Personal information charter
This notice sets out how we handle your personal data and how we comply with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
If you’re an officer of a company or other corporate entity, or a beneficial owner of an overseas entity
This section of the privacy notice sets out how the Registrar of Companies (the registrar) handles the personal data of officers of companies and other corporate entities.
It also sets out how the registrar handles the personal data of beneficial owners of overseas entities. It then sets out how the registrar ensures that the public register of companies (the register) and Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) comply with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
Any references to ‘registers’ covers both the register of companies and ROE.
See our guidance for more information on the Companies House register and how to protect your personal data.
Identity of controller and Data Protection Officer (DPO)
The registrar is the controller of your personal data. This means it’s the registrar who decides how and why your personal data is processed.
The Companies Act 2006 requires the registrar to collect and publish information, including the personal data of officers of companies and other entities, on the register. The registrar is also required to collect similar information on ROE by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022.
In certain circumstances (for example, if an individual or company is being investigated for a criminal offence) the controller may be our sponsoring department, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Companies House is an executive agency of DBT and many of the day-to-day controller responsibilities have been formally delegated to Companies House.
Purpose for processing
Personal data featuring on the public register of companies or ROE is processed for the purpose of making data available for public inspection under a statutory obligation. The registrar’s legal basis for processing is described in more detail below.
Lawful basis for processing
The register of companies
The registrar is required by the Companies Act 2006 to make certain information, including personal data, publicly available.
Part 35 of the Companies Act 2006 sets out the registrar’s obligations, including the requirement to make information, including personal data, available for public inspection. It also sets out many of the requirements for handling personal data - including how it can be rectified in certain circumstances, and how inaccuracies can be amended.
The Register of Overseas Entities (ROE)
The registrar is required by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 to make certain information, including personal data, publicly available. Part 1 of this Act sets out the registrars functions, powers and obligations in respect of ROE, including many of the requirements for handling personal data. This includes how such data may be rectified and inaccuracies amended.
The UK GDPR is legislation that gives legal effect in the UK to GDPR, which, as a European Regulation, previously had direct effect. This means that, unless otherwise stated in this charter, the provisions previously set out in GDPR still apply.
The Data Protection Act 2018 provides for some domestic exemptions for the UK. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 Part 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 provides the following exemption from specified UK GDPR provisions:
The listed GDPR provisions do not apply to personal data consisting of information that the controller is obliged by an enactment to make available to the public, to the extent that the application of those provisions would prevent the controller from complying with that obligation.
Since the registrar is required by the Companies Act and Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act to make information available to the public, they’re entitled to rely on this exemption. Therefore, they have an exemption from some elements of UK GDPR, including:
- the requirement to provide ‘privacy notices’ to individuals
- the requirement to provide personal data in response to subject access requests
- the requirement to rectify personal data when it is inaccurate
- the requirement to comply with requests to be ‘forgotten’
- most of the principles of UK GDPR
This means it’s unlikely the registrar will be required, or able, to comply with any exercise of these UK GDPR rights in respect of personal data appearing on the public register or ROE, except where the law allows it.
For example, the registrar will be unable to comply with any request for an individual to be ‘forgotten’ from the public register or ROE where they have a legal obligation under the Companies Act to continue to make this personal data available.
If you have any queries or concerns about this, you can contact the DPO at [email protected].
Presenter’s details
If you file a paper form, you have the option to include certain contact details for the presenter of the form. If you include these presenter details, they’ll be placed onto the public record in the same way as all other information contained within the filing.
What we do with your data
Before becoming an officer of a company or other entity or beneficial owner of an overseas entity, it’s important that you’re familiar with the legal implications. We are required by law to publish some of your personal data on the register or ROE. These registers are publicly available and accessible by anyone.
Commercial organisations may sometimes use data from these registers to create their own online products. These organisations then become controllers of your personal data. These organisations must establish how they comply with the data protection law as set out in UK GDPR.
If you have any concerns about company data on third party products and websites, you’ll need to contact the organisation directly. We’re not able to advise other organisations on UK GDPR compliance, and we cannot advise you on whether other organisations are complying with the law.
We may obtain information from third parties and public sources to verify your address or other personal details where this is appropriate, lawful and proportionate. Such sources may include credit reference agencies or electoral rolls.
Non-public data
Some of your personal data will not be made available to the public. This includes the address you provide as your usual residential address and the day of your date of birth.
We must collect this information, but it will not be placed on the public register or ROE - as long as you do not provide it when asked to give a service address.
