Privacy & Cookie Policy

01Who We Are

Our website address is https://legallens.org.uk. Legal Lens is the trading name of John Barwell, operating as a sole trader. John Barwell, trading as Legal Lens, is the data controller for personal data processed through this site. We are committed to providing accurate and transparent legal information, particularly for Litigants in Person (LiPs).

ICO Registered: ZB903494

02Data Collection

We collect specific data—such as user names, email addresses, IP addresses, and browsing behaviour—to enhance your experience and tailor content to meet your interests. We pay special attention to any data that may relate to legal disputes, handling it with the highest level of confidentiality in support of those navigating the UK legal landscape.

Anything you attach when contacting us is stored securely and handled as described in this policy — send only what you are comfortable sharing at this stage.

03Professional Liability and Insurance

John Barwell, trading as Legal Lens, holds professional indemnity insurance with Markel International Insurance Company Limited (Policy Number: CE32941), providing cover for civil liability claims arising from the professional activities recorded on the policy (legal consultancy and analysis), including breaches of confidentiality and privacy errors.

This cover also includes legal expenses for data protection disputes, employment law matters, and regulatory investigations. Please note that cyber liability exclusions apply where critical vulnerabilities are left unpatched for more than 21 days.

Our insurer, Markel, may process limited personal data to administer this policy in accordance with their privacy notice.

04Comments

When visitors leave comments on our site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymised string created from your email address (hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here.

05Media

If you upload images to the website, avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the site.

06Your Rights Under GDPR

Legal Lens is committed to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You have the following rights:

Access

Request a copy of your personal data

Rectification

Correct any inaccurate information

Erasure

Request deletion of your data

Portability

Obtain your data in a common format

Restriction

Limit how we use your data

As part of our mission to help individuals navigate the legal system, we provide guidance on exercising these rights, especially if your data is tied to ongoing legal matters.

07Security Measures

We employ industry-standard security protocols to safeguard your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. These measures include robust encryption, secure servers, and regular audits. We remain particularly vigilant about protecting data related to legal disputes, ensuring your legal privacy is maintained.

08Cookie Policy

We use cookies to enhance site functionality and analyse traffic. These small data files help us understand how visitors interact with our pages, providing a better user experience.

01Necessary

Essential for basic site operations

02Performance

Help us understand visitor interactions

03Advertising

Deliver relevant advertisements

You can manage or disable cookies via your browser settings. By continuing to use our site with cookies enabled, you consent to our data practices that support a secure, user-friendly environment for LiPs and other visitors.

09Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles). This content behaves as if you visited the original website, possibly collecting data about you, using cookies, or tracking your interaction. We recommend reviewing each respective site’s privacy policy.

10Who We Share Your Data With

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email. Beyond that, we only share data with third parties as needed for spam detection, analytics, or legal compliance.

11How Long We Retain Your Data

Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically. For registered users, we store personal information in their profile until they request its removal (except where records must be kept for legal or security purposes).

12What Rights You Have Over Your Data

If you have an account or have left comments, you can request an exported file of your personal data or ask us to erase it, barring any data we must retain for administrative, legal, or security reasons.

13Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. In some cases, data may be stored or processed outside the UK, subject to equivalent data protection standards.

14Complaints About Data Protection

You may complain directly to John Barwell, the data controller (trading as Legal Lens), about any data-protection concern: by email to privacy@legallens.org.uk, through our contact form, or by any other channel. A complaint is never invalid because of the channel used to make it.

What you can expect from the process:

• Acknowledgement within two working days of receipt — earlier than the statutory 30-day acknowledgement deadline.
• Investigation begins when your complaint is received and proceeds without undue delay; we do not wait for acknowledgement before starting.
• Appropriate enquiries, and progress updates if the matter takes time.
• The outcome provided without undue delay — never delayed merely because a wider service complaint remains open.
• Identity checks only where reasonably necessary, and authority checks where someone acts for another person. We will not ask for excessive identification.

Complaints about our service rather than data protection go to complaints@legallens.org.uk — anything sent to the wrong address is routed to the right process, not rejected.

You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at any time using its data-protection complaints service, although the ICO generally recommends raising the matter with us first.

15Privacy Contact Information

Questions, concerns, or requests about your privacy or how we handle your data?