Privacy notice
How we collect, use and protect personal data, and your rights under UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
In short: you can find free help on LegalHelpMap without giving us any personal details. If you ask a volunteer lawyer for help, we share your description with verified volunteers, and your contact details only with the one who takes your case. If you're a lawyer who registers, we use your details to check your registration, match you with requests and, only if you agree, show your public profile. We never sell personal data.
Who we are
LegalHelpMap (legalhelpmap.co.uk) is run by John Mwale, who is the data controller for the personal data described here. For any privacy question or request, email privacy@legalhelpmap.co.uk.
If you're browsing the site
You can find free help on LegalHelpMap without giving us any personal details. We don't use analytics or advertising trackers.
Our forms and the volunteer portal use one essential security cookie, which protects the form from misuse and keeps volunteers signed in. It's deleted when you close your browser. Because it's strictly necessary, we don't ask for consent to it.
Like every website, our hosting company, Hostinger, automatically records basic technical details when you visit: your IP address, browser type, the pages you open and the time. These logs are used only to keep the site secure and working, and are deleted automatically after a short period set by Hostinger. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: running a secure website.
When you follow a link to another organisation, such as Citizens Advice, their own privacy notice applies.
If you ask a volunteer lawyer for help
What we collect
Your name, email, phone number (optional), town or area, what your problem is about, your description of it, and any court date or deadline you give us. Your description may include sensitive information, for example about your health or family.
How we use it
- Verified volunteer lawyers whose areas of law match your problem can see your description, area, town and deadline. We hide email addresses, phone numbers and postcodes typed into the description.
- We email matching volunteers to tell them there's a new request. Those emails don't include your description or contact details.
- If a volunteer takes your case, they see your name and contact details, and we email you their name and how to reach them. From then on, the volunteer is responsible for the personal data they hold about you, under their own professional rules.
Our lawful basis is your consent, which you give on the form. Where your description includes sensitive (special category) information, we rely on your explicit consent. You can withdraw it at any time by emailing us, and we'll delete your request.
How long we keep it
| Situation | How long |
|---|---|
| No volunteer takes your request | Deleted automatically after 90 days |
| A volunteer takes your request | Deleted from LegalHelpMap 6 months after they take it |
| You withdraw your request | Deleted within 5 working days of your email |
If you're a lawyer who registers
What we collect
| Form | Details |
|---|---|
| Both forms | Name, work email, work phone (optional), firm or chambers, regulator and registration number, areas of law, town or region, and the date you agreed to this notice. |
| Pro bono volunteers | The help you offer, how many cases a month, whether you can help remotely or in person, and your confirmation of insurance cover. |
| Paid profiles | Firm website, first-appointment fee, languages, your short description, and the date you consented to your public profile. |
We also look up your registration on the public register of your regulator (the SRA, BSB or CILEx Regulation) to confirm you're authorised.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Checking you're a regulated lawyer | Legitimate interests: making sure people are only referred to authorised lawyers |
| Contacting you about cases or your profile, and emailing you sign-in links to the volunteer portal | Legitimate interests: running the service you signed up for |
| Telling a person who asked for help your name, firm, regulator and email when you take their case | Legitimate interests: so they know who will contact them and can check you're regulated |
| Showing your paid profile publicly | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Keeping a record of your consents | Legal obligation: showing we have consent where we rely on it |
We never use your details for marketing, and we don't make automated decisions about you.
How long we keep it
| Situation | How long |
|---|---|
| Registration we can't verify, or that doesn't go ahead | Deleted within 3 months |
| Pro bono volunteers | While you're registered, then 12 months after our last contact |
| Paid profiles | While listed; removed from the site within 2 working days and deleted within 30 days after you ask |
| Notification emails about new registrations | Deleted within 12 months |
Who we share data with
We don't sell or rent personal data. We use two service providers, who process data for us under contract:
- Hostinger hosts the website, stores registrations and requests for help, and provides our email.
- Google provides the email account that receives notices of new registrations and requests.
Requests for help are shared with verified volunteer lawyers as described above. If you list a paid profile, the details you agreed to show will be visible to anyone visiting the site. We may also share data if the law requires it.
Transfers outside the UK
Our providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, the transfer is covered by UK adequacy regulations or by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, which give your data equivalent protection.
How we keep data safe
Registrations and requests for help are stored outside the public part of the website, so they can't be downloaded from it. Volunteers sign in with one-time links sent to their registered email, and only see contact details for cases they take. Access to everything else is limited to the site owner, and the site uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- get a copy of your personal data
- have inaccurate data corrected
- have your data deleted
- restrict or object to how we use it
- receive your data in a portable format
- withdraw consent at any time, for example to remove your public profile
Email privacy@legalhelpmap.co.uk to use any of these rights. We'll reply within one month, and it's free.
Complaints
Please contact us first so we can try to put things right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, phone 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
If we change how we use personal data, we'll update this notice first and tell registered lawyers by email.
Last updated: 12 October 2026.