Privacy Policy
Last updated: 22 October 2026

1. Who we are
This website, www.cqcconsultancy.net, is run by CQC Consultancy, a sole trader ("we", "us"). We are an independent consultancy that helps health and care providers in England with CQC registration, mock inspections and compliance support.

We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

Email: hello@cqcconsultancy.net
ICO registration number: ZC231090

2. The personal data we collect
Information you give us
• Enquiry form: your name, contact details (such as email address and phone number), organisation and the details in your message.
• Free 15-minute discovery call (booked through Wix Bookings): your name, contact details, preferred date and time, and anything you tell us about your service.
• Site member account (if you create one to manage bookings): your login email, name and booking history.
• Emails and calls: anything you send us by email or tell us on a call.
• Clients: contact and billing details, payment records and information we need to carry out the work. Card payments are handled by Wix Payments; we do not see or store your full card details.

Please don't send us patient information or other health data about individuals. If we need to see this as part of a piece of work, we will agree how to handle it safely first.

Information collected automatically
When you visit the site, we and our providers collect technical data such as your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit, how you reached the site (for example from an advert) and cookie identifiers. See section 5.

Blog
You can read our blog without giving us any personal data.

3. Why we use your data and our lawful basis
Purpose — Lawful basis (UK GDPR)
• Replying to enquiries and arranging discovery calls — Legitimate interests (responding to people who contact us) and steps you ask us to take before entering into a contract
• Providing our services, taking payment and managing our client relationship — Contract
• Keeping accounts and tax records — Legal obligation
• Running, securing and improving the website (essential cookies) — Legitimate interests
• Analytics and advertising cookies, including measuring whether our ads lead to enquiries — Consent
• Sending marketing emails — Consent, or "soft opt-in" for existing clients and enquirers (see section 4)
• Dealing with legal claims or complaints — Legitimate interests

4. Marketing emails
We send occasional emails about our services, CQC updates and useful guidance.

If you are a client, or have asked about our services, we may email you about similar services of ours under the "soft opt-in" in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). We will give you the chance to opt out when we collect your details and in every email. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.

Anyone else will only receive marketing emails if they have given consent. Our lawful basis is consent.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email or by emailing hello@cqcconsultancy.net. We will then stop sending you marketing emails and keep only a note of your opt-out so that we don't contact you again.

5. Cookies and tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies. When you first visit, a cookie banner lets you choose which non-essential cookies to accept. You can change your choice at any time by using the cookie banner or by clearing cookies in your browser settings.

• Essential cookies (set by Wix): needed for the site to work, for security and to remember your cookie choices. These do not need consent.
• Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors use the site. Only set with your consent.
• Advertising and conversion cookies: only set with your consent. We use Google Ads conversion tracking, to see whether people who click our Google adverts go on to contact us or book a call.

For details of the cookies Wix sets, see: https://support.wix.com/en/article/cookies-and-your-wix-site

6. Who we share your data with
We do not sell your data. We share it only with providers who help us run our business, acting on our instructions, or where the law requires:

• Wix.com Ltd: website hosting, forms, bookings, member accounts, payments (Wix Payments) and site analytics.
• Microsoft: email (Outlook).
• Google: Google Ads conversion tracking (only with your consent).
• xAI (Grok): AI tools we use to help run the business and respond to enquiries.
• Professional advisers, HMRC, regulators, law enforcement or courts where we are legally required to.

Where advertising platforms use the data for their own purposes, their own privacy policies apply.

7. International transfers
Some of our providers (including Wix, Microsoft, Google and xAI, which is based in the United States) may process data outside the UK, including in the United States and Israel. Where this happens, we rely on UK adequacy regulations (for example the UK–US "data bridge" for certified companies, or the adequacy decision for Israel) or on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

8. How long we keep your data
• Enquiries and discovery calls: 12 months after our last contact.
• Client records: 12 months after the work ends. However, financial records (such as invoices and payment records) must be kept for longer where the law requires. For example, HMRC requires sole traders to keep business records for at least 5 years after the 31 January tax return deadline for the relevant tax year.
• Marketing: until you unsubscribe, after which we keep only a record of your opt-out.
• Cookies: as set out in the cookie banner or Wix's cookie information.

We then delete or anonymise your data securely.

9. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
• access your personal data
• have inaccurate data corrected
• have your data deleted
• restrict how we use it
• object to how we use it, including the absolute right to object to direct marketing
• data portability
• withdraw consent at any time (this doesn't affect anything we did before you withdrew)

To use any of these rights, email hello@cqcconsultancy.net. We will reply within one month. This is usually free of charge.

Complaints: if you are unhappy, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

10. Security
We use reputable providers with appropriate security measures, protect our accounts with strong passwords and limit access to people who need it. No method of sending data over the internet is completely secure, so please don't send sensitive information through the website.

11. Children
Our services are for businesses and professionals. The website is not aimed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.

13. Contact us
CQC Consultancy
Email: hello@cqcconsultancy.net
ICO registration number: ZC231090