statistics (Google Analytics)

We may use Google Analytics 4 to count how the site is used, such as which pages are read and which links and buttons are used, so that we can improve it. When it is switched on, your browser loads Google’s script, Google Analytics stores its own first-party cookies on our address (named _ga and _ga_ followed by an id) to count visits, and Google receives the page address, your device and browser details and your internet address, which it uses to estimate a rough location. We send it our click events: which page, which link type and destination site or company, which spot on the page and which way you found us. We never send your name, form answers or anything you type.

These statistics are pseudonymous, not anonymous. The _ga cookies hold a random id for your browser, so Google Analytics can tell repeat visits from the same browser apart. We do not link that id to your name or to anything you type, but it is still personal data under UK law.

Google acts as our processor for this, under its data processing terms. Advertising features are off: Google signals, ad personalisation and advertising storage are disabled, Analytics data is not shared with Google for its own purposes, and we do not send any user id. We use it only for statistics about how our site is used. This relies on the statistical-purposes exception for storage and access in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, Schedule 12, which lets this run without asking first as long as you can object easily and free of charge. See also Google’s Analytics data privacy page.

You can object at any time with this switch. It is remembered in this browser’s local storage (a setting, not tracking). When it is off, or your browser sends Global Privacy Control, we do not load Google Analytics at all and keep no visit record. You do not need to change your browser settings.

What we collect, in short

• Error reports (see above): fixed error code, code location, page address and time.
• A click log of links leaving our site and key buttons (see above), plus daily totals of clicks on “Visit” buttons by company, page, spot and paid or unpaid status.
• A per-tab visit record kept in your own browser, unless you switch usage statistics off.
• Google Analytics usage statistics, when switched on and unless you object.
• Basic visit records kept by our web host (see below).

These application reports exclude form answers and contact details. Hosting and email records are separate, as explained below.

Why we collect it

Error reports let us find and fix broken pages. The click log and totals let us measure which of our pages send visitors to which companies, free help services and official sources, which ways of finding us lead people to help, and be honest about paid and unpaid links. Usage statistics help us improve the site. Host records keep the site secure and working.

Our legal basis

We use this information under “legitimate interests” (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)): running a working, secure, honest website and understanding how it is used. We keep it to the small set above because that is all we need, and it carries little risk to you. Storing the visit record and Analytics cookies on your device relies on the statistical-purposes exception described above, and you can object at any time.

How long we keep it

The click log is kept in our Postgres database with no automatic deletion, so that traffic can be compared over time. Its lines contain no internet address or name, and a visit number only links clicks made in one tab on one day. Daily click totals are stored by company, known page, button, paid status and UTC date. We retain the latest 366 days of totals and delete older totals in a daily job. The operator must run daily deletion and apply the same period to spreadsheet exports of totals.

The visit record in your tab is deleted when you close the tab. If Google Analytics is switched on, its data is kept for the retention period set in our Analytics account, which must be recorded before release.

Error-report retention depends on the selected host. The verified retention period and access arrangements must be recorded before release.

Who handles it for us

This website is hosted by Vercel Inc., a United States company. Its server functions run in Vercel’s London, UK region, and pages are delivered through Vercel’s global network, so a request may be handled outside the UK and some data may be transferred to the United States.

Daily click totals, a log of each click on our links (which page, which link, where the visit came from; no IP address or full browser details) and video records are stored in a Postgres database provided by Neon, Inc., a United States company, hosted in the AWS London, UK region (eu-west-2). This database does not hold your name, contact details or answers to our tools.

If Google Analytics is switched on, Google (Google Ireland Limited, and Google LLC in the United States) processes the usage statistics for us as a processor. Google may process this data outside the UK, including in the United States, under its data processing terms.

Emailing us

If you email us, we receive your email address, message and attachments. Please do not send court papers, debt details or N244 answers. We use messages to answer site questions, correct errors and handle rights requests under legitimate interests, or to meet legal obligations where applicable. We cannot manage your case or contact the court for you.

Email sent to help@ or admin@ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk is received by Resend, Inc., a United States email provider, and forwarded to the site operator's private mailbox by a small forwarding service hosted on Vercel Inc. (United States). We use your email only to reply to you, and we delete correspondence when it is no longer needed to answer or follow up your message. You can ask us to see or delete your emails, and you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Your rights

You can ask us what we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and object to how we use it. You can also ask us to restrict its use, or provide a portable copy where that right applies. The click log and totals hold no name, contact details or internet address, so we usually cannot tell which lines are yours. Email and host records may identify you. We may need information to find a record, and we will tell you honestly if so. You can stop usage statistics and the visit record at any time with the switch above. Email help@ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk.

Our web host

Like every website, the company that hosts this site keeps basic records of visits, such as your internet address and the page you asked for. These are used to keep the site secure and working.

Questions

If you have a question about privacy, email help@ivasandbankruptcy.co.uk.