Privacy Policy

This explains what Advocate Websites does with personal information. It covers our own service. Each advocate's website carries its own privacy notice for the visitors of that site.

1. What we collect

• Account details — your name, email address and the password you choose (stored only as a one-way hash, never in readable form).
• Your website content — whatever you enter into your site: your profile, practice areas, articles, images and contact details.
• Enquiries sent to your site — we store them so you can read them. They belong to you.
• Billing records — what you were charged and when. Card and bank details are handled by PhonePe and never reach our servers.
• Technical logs — IP address, browser and timestamps, kept to keep the service secure and working.

2. Why we hold it

To create and run your website, to let you sign in, to take payment, to answer support requests, to keep the service secure, and to meet our legal and tax obligations.

3. What we never do

We do not sell your information. We do not use your content or your enquiries for advertising. We do not share one advocate's data with another — each account's data is kept separate and is only reachable by that account.

4. Who else sees it

Only the suppliers who make the service work: our hosting provider (which stores the data), PhonePe (which processes payments), and our email provider (which delivers notifications). Each sees only what it needs. We also disclose information where the law requires it.

5. How long we keep it

For as long as your account is open, and for a reasonable period afterwards so you can come back. Billing records are kept as long as tax law requires. You can ask us to delete your account and content at any time.

6. Security

Traffic is encrypted with HTTPS. Passwords are hashed with Argon2id and cannot be read back, even by us. Access to production systems is restricted. No system is perfectly secure, but we take these measures seriously and will tell you promptly if a breach affects you.

7. Your rights

You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Write to us using the contact details below and we will respond within a reasonable time.

8. Cookies

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in and a cookie to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. Both are necessary for the service to work. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies on this platform.