Lionsa uses the minimum information needed to identify your account, run the check you request, create and save an assessment, protect the service and respond to you. We do not sell personal information.
1. Who this notice covers
Lionsa is responsible for deciding how personal information is used for the Lionsa service. This notice covers website visitors, account holders, people who contact us, and individuals whose publicly available business or professional information may appear in a tradesperson search or assessment.
Questions about this notice or the use of personal information can be sent through our Contact Us page.
2. Information we collect
- Account information: authentication-provider identifiers, email address, account status, sign-in events and security information needed to provide and protect your account.
- Search information: the name, phone number, website, location or other details you submit to identify a tradesperson, together with the candidates you confirm or reject.
- Assessment information: source evidence, identity and trust findings, score history, saved scorecard access and the records needed to explain how an assessment was produced.
- Credit and transaction information: Search Credit balances, grants, reservations, use, refunds and, after paid launch, payment-provider references. Lionsa does not need to store complete payment-card details.
- Contact information: the content and contact details you choose to provide when asking for support, sharing an experience or challenging business information.
- Technical information: IP address, device or browser information, security events, request timestamps and privacy-reduced diagnostic records.
Please do not submit special-category or highly sensitive personal information unless we specifically ask for it and explain why it is needed.
3. Where information comes from
We receive information directly from you, from our account and future payment providers, and from public or commercially available sources relevant to a business check. These can include official registers, professional and certification bodies, business websites, directories, review platforms, search services, domain information and other publicly accessible pages.
A sole trader's business information can also be personal information. We apply the same evidence, accuracy and rights processes whether a candidate is a limited company or an operational trading identity.
4. How and why we use information
We use personal information where it is necessary to:
- provide your account, searches, Search Credits and saved assessments under our contract with you;
- identify the business you mean and produce an evidence-led assessment;
- protect accounts, prevent abuse, investigate errors and keep the service reliable;
- improve discovery and assessment quality using bounded testing and privacy-reduced diagnostics;
- respond to support, correction, objection and rights requests; and
- meet legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or dispute-resolution obligations.
Depending on the activity, our lawful basis is performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, or our legitimate interests in operating a secure, accurate business-checking service. Where consent is the appropriate basis, such as for a future optional marketing or analytics feature, we will ask first and you may withdraw it.
5. Assessments and advanced technology
Lionsa uses software to connect source information, assess consistency and present Identity Confidence, Trust Confidence and an overall Confidence ScoreTM. Advanced language technology may be used in bounded cases to interpret unclear or conflicting context, while conclusions remain grounded in the source information found.
Lionsa does not make the hiring, payment or employment decision for you. You confirm the business to assess, can inspect the findings and sources, and remain responsible for deciding whether and how to proceed. You may contact us if you believe information is wrong or an assessment requires review.
7. International processing
Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we require an appropriate legal safeguard, such as an adequacy regulation or approved contractual protections, together with proportionate security measures.
8. How long we keep information
- A search held while you sign in remains in that browser tab for no more than 15 minutes and is removed when resumed.
- Encrypted browser search references expire after 30 minutes.
- LLM interpretations and no-match resolution records are retained for up to 30 days.
- Ambiguous resolution records may be retained for up to 90 days to support safe candidate confirmation and quality review.
- Restricted request diagnostics and access logs are retained for no more than 30 days unless a documented incident or legal hold requires otherwise.
Account, credit-ledger, completed assessment, source-evidence and transaction records are retained while needed to provide access, preserve assessment provenance, meet accounting or legal duties, resolve disputes and exercise data-protection rights. We apply the shortest appropriate period for each record class and securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer required.
9. Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may ask for access to your personal information, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or object to processing based on legitimate interests. You may withdraw consent where processing relies on consent. These rights can have legal limits, which we will explain if they apply.
To protect you, we may need to verify identity before completing a request. We normally respond within one month. A tradesperson or business may also use the Contact Us page to challenge information associated with an assessment.
10. How we protect information
We use access controls, encryption, short-lived signed assertions, separate secrets, privacy-reduced diagnostics, rate limits, audit records and retention controls. No internet service can promise absolute security, so please keep your account secure and contact us promptly if you suspect misuse.
11. Children
Lionsa accounts and Search Credit purchases are intended for people aged 18 or over. The service is not directed at children and should not be used to submit information about a child.
12. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice when the service, providers or law changes. We will publish the current version here, update the date above and highlight material changes where appropriate.
13. Contact and complaints
Use the Contact Us page for privacy questions or rights requests. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first.