How we look after your information
Written in plain English. If anything is unclear, please phone and ask.
This website
This website does not set cookies and does not track you. The web server keeps a short technical log of visits (the time, the page and the type of web browser) for 30 days so that we can keep the site running safely. That log does not identify you.
The "Ask a question" helper on this site answers general questions. Please do not type personal details into it. If you do, they are not stored by this website.
When you use the service
Age UK North, South & West Dorset is the organisation responsible for your information (the "data controller"). It collects only what it needs to give you energy advice: your name, address, contact details, and notes from your conversations and visits. This is used to help you, to keep you safe, and to report to the people who fund the service on how it is working, without identifying you.
LDS Consulting Limited, trading as LDS Consultancy, runs the secure computer system the charity uses. It works under a written contract with the charity, follows the charity's instructions, and cannot use your information for anything else. All of the system runs on computers in the United Kingdom.
Smart meter monitoring, only if you choose it
If you have a smart meter, you can choose to let an adviser see how much energy your home uses over time. This is entirely optional and needs your written consent first: nothing is read until you have signed. You can withdraw it at any time by phone or in writing, and it ends automatically when the project ends unless you ask us to continue.
Your meter readings come to us through a service regulated by the smart meter network, and are stored securely in the United Kingdom. They are used only to help your adviser spot when your home may be colder than it should be, to check whether the advice has helped, and, in a form that cannot identify you, to show how well the service works. They are never sold, never shared with your energy supplier without your say so, and never used to make decisions about your benefits, care or anything else.
Your rights
You can ask to see the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or ask us to stop using it. To do any of these, phone us or write to Age UK North, South & West Dorset, Units 1 and 2, 5 Crown Square, Dorchester, DT1 3EN. If you are not happy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Last updated September 2026.