Privacy Policy | Local Drone Pilots Direct

📋 Contents

Who We Are
Data We Collect
How We Use Your Data
Legal Basis for Processing
Cookies
Third Party Sharing
Data Retention
Your Rights
Data Security
Children's Privacy
International Transfers
Contact & Complaints

Summary: We only collect data you give us directly (via contact forms or listing enquiries). We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not send spam. You can request deletion of your data at any time by emailing info@localdronepilotsdirect.org.

01 Who We Are

Local Drone Pilots Direct ("we", "us", "our") is a drone operator directory serving the United Kingdom and United States of America. We operate the website at localdronepilotsdirect.org.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, we are the Data Controller responsible for your personal data.

Contact details:
Email: info@localdronepilotsdirect.org
Phone: 01782 367412
Location: Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom

02 Data We Collect

We collect personal data in the following ways:

Information You Provide Directly

Name and contact details (email, phone number) submitted via our contact form
Business information submitted when requesting a directory listing (business name, address, services, qualifications)
Enquiry type and message content submitted via our contact form
Communications you send us by email or phone

Information Collected Automatically

IP address and browser type (for security and analytics)
Pages visited and time spent on site (via analytics tools)
Referring website or search terms used to find us
Device type, operating system and screen resolution

Information from Third Parties

CAA qualification verification data (publicly available from the Civil Aviation Authority)
FAA certification data (publicly available from the Federal Aviation Administration)

Data Type	Source	Purpose
Name & Email	Contact form	Responding to enquiries
Phone number	Contact form (optional)	Following up on enquiries
Business details	Listing application	Creating directory listings
IP address	Automatic (server logs)	Security & fraud prevention
Usage data	Analytics (automatic)	Improving our website
CAA/FAA records	Public databases	Verifying pilot qualifications

03 How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and messages submitted via our contact form
To process and manage directory listing applications from drone operators
To verify the qualifications and credentials of operators listed in our directory
To send confirmation and follow-up communications related to your enquiry or listing
To improve and maintain the performance and security of our website
To comply with legal obligations including tax and accounting requirements
To detect and prevent fraud, spam and abuse of our services

We do NOT: sell your personal data to third parties, use your data for unsolicited marketing without consent, share your data with advertisers, or use automated decision-making that produces legal effects on you.

04 Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. The legal bases we rely on are:

Contract (Article 6(1)(b)): Processing necessary to fulfil a contract with you — for example, managing your directory listing or responding to a service enquiry
Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1)(f)): Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests — such as operating the directory, improving our services, and ensuring security — where these interests are not overridden by your rights
Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): Processing required to comply with UK law, including tax and accounting obligations
Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Where we have asked for and received your explicit consent — for example, for optional marketing communications

05 Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to improve your experience and gather analytics data. We use the following types of cookies:

Essential Cookies

Required for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled as they are necessary for security and basic functionality. They do not collect personal data.

Analytics Cookies

We may use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use our site. These cookies collect anonymised information about pages visited, time on site and traffic sources. No personally identifiable information is stored.

Third-Party Cookies

Our interactive map is powered by Leaflet and OpenStreetMap. These services may set their own cookies. Please refer to their respective privacy policies for details.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of our website.

06 Third Party Sharing

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal data. We may share your data with the following categories of third parties where necessary:

Hosting providers: Our website is hosted on servers that store data on our behalf. They act as data processors under contract and may not use your data for their own purposes
Email service providers: Used solely to send replies to your enquiries
Analytics providers: Anonymised, aggregated data only — no personally identifiable information is shared
Legal and regulatory authorities: Where required by law, court order or to protect our rights or safety

All third-party processors we use are contractually obligated to handle your data in accordance with UK GDPR and to implement appropriate security measures.

07 Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law:

Data Type	Retention Period	Reason
Contact form enquiries	2 years	Business records and follow-up
Active directory listings	Duration of listing + 1 year	Contract fulfilment
Financial records	7 years	UK legal requirement (HMRC)
Server/access logs	90 days	Security monitoring
Analytics data	26 months (anonymised)	Website improvement

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

08 Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (Subject Access Request)
Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances
Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data while a dispute is resolved
Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format
Right to Object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes
Rights related to automated decision-making: We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@localdronepilotsdirect.org. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request. We will not charge a fee for reasonable requests.

Identity verification: To protect your privacy, we may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling a data request. We will not disclose data to anyone other than the data subject without proper authorisation.

09 Data Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction:

SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our website
Restricted access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
Regular security reviews of our systems and processes
Secure deletion of data when no longer required
Staff awareness of data protection obligations

In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will inform affected individuals without undue delay where required.

10 Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at info@localdronepilotsdirect.org and we will delete that data promptly.

11 International Data Transfers

Our website serves both UK and US users. If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR Chapter V, including:

Transfers to countries with UK adequacy decisions
Use of UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs) where required
Standard contractual clauses approved by the ICO

For US-based users: our processing of your data is conducted in accordance with applicable US privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) where applicable. California residents have additional rights — please contact us for details.

12 Contact Us & How to Complain

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

Local Drone Pilots Direct
Email: info@localdronepilotsdirect.org
Phone: 01782 367412
Location: Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom

If you are not satisfied with our response, or if you believe we are processing your personal data in a way that does not comply with UK data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Website: ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, so please do reach out to us first.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 25 April 2026. We may update this policy from time to time — the current version will always be available at localdronepilotsdirect.org/privacy-policy.html.