We may share your personal data with:
- other government departments and enforcement agencies
- debt recovery agents and their appointed solicitors
- Legal Counsel (in rare complex cases)
- commercial printers (for instance when we need to print statutory notices)
- third parties providing legal support to govern appeals processes and other registrar functions
Sharing will only take place in certain circumstances, and only where permitted or required by law.
Processing personal data obtained from third parties
We may obtain information about you from third parties where this is appropriate or necessary for lawful purposes. Such purposes include:
- where it is necessary to carry out our legal obligations
- where it is substantially in the public interest and is necessary for:
- performing our statutory functions, objectives and requirements
- the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences or other unlawful acts
We may share this and other information with:
- other government departments
- enforcement authorities and agents
Sharing will only take place in certain circumstances, and only where the law allows.
If you’re a director or person with significant control (PSC) of a company, the Companies Act 2006 also allows the registrar to share information on your usual residential address and your full date of birth with credit reference agencies - unless you qualify for protection. This information is not placed onto the public register.
Data processors
Since the registrar is a controller for personal data appearing on the registers, the registrar is not acting as a data processor (as defined by UK GDPR) when maintaining a public register.
Individuals, companies, agents and other representatives provide personal data for the public registers because they’re required to by law, and not for the registrar to process personal data on their behalf. Because of this, the registrar does not have to provide a ‘statement of UK GDPR compliance’, or compliance with Article 28 of the UK GDPR as a data processor.
In some cases, we employ third-party organisations as data processors to carry out elements of processing. For example, an external company to shred paper filings, which may contain personal data, or the use of third-party software solutions hosted in the cloud.
In all cases, contracts with these companies have been reviewed for UK GDPR compliance, and we’ve had assurance from all third-party processors of their own compliance.
The organisations we employ under contract as data processors are:
- cloud services in the UK or EU/EEA
- UK based contact centre
- UK based secure disposal
- adjudicators for appeals of late filing penalties
- UK based debt recovery
- mail delivery and printing
Overseas transfers
The register of companies and ROE are freely accessible and available to the public, including overseas.
Article 49(1)(g) of UK GDPR states that a transfer of personal data overseas can take place in the absence of specific safeguards where the transfer is made from a register intended to provide information to the public. This means we do not need to consider the adequacy of data protection regimes in all countries before making these public registers freely available online.
Retention of personal data
Companies House retains all records of companies as long as they’re active. Records of dissolved companies are retained for 20 years, before they’re transferred to the Public Records Office at The National Archives (TNA). This includes all information relating to company directors or its officers.
Companies House has an agreement with TNA to transfer a selection of our records 20 years after a company is dissolved. This agreement and the criteria for selection is set out in their operational selection policy.
TNA will direct us to destroy any records that are not transferred.
You can apply to remove your residential address if it’s publicly available in records of live and dissolved companies.
Following the government’s response to the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform consultation, we’ve stopped removing dissolved records from Companies House service (CHS) and added the records of all companies dissolved since January 2010.
Previously, records of dissolved companies on CHS were removed after 6 years (from the date of dissolution). These dissolved records are currently available for 20 years on other Companies House products for a fee.
See Searching the Companies House register.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about the way we’re managing your personal data, you can let us know in the first instance by emailing [email protected].
If you’re still dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with The Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
If you’ve contacted us with a complaint or enquiry
You may have written to us, or contacted us by phone, because you have a complaint, or to to ask a question. This section of the privacy notice sets out how we comply with UK GDPR in handling your correspondence.
If you contact us by phone or in writing, we have no control over the personal data you include in your correspondence, or that you tell us about. We would always advise you to limit the amount of personal data you include in your correspondence, as much as possible.
Once received, your personal data will be handled in line with the following privacy notice. This also applies to the personal data of any third-parties that can be identified from your correspondence.
Identity of controller and Data Protection Officer (DPO)
The registrar is the controller of your personal data. This means it’s the registrar who decides how and why your personal data is processed. As the registrar is responsible for operating the register, they’re also responsible for handling complaints and queries about the register.
In certain circumstances, the controller may be our sponsoring department, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), such as if an individual or company is being investigated for a criminal offence.
Data processors
When you write to us or call us, your enquiry will usually be handled by our contact centre (unless you have an ongoing case with a specific team at Companies House).
Our contact centre is provided by a third-party organisation. We employ third-party organisations for other elements of processing.
In all cases, contracts with these companies have been reviewed for UK GDPR compliance, and we’ve had assurance from all third-party processors of their own compliance.
