Privacy Policy

Who we are

Care Near Me is a care information and matching service. We help families compare CQC-registered care providers, but we do not provide regulated care, medical advice, council services, NHS services, legal advice, or financial advice.

Controller details are to be confirmed before final compliance sign-off: legal entity name, postal address, privacy contact email, and ICO registration status. Until those details are inserted, use the contact form for privacy questions.

What we collect

We may collect your name, phone number, email address, postcode, approximate location, who you are enquiring for, the type of care needed, care needs you choose to describe, provider preferences, pages or forms used, analytics events where optional cookies are accepted, and messages sent to the online care advisor.

Care needs and health information

Care needs can reveal information about health, disability, dementia, palliative care, mobility, medication, or family circumstances. We treat this as potentially sensitive information and only ask you to share what is needed to respond to your enquiry.

Where you submit care needs through our forms, we ask for your explicit agreement so we can use that information to respond and help identify relevant care providers.

How we use your information

We use personal information to respond to enquiries, understand care requirements, identify potentially relevant local providers, send enquiry emails, improve the matching experience, measure lead conversions where optional analytics is accepted, protect the service from misuse, and keep basic records of consent and source.

Our lawful bases may include consent, explicit consent for sensitive care information, legitimate interests in operating and improving the service, and steps requested before entering into an arrangement with a provider.

When we share information with care providers

If you agree, we may share the minimum necessary enquiry details with selected or relevant CQC-registered care providers so they can check availability and contact you about care options. This may include your contact details, postcode, care needs, and provider preference.

Providers are responsible for their own services, assessments, contracts, fees, and privacy obligations once they receive an enquiry.

AI advisor and automated support

The care advisor chat is an online support tool. Messages may be processed by servers so the service can respond. Do not use the chat for emergencies or urgent clinical decisions. If someone is at immediate risk, call 999.

Cookies, analytics, and location lookup

We use essential cookies to run the site. If you accept optional cookies, we may use Firebase Analytics to understand page views, form opens, and lead conversion events, and we may use an IP-based approximate location lookup through ipapi.co to show nearby provider examples. Provider search can also use postcodes and coordinates through postcodes.io and the server-side CQC directory.

Processors and transfers

We use service providers to host and run the site, store enquiry records, send emails, support online advisor responses, measure optional analytics, and look up location information. These include Firebase, Firestore, Firebase Analytics, Resend, Gemini, ipapi.co, postcodes.io, and hosting infrastructure. Some providers may process information outside the UK; where this happens, appropriate transfer safeguards should be confirmed with the provider terms before final compliance sign-off.

How long we keep information

We keep lead and enquiry records for up to 12 months, unless a longer period is needed to handle a live enquiry, resolve a complaint, comply with a legal obligation, or protect the service. A scheduled deletion process for older records is planned.

Your rights

You can ask to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to the use of your personal information. You can also withdraw consent where processing relies on consent. Some rights depend on the lawful basis and circumstances.

How to complain

Please contact Care Near Me first so we can try to resolve your concern. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.