Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how PlotPacer ('we', 'us', 'our') collects, uses, and protects information about you when you use our self-build project management platform at plotpacer.ie (the 'Service').

PlotPacer is operated by Michael Maloney, based in Ireland.

PlotPacer is the data controller of your personal data for the purposes of applicable data protection law.

By using the Service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information you provide directly

• Account details: your name and email address when you register
• Project data: tasks, dates, costs, budget items, drawdown records, and documents you upload
• Business-directory claim data: your role, authority confirmations, proposed business name, description, trades, service counties, and the business email or phone you choose for public display
• Payment information: processed by Stripe. We do not store your card details — Stripe handles all payment data under their own privacy policy

1.2 Public construction company directory

When the public trades directory is enabled, PlotPacer publishes a read-only list of incorporated companies drawn from a dated Companies Registration Office (CRO) snapshot. The public listing shows only company name, CRO number, principal-activity category, and a broad registered-office locality (county and, where confidently matched, a controlled town). Full registered-office addresses and Eircodes from the source are not published.

Purpose: help visitors narrow a search for construction-related companies by category and registered-office area. Location is derived from the registered office and is not a service-area claim. CRO status and principal activity do not prove competence, insurance, availability or suitability.

Directory filters use allowlisted category, county and town values only. Free-text company-name or CRO-number search is not part of the first public version. Anonymous usage analytics for the directory, if enabled, use allowlisted event names and property values only and do not include company names, CRO numbers or free-text queries.

If a listing is wrong, out of date or should be suppressed, email [email protected] with the CRO number and the correction requested. Do not send identity documents by ordinary email. PlotPacer may confirm the current official record before changing or suppressing a listing.

Source attribution: Contains Irish Public Sector Data licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Source: Companies Registration Office Company Records.

When the invite-only business-claim pilot is enabled, proposed profiles remain private while PlotPacer reviews the claimant's authority and the proposed public contact. The moderation record includes claim status, decision reason, the authority-check method, the contact-check method, decision date, and a bounded audit history. Do not send passports, PPS numbers, bank details, customer names, home addresses, or unnecessary identity documents through the claim form.

Only approved profiles with a business email or phone explicitly selected for public display can appear in the contactable marketplace. Public profiles may show the approved display name, description, trades, service counties, business email, business phone, claim label, CRO number where applicable, and source wording. Pending and rejected proposals are not public.

Purpose: verify authority to manage a business profile, provide a useful contactable directory, prevent impersonation, moderate inaccurate or unsafe profiles, and handle corrections, disputes, unpublishing, and appeals. Claim and public-profile data is not sent to public analytics as contact values or private claimant identifiers.

When live external trade search is enabled, selecting both a trade and county sends those two allowlisted labels, plus any business keyword you enter, from PlotPacer's server to Google Places API (Google Maps Platform). Google returns current business names, phone numbers, websites, locations and ratings for display in a separate Google Maps results section. PlotPacer does not save, cache, add to public analytics, or turn that returned content into a PlotPacer profile. Google processes the provider request under its own Privacy Policy. Opening a Google Maps or business link takes you to the relevant third-party service.

1.3 Information collected automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, features used, and interactions within the Service
• Technical data: browser type, device type, IP address, and session information
• Cookies: session cookies required for login. We may use cookies to measure how features and sponsored content perform — see Section 6

2. How We Use Your Information

We collect only the data necessary to provide and improve the Service.

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and operate the Service
• Process your subscription payments through Stripe
• Send you account-related emails (trial status, subscription confirmation, important updates)
• Display sponsored content and supplier promotions within the Service relevant to your build stage (see Section 5)
• Measure the performance of sponsored content using aggregated, anonymised data
• Improve the Service based on how it is used
• Respond to support requests
• Review business-directory claims, publish approved business contacts, prevent impersonation, and handle profile corrections or disputes

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We do not share your individual project data with advertisers — sponsors receive only aggregated, anonymised performance metrics.

3. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Contract performance: to provide the Service you have subscribed to
• Legitimate interests: to operate, improve, and secure the Service; to send essential service communications such as account and billing notifications; and to display relevant sponsored content to users
• Consent: where required for non-essential cookies or personalised advertising — you will be asked separately
• Legal obligation: where required by Irish or EU law

4. Data Sharing

We share data only with the following third parties:

Stripe

Payment processing. Stripe receives your payment information and subscription status. Stripe is PCI-DSS compliant. Their privacy policy is available at https://stripe.com/ie/privacy

Hosting and infrastructure

Your data is stored on servers hosted within the European Economic Area (EEA) using encrypted connections and storage.

Sponsors and advertisers

PlotPacer may display sponsored content from building suppliers and related businesses within the platform. We do not share your name, email address, or individual project data with sponsors. Sponsors receive only anonymised, aggregated metrics. No personally identifiable information is passed to advertisers.

Other service providers

We may use trusted third-party service providers (data processors) to support the operation of the Service, including hosting, analytics, and email delivery. These providers process data on our behalf under appropriate data protection agreements and are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

Google Maps Platform

When live external trade search is enabled, Google Places API supplies transient business contact and rating results. The provider request contains the selected trade, selected county and optional business keyword; it does not contain your PlotPacer account, project or document data. Returned Places content is displayed with Google Maps attribution and is not stored by PlotPacer.

International transfers

Where data is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, to protect your personal data.

5. Sponsored Content and Advertising

PlotPacer may show sponsored content — such as supplier recommendations, product placements, or promoted services — within the platform. This content is clearly labelled as 'Sponsored'.

How sponsored content works:

• Sponsors pay to have their products or services shown to users at relevant stages of a build
• Relevance is based on your current build phase and task progress — not on personal profiling or behavioural tracking
• Your individual identity and project data are never shared with sponsors
• Sponsors do not influence, control, or have access to your project data

Sponsored content forms part of the Service offering. If this changes in future, we will update this policy and provide appropriate controls where required by law.

6. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies in accordance with applicable law. Non-essential cookies are only set where you have provided consent.

Strictly necessary cookies

Session cookies required for login and basic app functionality. These cannot be disabled without breaking the Service.

Performance cookies

We may use cookies to measure how features and sponsored content perform. This data is used in aggregate and is not linked to your personal identity. We will ask for your consent before setting any non-essential cookies.

You can manage cookie preferences in your browser settings. Disabling strictly necessary cookies will prevent the Service from functioning.

7. Data Retention

• Active account data is retained for the duration of your subscription
• If your trial expires without subscribing, your data is retained for 30 days then deleted
• If you cancel your subscription, your data is retained for 30 days then deleted
• You can request immediate deletion at any time (see Section 8)
• Pending, rejected, and approved business claims are retained only while needed to operate the claim, moderation, correction, dispute, and audit process. Deleting the claimant account removes its claim proposals and unpublishes and clears its claimed public contact profile; a minimal non-personal CRO seed may remain where the source record is independently retained

When your data is deleted, it is permanently removed from our active systems and is not recoverable.

We may retain certain data for longer where required to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.

8. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the following rights:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Erasure: request deletion of your account and all associated data
• Portability: request your project data in a commonly used, machine-readable format
• Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests, including display of sponsored content
• Withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing

If you are logged in, you can download a summary JSON export of your account and project metadata from your data export page (this is a starting point for portability; email us if you need a fuller archive).

If you are logged in, you can also permanently delete your account from the delete-account page (subject to legal retention described above).

For step-by-step deletion instructions (including WhatsApp unlinking), see our Data deletion instructions page.

To exercise any of these rights, email: [email protected]

We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (Ireland) at dataprotection.ie.

9. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including but not limited to:

• HTTPS encryption on all connections
• Hashed passwords (never stored in plain text)
• Session management with secure cookie flags
• Regular security reviews of the codebase

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to affect your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the Data Protection Commission as required by law.

10. Children

PlotPacer is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe we have collected such data, contact us immediately at [email protected].

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes by email. The 'last updated' date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact

For any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data:

Michael Maloney

PlotPacer

Ireland

[email protected]

We aim to respond to all enquiries within a reasonable timeframe.