The organisations we employ under contract as data processors are:
- cloud services in the UK or EU/EEA
- UK based contact centre
- UK based secure disposal
- adjudicators for appeals of late filing penalties
- UK based debt recovery
- mail delivery and printing
Purpose for processing
When you write to us or call us with a complaint or enquiry, your personal data will only be used for the purpose of handling, investigating and resolving your issue. We’ll use the contact details provided to respond to your correspondence.
If you’ve made a complaint about a third-party, we may use the contact details you’ve provided for them to investigate your issue.
Call recording
In some areas of Companies House, calls are recorded. Calls are recorded for training, quality and monitoring purposes.
If your call is being recorded, you’ll be told about this by an automated message, which will also direct you to this guidance for further information.
Lawful basis for processing
Our core public function is to provide a public register that’s available for anyone to inspect. We consider the handling of complaints and enquiries about the public register a necessary process for this public function.
Who we share data with
Often your complaint or enquiry will need specialist advice, and will be passed to the relevant team within Companies House for consideration.
In certain circumstances, and only where permitted or required by law, we’ll share data with other government departments and enforcement agencies.
Retention of personal data
Companies House retains written correspondence from customers for 10 years.
Any call recordings are retained for 18 months.
Individual rights
The GDPR provides certain rights that individuals may exercise in respect of their own personal data. If you want to exercise any of these rights, you can contact the DPO at [email protected].
There may be some circumstances in which we cannot comply with your request - such as, if we have a legal duty to keep data, or to process it in a particular way. We’ll handle all requests to exercise UK GDPR rights on a case-by-case basis.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about the way we’re managing your personal data, you can let us know in the first instance by emailing [email protected].
If you’re still dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with The Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
If you’re a subscriber to our web services
If you sign up to our services such as WebFiling, we’ll ask you for a small amount of personal data so we can provide you with an online account and give you secure access to it. Any details provided in this context will only be used for this purpose.
Our joint service with HMRC to set up a limited company and register for Corporation Tax has its own privacy notice.
Identity of controller
The registrar is the controller for all personal data collected from subscribers to our services. This means it’s the registrar who decides how and why your personal data is processed.
Data Protection Officer contact details
You can contact the DPO at [email protected].
Purpose for processing
If you subscribe to our web services, your personal details are held only for the purpose of allocating you an account and allowing you secure access to our services.
Lawful basis for processing
We consider that processing of the personal data of subscribers to our web services is necessary for our public function. In order to operate an effective public register, we need to provide filers and searchers with online accounts to transact with us.
Who we share your data with
We do not share your subscriber information with any third-parties.
Retention of personal data
Companies House will retain personal data collected for the purpose of accessing our web services for as long as you wish to use our services. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Individual rights
The GDPR provides certain rights that individuals may exercise in respect of their own personal data. If you want to exercise any of these rights, you can contact the DPO at [email protected].
Complaints
If you have a complaint about the way we’re managing your personal data, you can let us know in the first instance by emailing [email protected].
If you’re still dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with The Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
If you’re a subscriber to our communication channels
This part of the privacy notice may apply to subscribers of our communications, such as newsletters or webinars.
We only send useful news and information to people who’ve explicitly given their consent to receive our communications. If you no longer wish to receive communications from us, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Identity of controller
The registrar is the controller for all personal data collected from subscribers to Companies House communications via our GOV.UK webpage. This means it’s the registrar who decides how and why your personal data is processed.
Data Protection Officer contact details
You can contact the Data Protection Officer at [email protected].
Purpose for processing
If you subscribe to our communications channels, your personal details are held only for the purpose of e-mailing you news and information about Companies House which we think may be of interest to you.
Lawful basis for processing
We only process your personal information where we have your explicit consent. We make sure the consent you’ve provided meets the strict conditions of UK GDPR.
Who we share your data with
We employ third-party organisations to deliver our communications to customers. In this capacity, these organisations are also acting as data processors.
In all cases, contracts with such companies have been reviewed in light of UK GDPR, and we’ve had assurance from all third-party processors of their own compliance with this legislation.
We use a third-party organisation to send our email newsletter, and to present webinars on behalf of Companies House.
Retention of personal data
Personal data collected for the purpose of sending you communications, will be retained by Companies House for as long as you wish to remain subscribed to the communication channel. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Individual rights
The UK GDPR provides certain rights that individuals may exercise in respect of their own personal data. If you want to exercise any of these rights, you can email the DPO at [email protected].
Complaints
If you have a complaint about the way we’re managing your personal data, you can let us know in the first instance by emailing [email protected].
If you’re still dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with The Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Searchers of the public register
Our website does not store or capture personal information, but merely logs the user’s IP address (Internet Protocol: standard allowing data to be transmitted between two devices) which is automatically recognised by the web server.