Privacy notice
What we collect about you, why we need it, how long we keep it, and your rights. In plain English.
Who we are
North East Business Address is a trading name of Sunderland Business Address Ltd. Sunderland Business Address Ltd is the controller of your details. We are company number 17477435, registered in England and Wales. Our address is 94–96 Fulwell Road, Roker, Sunderland SR6 9QR.
Email us at hello@sunderlandbusinessaddress.co.uk about anything in this notice.
ICO registration: [pending]
If you register your interest
When you fill in the register your interest form, we collect:
- your name
- your email address
- your business name, if you give it
- the plan you are interested in
Why: to email you about opening and our plans. We don't sell your details or share them for marketing.
Lawful basis: consent. You give it when you tick the box. You can withdraw it at any time by emailing us.
How long: up to 12 months, then we delete it. We delete it sooner if you ask.
If you sign up
When you sign up online, we collect:
- your name, email address and mobile number
- your home address and date of birth
- your plan, and whether you agree to us opening and scanning your post
- your company name and number, if you have a company
- the names and roles of the company's directors and the people who own or control it
- a copy of your photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence
- a copy of a recent bill or bank statement, as proof of address
- the version of our terms you accepted, when you accepted them, and your IP address at the time
Why: to set up and run your account, and to check who you are before you can use the address.
Lawful basis: we need your contact details, plan and post choices to provide the service you ask for. That is a contract. We must check your identity, keep your ID and check records, and know who owns and controls your company under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. That is a legal obligation. Keeping a record of when you accepted our terms is in our legitimate interests, so we can show what we agreed.
Checks we run
- Companies House look-up. If you give a company number, we look up the company, its directors and the people with significant control on the public Companies House register. This is a legal obligation.
- Sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) screening. We check your name, and the names of your company's directors and owners, against the UK sanctions list and check whether anyone is a politically exposed person. We do this when you join and again every 12 months. This is a legal obligation.
We don't make decisions about you by computer alone. A person reviews every check, and our money laundering officer signs off every account.
Payments
If you pay by card, you pay on Stripe's secure checkout page. Stripe collects your card details. We never see or store your card number. We receive your email address, what you paid for, and whether the payment went through.
Lawful basis: contract, to take payment for the service. We keep payment records because tax law requires it, which is a legal obligation.
Your post
We log each letter that arrives for you: when it came, whether it looks urgent, and when we told you or forwarded it. If you agreed to scanning, we open and scan it and put the scan in your online account. We send you a text and an email to say it has arrived.
Your letters may contain details about you and other people. We only look at them to scan, sort and forward them.
Lawful basis: contract.
Signing in
To sign in, you enter your email address and we email you a one-time code. The code expires after a short time. We set a cookie that keeps you signed in. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.
Lawful basis: contract, to keep your account secure.
Audit logs
We keep a log of important actions on your account. For example, when staff view your ID documents, check your details, scan or forward a letter, or delete old files. The log records who did it and when.
Lawful basis: legitimate interests, so we can keep your details safe and spot misuse. It also helps us show we meet our legal duties under the Money Laundering Regulations.
How long we keep your details
- Scans of your letters: 90 days, then deleted for good.
- Photo ID, proof of address and check records: 5 years after you stop being our customer, as the Money Laundering Regulations require. Then we delete them.
- ID uploads from a sign-up you didn't finish: 7 days, then deleted.
- Your account and sign-up details: while you are a customer, then 5 years after you leave, as part of your money laundering records.
- Payment records: 6 years, because tax law requires it.
- Audit logs: as long as we keep the records they relate to, up to 5 years after you leave.
- Sign-in codes: they expire after a short time and can't be used again.
- Register-your-interest details: up to 12 months.
Who helps us
These companies handle your details for us. They may only use them to provide their service to us.
- Vercel hosts this website.
- Supabase stores your account, your scans and your ID documents, in its London data centre.
- ImprovMX handles our email.
- Twilio sends our text messages (once text alerts are switched on).
- Stripe takes card payments, if you pay by card.
We also look up public records on Companies House. It is a government body, and it doesn't receive your ID documents.
Some of these companies are based outside the UK. When your details leave the UK, they are protected by UK adequacy rules or by the UK's standard data transfer contracts.
We may have to share your details with HMRC, the police or the National Crime Agency if the law requires it.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- see the details we hold about you
- ask us to correct them
- ask us to delete them
- ask us to limit how we use them, or object to how we use them
- get a copy of the details you gave us, to take elsewhere
- withdraw your consent, where we rely on it
Some rights have limits. For example, we can't delete your ID and check records before the 5 years are up, because the law says we must keep them.
How to contact us
Email hello@sunderlandbusinessaddress.co.uk to use any of your rights, or with any question about your details. We'll reply within one month.
You can also write to us at 94–96 Fulwell Road, Roker, Sunderland SR6 9QR.
How to complain
If you're unhappy with how we have handled your details, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.
Last updated 6 October 2026. Draft, pending solicitor review.