Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how FDI Connect collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data when you use our platform, and the rights and choices you have. We are committed to handling your data responsibly and transparently.

Last updated: 7 July 2026

1. Who we are

FDI Connect ("FDI Connect", "we", "us", or "our") provides an economic-development platform connecting economic development agencies, government departments, investors, site selectors, developers, brokers, and infrastructure providers. For the purposes of applicable data protection law (including the UK GDPR and, where relevant, the EU GDPR), FDI Connect is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

You can reach us at support@fdi-connect.com or by post at FDI Connect, 5 Claremont Road, Harrow HA3 7AU, United Kingdom.

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to personal data we process about account holders, team members, prospective customers, and visitors in connection with our websites, applications, and services (the "Service"). It should be read together with our Terms & Conditions. Where you submit information about other people (for example, colleagues you add as team members or contacts), you are responsible for ensuring you have the right to share that information with us.

3. Data we collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

  • Account & profile data — name, email address, password (hashed), role, job title, organisation, professional profile details, avatar, and preferences.
  • Organisation & verification data — organisation details, team membership, permissions, work-email domain, and information you provide to verify identity or affiliation.
  • Content you provide — feed posts, location showcases, property and land listings, data drops, reports, comments, messages, enquiries, images, and files.
  • Communications — messages and enquiries you send through the Service, and correspondence with our support team.
  • Usage & device data — log data, IP address, browser and device information, pages and features viewed, searches, saved searches, shortlists, follows, interactions, and approximate location derived from IP.
  • Billing data — subscription and transaction records. Card and payment details are collected and processed directly by our payment processor; we do not store full card numbers.
  • Cookies & similar technologies — as described in the Cookies section below.

4. How we collect it

  • Directly from you — when you register, build a profile, publish content, subscribe, message, or contact support.
  • Automatically — through cookies and similar technologies as you use the Service.
  • From third parties and public sources — for example, organisation and location information from public directories and mapping/business-listing providers, and demographic and economic datasets from public statistical and economic sources used to build platform data and profiles.

5. How we use your data

We use personal data to:

  • create and administer your account and organisation, and authenticate you;
  • provide, operate, personalise, and improve the Service and its features;
  • display your profile, content, and listings to other users as intended by the Service;
  • enable messaging, enquiries, follows, saved searches, shortlists, and matching;
  • send notifications, digests, and service communications according to your settings;
  • process subscriptions, billing, and renewals;
  • carry out verification and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents;
  • provide analytics to organisations about engagement with their own content;
  • respond to your requests and provide support;
  • comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms; and
  • develop new features and, using aggregated or de-identified data, understand platform trends.

Where UK/EU data protection law applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Contract — to provide the Service you have signed up for and to administer your account and subscription.
  • Legitimate interests — to operate, secure, personalise, and improve the Service, prevent fraud and abuse, and carry out professional networking features, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights.
  • Consent — for certain cookies and optional marketing communications, which you can withdraw at any time.
  • Legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws, tax, and regulatory requirements.

7. AI processing

The Service uses AI features (such as location-to-industry fit summaries, content assistance, and the Claude Design Studio). To provide these, relevant content and platform data may be processed by our third-party AI provider on our behalf under contractual protections. We do not use your private messages to train third-party models, and our AI provider processes data as our processor to return output to the Service. AI output may be inaccurate and should be reviewed before use. Where AI features process personal data, we rely on our legitimate interests in providing and improving these features, or on contract where they form part of the Service you subscribe to.

8. How we share data

We share personal data only as described here:

  • With other users — your profile, published content, listings, and (where you initiate contact) enquiries and messages are visible to other users as intended by the Service. Organisation profiles display linked team members.
  • With service providers — the processors listed below, who act on our instructions.
  • For legal reasons — where required to comply with law, respond to lawful requests, enforce our terms, or protect the rights, safety, and security of FDI Connect, our users, or others.
  • Business transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate safeguards.

We do not sell your personal data.

9. Our service providers

We use trusted third-party providers to run the Service. These include providers of cloud hosting and database infrastructure, authentication, payment processing, transactional email delivery, mapping and geospatial services, and AI processing. Each processes personal data on our behalf under agreements that require appropriate security and confidentiality. The specific providers we use may change over time; contact us if you would like current details.

10. International transfers

Some of our providers process data outside the United Kingdom and European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we put in place appropriate safeguards required by law, such as UK/EU Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum) or reliance on an adequacy decision or approved certification framework, to ensure your data remains protected.

11. Cookies & tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, secure the Service, and understand how it is used. Strictly necessary cookies are required for the Service to function. Where required by law, we ask for your consent for non-essential cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect functionality.

12. Marketing & notifications

You control the platform notifications, digests, and alerts you receive through your notification settings, subject to system-level frequency safeguards and essential service communications we must send to operate the Service. Where we send optional marketing emails, we do so in accordance with law and you can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link or by contacting us. Opting out of marketing does not stop essential account and service messages.

13. Data retention

We retain personal data for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Service, and thereafter for as long as necessary to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When data is no longer required, we delete or anonymise it. Content you have shared with others may remain visible to them until they delete it, and backups are cleared on a rolling basis.

14. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, and alteration, including access controls, encryption in transit, and row-level security in our database. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security; you are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for notifying us of any suspected compromise.

15. Your rights (UK/EU)

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to access your personal data; to have inaccurate data corrected; to have data erased; to restrict or object to certain processing; to data portability; and to withdraw consent where we rely on it. You can exercise many of these rights directly through your account settings, or by contacting us at support@fdi-connect.com. We will respond within the timeframes required by law and may need to verify your identity.

16. US & California rights

Depending on where you live in the United States, you may have rights to know what personal information we collect, to access or delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of certain sharing. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising in the way those terms are defined under California law. To exercise any available rights, contact us at support@fdi-connect.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

17. Children

The Service is intended for professional use by adults and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

18. Third-party links & content

The Service may contain links to, and content from, third-party websites and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties, and their processing of your data is governed by their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them.

19. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, provide additional notice through the Service. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

20. Contact & complaints

If you have questions, requests, or concerns about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

If you are in the UK and are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. If you are in the EEA, you may complain to your local supervisory authority.