Privacy notice

Last updated 2026-10-02

Who we are

Burnham Hub is a free community website for Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. It is run by Tom Fairhall, trading as AI Business Hub.

Under UK data protection law, we are the "controller" of your personal data. That means we decide how and why it is used.

You can contact us about anything in this notice at info@aibusinesshub.uk.

What this notice covers

This notice explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what your rights are. We have tried to keep it short and clear.

The law we follow is the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

What we collect and why

You can use much of the site without an account. If you make an account or use other features, we collect the information below.

• Account details (optional): your name, email address, area (for example CM0), the role you choose (resident, pub owner, staff or helper), which pub you run if any, and the interests you pick. You can sign in with an email and password, or with Google.
• Things you post: community posts, threads and comments. Other signed-in users can see these.
• Wildlife sightings you log. These are private to you.
• Event RSVPs and feedback you give.
• Events that pubs submit. A moderator checks each one before it goes public.
• Newsletter sign-up: your email address, your first name if you give it, the wording you agreed to, and the date and place you signed up.
• Anonymous usage counts: when someone taps a pub's phone number, website, share or add-to-calendar button, we add 1 to a monthly count for that pub. This holds no personal data and uses no cookies.

Our lawful reasons

The law says we must have a good reason to use your data. Ours are:

• Accounts and community features: providing the service you signed up for (contract) and our legitimate interest in running a useful community site.
• Newsletter: your consent. You can take it back at any time.
• Moderation and safety: our legitimate interest in keeping the site safe and fair for everyone.

Newsletter

If you sign up, we send a weekly "what's on in Burnham" email and a Christmas and winter guide. We only do this if you agree.

Every email has an unsubscribe link. Using it stops our emails. You can also ask us to delete your details.

When you unsubscribe, we keep a short record of your email address so that we do not email you again by mistake.

Scam Shield

Scam Shield helps you check a suspicious message. The text you paste may be sent to Google's Gemini AI service so it can be analysed.

Please do not paste personal details, such as bank or card numbers, passwords or your full address.

We do not store the text you paste unless you choose to post it.

Who we share data with

We do not sell your data. We use a small number of trusted companies to run the site. They only act on our instructions.

• Google (Google LLC and Google Ireland Limited): Firebase Hosting, Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore. They host the site and store account and community data. Google also provides the Gemini AI service used by Scam Shield, and Google sign-in if you choose it.
• Resend, Inc.: our email delivery provider. They send newsletter emails for us.

Sending data outside the UK

Google and Resend may process data in other countries, including the United States.

When this happens, it is protected by safeguards the law accepts. For Google, these are its standard contractual clauses and the UK addendum (the UK IDTA). We use similar protections with Resend.

Cookies and local storage

We use no advertising cookies. We use no tracking cookies. We do not follow you around the web.

The site uses your browser's local storage to remember that you are signed in and to keep your settings. Firebase Authentication also uses its own storage to keep you signed in.

These are needed to make the site work as you asked, so no cookie banner is needed. You can clear this storage in your browser settings at any time. You may then need to sign in again.

How long we keep your data

• Accounts: until you delete your account or ask us to delete it.
• Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe. After that we keep only a short suppression record, so we do not email you again.
• Anonymous monthly counts: kept with no end date, as they cannot identify anyone.
• Server logs: kept for the time Google sets by default.

Pubs and businesses

We show public business details from public sources. These are the pub or business name, address, business phone number, website, social media pages and events.

If you run a pub or business and something is wrong, or you want it changed or taken down, email info@aibusinesshub.uk. We will sort it out as quickly as we can.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the data we hold about you (access)
• have wrong data put right (correction)
• have your data deleted (erasure)
• ask us to limit how we use it (restriction)
• object to us using it for our legitimate interests
• receive your data in a format you can reuse (portability)
• withdraw your consent at any time, for example by unsubscribing

How to use your rights

Email info@aibusinesshub.uk and tell us what you would like. We may ask you to confirm who you are. We will reply within one month.

If you are not happy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Their website is ico.org.uk and their helpline is 0303 123 1113. We would be glad to try to put things right first.

Children

Burnham Hub is for adults and young people aged 16 and over. If you are under 16, please do not create an account. If we find an account belongs to someone under 16, we will delete it.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date at the top of this page.