Legal

Privacy Notice

Last updated: October 2026

This Privacy Notice explains how Planning Letter Ireland ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal data. We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Who We Are

Planning Letter Ireland operates the website planningletter.ie, an AI-assisted document generation service for Irish planning objection letters. We are the data controller for personal data collected through this website.

For data protection queries, contact us at: our contact page or by email at hello@planningletter.ie.

What Data We Collect

Email address — provided when you purchase or contact us; the address you give at checkout is used to email you a copy of your paid document once (we do not store the document)
Payment information — handled entirely by our payment provider and merchant of record, Creem (Armitage Labs OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia); payments made up to 12 October 2026 were processed by Stripe or PayPal; we do not store your card details
Waiting-list email — if you ask us to email you when payments reopen, we keep your email address and the page you were on, on a private server we control, use them only to send you that one message, and delete them within 90 days of sending it (or sooner if you ask)
Planning objection details — the information you enter to generate your letter (planning reference, address, grounds of objection)
Technical data — IP address, browser type, pages visited (via anonymous analytics)
Planning application alert signups — if you opt in, your email address, your chosen local authority, and an optional free-text area/town you specify
Email me my preview — if you use this option, the email address you type is used once to send you one email and is not stored by us
Deadline reminder — if you tick the box and ask for one, your email address, your chosen council, the date you entered for when the council received the application, and the objection deadline calculated from it. We use them only to send you a confirmation now and one reminder before that deadline. They are deleted automatically when the deadline passes, or immediately if you unsubscribe (a one-click link is in both emails)
Reviews — if you leave a review after buying: your star rating, optional comment and optional first name, with the date. We link it to your purchase only through a one-way code, never to your name, address or email

Why We Collect It (Legal Basis)

Contract performance — to generate and deliver your planning letter
Legitimate interest — to improve our service and prevent fraud
Legal obligation — to comply with tax and financial record-keeping requirements
Consent — for any marketing communications, separately for planning application alert emails, and for the deadline reminder email (you can withdraw consent for any of these at any time)

How We Use Your Data

To generate your planning objection letter
To process your payment via Creem
To respond to your queries or refund requests
To show your document on screen, let you download it as a PDF, and email you a copy once
If you opt in, to email you when a new planning application matching your chosen local authority (and area, if provided) is published
If you ask for a deadline reminder, to email you a confirmation and one reminder before your objection deadline
To comply with our legal obligations

Who We Share Data With

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with trusted service providers necessary to operate our service:

Creem (Armitage Labs OÜ) — payment processing and merchant of record: receives your email, name, billing country and card details at checkout (their privacy policy applies); Stripe and PayPal — processed payments made up to 12 October 2026 (their privacy policies apply to those records)
Anthropic (Claude API) — to generate your letter content. Inputs are retained by Anthropic for up to 30 days for safety and security monitoring, then permanently deleted. Anthropic does not use API data to train its models.
Vercel — website hosting, and secure storage of planning-application alert signups and deadline reminders (Vercel Blob, private access only)
Resend — delivery of the email copy of your paid document, planning application alert emails and deadline reminder emails if you opt in, and the one-off preview email if you ask for it (that email contains a link carrying your letter choices, which we do not store)
Formspree — contact form processing

International Data Transfers

To create your document we send the details you enter to our AI provider, Anthropic, which processes them on servers in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA — to Anthropic, and where applicable Creem and, for earlier payments, PayPal and Stripe (payments), Vercel (hosting), Resend (planning application alert emails, if you opt in) and Formspree (contact form) — the transfer is protected by appropriate safeguards, namely Standard Contractual Clauses and/or the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, under each provider's data-processing terms. Anthropic retains API inputs for up to 30 days for safety and security purposes, then permanently deletes them, and does not use data submitted through its API to train its models.

How Long We Keep Your Data

Form inputs: not retained after your letter is generated (when you pay, the details you entered are held in a private store for up to 24 hours while the payment completes, then deleted)
Anonymous usage counts: we record which options people choose (for example the grounds or the council area) as simple counts, with no name, address, reference number or contact detail attached
Generated letter content: deleted within 30 days
Payment records: kept as legally required (Irish tax law — 7 years)
Contact form messages: deleted within 12 months
Reviews: kept until you ask us to remove yours (contact us and we will delete it)
Email me my preview: your email address and letter choices are not stored by us; they exist only in the one email you request
Deadline reminder: deleted automatically once the objection deadline has passed, or straight away if you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it
Planning application alert signups: we first email a confirmation link to the address entered, and alerts start only after it is confirmed; an unconfirmed signup is deleted after 7 days. Confirmed signups are kept until you unsubscribe (a one-click link is included in every alert email) or request erasure

Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the right to: access your data · correct inaccurate data · erase your data · object to processing · data portability · withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise any right, contact us and we will respond within 30 days.

Cookies

We use only essential cookies required to operate the site. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. No cookie consent banner is required as we do not use non-essential cookies.

Complaints

If you believe your data has been mishandled, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (Ireland).

Changes to This Notice

We may update this notice from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance.