Privacy policy

This policy explains how FindSEO (findseo.net), 711/1 Queens Rd, Melbourne VIC 3004, Australia (“FindSEO”, “we”) handles personal information. We follow the Australian Privacy Principles. FindSEO is used worldwide, so if the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR or a US state privacy law such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) applies to you, you also have the rights that law gives you. We explain them in plain terms below.

What we collect

• Agency details that agencies publish themselves, such as business name, website, business phone and email, and office location.
• Account details when you claim a listing or sign in: your name, role and work email.
• Buyer accounts: your email, and optionally your name, company and country; agencies you save; the URLs you check with our free tools while signed in; and your privacy choices.
• Reviews: your name, email, role, a description of your company and your review. Only your first name and the description are shown publicly.
• Briefs and enquiries: your contact details and what you tell us about your project.
• Payments: Stripe processes card details. We receive the billing name, email, address, tax ID if given, and payment status, never full card numbers.
• Technical data: IP address (stored as a one-way hash for anti-spam purposes), browser type and security logs. On public pages, Google Analytics also collects usage data (see Analytics).

Why we use it

To run the directory, verify claims and reviews, prevent fraud and spam, introduce buyers to agencies when asked, process payments, and respond to you. We don't sell personal information, and we don't use advertising trackers on FindSEO.

Legal bases (EU and UK)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we rely on: contract (running your account, claim or Featured plan), legitimate interests (publishing business information agencies make public, keeping the site secure and free of spam, and improving the directory), consent (sharing a Get matched brief with agencies, marketing emails, and using your briefs and quotes in anonymised pricing benchmarks; you can withdraw it at any time in your account) and legal obligation (tax and accounting records).

Who we share it with

• Agencies: when you send an enquiry, or when you submit a Get matched brief (up to three Featured agencies).
• Service providers who host or help run FindSEO: Cloudflare (hosting, security), Stripe (payments), SendGrid (email), Google (live ratings on some profiles, loaded by our server; Google Analytics on public pages). Some of these store data outside your country, including in the United States.
• Authorities, where the law requires it.

International transfers

We're based in Australia, and our service providers process data in Australia, the United States and other countries. When we transfer personal data from the EU or UK, we rely on recognised safeguards, such as the standard contractual clauses our providers offer.

How long we keep it

Account and listing data for as long as the account or listing exists. Reviews while they're published, and for a reasonable period afterwards to deal with disputes. Briefs for up to 24 months. Buyer accounts until you delete them; tool history is limited to your latest 200 checks. When you delete your account, we delete your profile, saved agencies and tool history straight away; security logs of sign-ins are kept for up to 12 months. Payment records for as long as tax law requires.

Your choices and rights

Wherever you are, you can ask to access, correct or delete your personal information, or complain about how we've handled it, by contacting us. If you have a buyer account, you can download your data and delete your account yourself in your account settings. Marketing emails and benchmark use are off unless you turn them on. We'll respond within 30 days, and we won't treat you differently for using your rights.

• EU and UK (GDPR, UK GDPR): you can also ask us to restrict or stop using your data, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and receive a copy of data you gave us in a portable format.
• California and other US states (CCPA and similar laws): you can ask what personal information we hold about you and how we use it, and ask us to delete or correct it. We don't sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to your local data protection authority, for example the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au), the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or the supervisory authority in your EU country.

Analytics

FindSEO uses Google Analytics to understand how the site is used, such as which pages people visit and how they find us. On public pages, Google sets cookies and collects usage data, such as the pages you view, your device and browser, and your approximate location (worked out from your IP address, which Google Analytics doesn't store). We don't send Google your name, email or account ID, and Google signals and ad personalisation are turned off. Admin, agency dashboard, account, sign-in, claim and checkout pages aren't tracked.

Google handles this data under its own policies; see how Google uses data from sites that use its services. You can stop Google Analytics collecting data about you with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you signed in (for up to 30 days), to complete a sign-in or claim, and to remember agencies you save. On public pages, Google Analytics sets its own cookies (named _ga and _ga_*, kept for up to 2 years) to tell visits apart; see Analytics. Cloudflare Turnstile may set a cookie to check you're not a bot.