The Rural Network

1. Who We Are

Offa Network Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 15657046) with registered office at 2 The Old Estate Yard High Street, East Hendred, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 8JY.

We operate the Offa platform, which enables farmers, landowners and rural businesses to connect and arrange land sharing and livestock grazing opportunities across England and Wales.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide when registering

When you create an Offa membership account, we collect:

• Your name and contact details (email address, phone number)
• Your farm or business name and type
• Your role (e.g. farmer, landowner, grazier)
• Your location (county or region)
• Your profile information: what land, livestock or opportunities you are offering or seeking
• Your preferences and availability
• Whether you are joining as an individual or on behalf of a farm business or organisation

2.2 Information collected as you use the platform

As you use Offa, we may collect:

• Communications you send to other members through the platform's messaging features
• Listings, opportunities and content you post or update
• Records of connections and introductions made through the platform
• Support requests and feedback you submit

2.3 Technical and usage information

We automatically collect limited technical data when you access the platform, including:

• IP address and approximate location
• Device type, operating system and browser
• Pages visited and features used
• Time and duration of sessions
• Referring website or source
• Information about your interactions with our website and emails, where you have provided the appropriate consent (such as page views, clicks, downloads, and email engagement metrics)

Where required by law, this information is collected only after you have provided consent through our cookie consent management platform. This helps us maintain platform security, understand how members use Offa, improve functionality, and measure the effectiveness of our communications.

2.4 Information from third parties

Where you choose to connect the platform with a third-party service (such as signing in via a social or professional network), we may receive information from that service in accordance with its own privacy terms and your settings.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Create and manage your membership account
• Display your profile to other relevant members of the Offa network
• Facilitate connections, introductions and communications between members
• Send you platform notifications, updates and messages
• Process and manage your membership subscription (once subscription pricing is introduced)
• Respond to enquiries and provide member support
• Develop and improve the platform, its features and services
• Carry out analytics to understand platform usage
• Maintain platform security and prevent misuse
• Comply with our legal obligations
• Send you updates, news and opportunities where you have given consent
• Measure the effectiveness of our website and marketing activities
• Monitor the performance of email communications, including delivery, open and click-through rates
• Improve our website content and user experience using aggregated analytics data
• Comply with your cookie consent preferences

4. Our Lawful Bases for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases:

• Performance of a contract — processing necessary to provide you with your membership and the Offa platform services, including account setup, profile display, and facilitating connections.
• Legitimate interests — processing necessary for our legitimate interests in operating, developing and improving Offa, maintaining network security, and promoting rural connectivity — where these are not overridden by your rights.
• Consent — where you have opted in to receive marketing communications or newsletters. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — where we are required to process data to comply with applicable law or regulation.

5. Your Profile and What Other Members Can See

A central feature of Offa is enabling members to discover and connect with one another. You control your profile and what detail to share. In general:

• Your general location (county or region) and the broad nature of what you are offering or seeking will be visible to other members.
• More specific information (such as exact farm location, contact details or specific land details) will only be shared with members once you choose to connect with them.
• Your name and contact information will not be made publicly available outside the platform.

You should ensure information in your profile is accurate and does not include sensitive personal information about third parties without their consent.

6. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• With other Offa members — to the extent determined by your profile privacy settings and connection activity.
• With service providers — trusted third parties who help us operate the platform (including cloud hosting, email platforms, analytics providers, search engine webmaster services, cookie consent management providers, email delivery platforms, payment processors, cloud hosting providers and other technology partners). These providers are contractually required to protect your data and process it only on our instructions.
• With legal and regulatory authorities — where required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of Offa, its members or others.
• In the event of a business transfer — if Offa Network Ltd is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, your information may be transferred. We will notify you and ensure continuity of data protection commitments.

7. International Data Transfers

Offa operates primarily within the United Kingdom. Where any service providers process personal data outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — including UK-approved Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent protections — so your information remains protected to UK GDPR standards.

7.1 Third-Party Services

To deliver and improve the Offa platform, we use trusted third-party service providers that process personal information on our behalf. These may include providers of:

• Website analytics
• Cookie consent management
• Email delivery and marketing communications
• Cloud hosting
• Customer support
• Payment processing
• Search engine webmaster tools

These providers act under contractual obligations to protect your personal information and process it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection laws.

8. Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, understand how it is used, improve our services, and measure the effectiveness of our communications.

Where required by law, we request your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device. Your cookie preferences are managed through our consent management platform and can be updated at any time.

Depending on your consent choices, we may use services including:

• Google Analytics 4 to understand website traffic and user behaviour.
• Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to monitor website performance, search visibility and technical health.
• Brevo to send operational and marketing emails and measure delivery, open rates and click-through rates.
• Usercentrics to record and manage your cookie consent preferences.

Where possible, analytics information is aggregated and used to improve the platform rather than identify individual users.

Full details of the cookies we use, their purposes and retention periods are provided in our Cookie Policy.

9. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary. As a general guide:

• Account and profile data: retained for the duration of active membership and for up to 2 years following account closure, to handle queries, disputes and legal requirements.
• Communication and connection records: retained for up to 2 years following the relevant interaction.
• Marketing data: retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.
• Technical logs: typically retained for up to 12 months.
• Cookie consent records: retained for as long as necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable data protection laws.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

10. How We Protect Your Information

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure, including:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS / TLS)
• Access controls limiting who within Offa can access your data
• Regular security reviews and monitoring
• Secure hosting infrastructure
• We work only with reputable third-party service providers that implement appropriate security measures and contractual safeguards for processing personal data

No method of internet transmission is entirely secure. We take our obligations seriously but cannot guarantee absolute security, and encourage you to take care when accessing the platform.

11. Children

The Offa platform is intended for adults involved in farming, land management and rural business. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, please contact info@offa.network and we will take steps to delete it promptly.

12. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectification — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure — request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Restriction — request that we limit processing of your data.
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Object — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@offa.network. We will respond within one month.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

13. Marketing Communications

Where you have given consent, we may send updates about Offa, new features, farming opportunities and relevant news. You can unsubscribe at any time. We may measure whether marketing emails have been delivered, opened or clicked in order to understand engagement with our communications and improve future campaigns. Where required by law, this processing is carried out based on your consent.

We do not sell or share your contact information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

14. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy policy from time to time. Where we make material changes, we will notify you via the platform or by email. The updated policy will be published with a revised 'Last updated' date.

15. Contact Us

For any questions, concerns or requests regarding this Privacy policy, please contact:

Offa Network Ltd
Registered office: 2 The Old Estate Yard High Street, East Hendred, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 8JY
Email: info@offa.network
Website: offanetwork.org