Privacy Policy

GENERAL INFORMATION

This website (the “Website”) is operated and owned by ALRCD Services LTD (“ALRCD Services LTD”, “we”, “us” or “our”). We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy, together with our Terms and Conditions, applies to your use of this Website, https://ratingtheraces.com/, and the services available through it (the “Services”). RatingTheRaces is an information and ratings subscription service for UK and Ireland horse racing. We do not accept bets, hold customer funds or provide any gambling facility.

This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it and the rights you have. “Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable living person.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), ico.org.uk.

This Website is intended for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data relating to anyone under 18.

ABOUT US

ALRCD Services LTD is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 07635912. Our registered address is 15 Richmond Drive, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 6RT, United Kingdom. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

If you have any questions about how we collect, store or use your data, contact us at admin@ratingtheraces.com or through our contact page.

DATA WE COLLECT

We collect only the data we need to run your account and provide the Services. This includes:

• Account details — your name, email address, and the username and password you choose (passwords are stored only as a secure hash).
• Subscription and billing status — your membership tier, renewal dates and payment history. Card payments are processed by our payment providers (Stripe and PayPal); we do not receive or store your full card number.
• Usage and technical data — IP address, device and browser type, and a record of how you use the Website, so we can keep it working and secure.
• Competition data — your entries in the NAP Competition and, only if you choose to connect it, your Twitter/X username for sharing and prize announcements.
• Correspondence — messages you send us by email or through the contact page, and your marketing preferences.

We do not collect date of birth, photographic ID, proof of address, financial account statements or betting records, as the Services do not require them.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA, AND OUR LAWFUL BASES

We only use your personal data where the law allows us to. The main bases we rely on are:

• Performance of a contract — to create and run your account, provide the ratings and tools, and take and manage your subscription payments.
• Our legitimate interests — to keep the Website secure, prevent fraud and abuse, understand how the Services are used, and improve them. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Your consent — to send you marketing or newsletter emails, and for any non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — to keep records we are required to keep, for example for tax and accounting.

MARKETING

Where you have agreed, or where the law otherwise allows, we may send you emails about RatingTheRaces features, offers, the NAP Competition and related news. You can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in any marketing email, by updating your account preferences, or by emailing admin@ratingtheraces.com. Opting out of marketing does not stop essential service emails such as receipts, password resets and account notices.

WHO WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with service providers who help us run the Services, and only for that purpose:

• Stripe and PayPal — to take and manage subscription payments.
• Cloudflare, Amazon Web Services and Hetzner — to host and deliver the Website and app securely.
• Trustpilot — to collect and display reviews, if you choose to leave one.
• Mailchimp — to send our newsletter and marketing emails.
• Twitter/X — only if you connect it, to post NAP Competition entries and results.

We may also disclose personal data where we are required to by law, to a regulator or law-enforcement body, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. If our business is sold or transferred, we may pass your data to the new owner, who will remain bound by this policy or an equivalent one.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Some of our providers may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where they do, we make sure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as a UK adequacy decision for the destination country, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum), so that your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.

HOW WE STORE AND RETAIN YOUR DATA

We keep your personal data for as long as you have an account with us. After you close your account, we keep only what we need to meet our legal obligations (for example, tax and accounting records are generally kept for around six years) and to resolve disputes, after which it is deleted or anonymised.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit, hashed passwords and access controls.

YOUR RIGHTS

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• ask us to erase your data where there is no good reason for us to keep it;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, our processing in certain circumstances;
• ask us to transfer your data to you or another provider (data portability); and
• withdraw consent at any time where we rely on it, without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these rights, email admin@ratingtheraces.com. We will respond within one month; we may ask you to confirm your identity first. We do not charge for this in normal circumstances.

COOKIES

We use cookies to keep you signed in, to keep the Website secure and to remember your preferences. Please see our Cookie Policy for details, including how to manage them.

DATA BREACHES

If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will report it to the ICO within 72 hours where required, and will tell you directly if the risk to you is high.

COMPLAINTS

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk or by calling its helpline.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes in the law or our Services. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date, and where the change is significant we will take reasonable steps to tell you.

CONTACT

For any question about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, contact us at admin@ratingtheraces.com, through our contact page, or by post at ALRCD Services LTD, 15 Richmond Drive, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 6RT, United Kingdom.