Privacy policy

Aug 2026

Controller Information

The Data Controller, FCC Paragon Group Limited, Suite 59, Pure Offices, One Port Way, Port Solent, PO6 4TY (“we”, “us”, “our”), provides tenant referencing and related services to letting agents and landlords.

FCC Paragon Group Limited are registered with the ICO under registration number: ZB845989. If you have any questions, you can contact us at: cl@fccparagon.com

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how and why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have in relation to your personal data.

Data We Collect

We collect and process the following types of personal data:

Identity Data

• Name, date of birth, address history
• Identification documents (e.g. passport, driving licence)

Contact Data

• Email address, phone number

Financial Data

• Income details, employment information
• Bank statements and transaction data
• Credit history and credit scores (from Credit Reference Agencies "CRAs")

Tenancy Data

• Rental history
• References from employers and previous landlords

Compliance Data

• Information required from KYC/AML checks
• Sanctions and fraud prevention data

Technical Data

• IP address, device type, browser type

How we collect your personal data:

We collect personal data directly from you when you use our website or services, including when you submit an application, contact us, create an account, subscribe to communications, or otherwise provide information to us.

We may also collect data from:

• Letting agents and landlords
• Third parties such as:
  • Credit reference agencies
  • Identity verification providers
  • Fraud prevention agencies

How We use your data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• Carrying out tenant referencing checks
• Verifying your identity
• Assessing affordability and suitability for a tenancy
• Conducting KYC and AML checks
• Preventing fraud and financial crime
• Communicating with you regarding your application
• Managing rent arrears and recovering outstanding debts, including sharing relevant personal data with debt recovery agencies, legal advisers or other third parties acting on our behalf or on behalf of our clients where this is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, recover outstanding sums, or enforce contractual obligations

Guarantors

Where a guarantor is provided, we will also process the guarantor's personal data to assess their suitability to act as a guarantor and to administer the guarantee where applicable. The categories of data processed and the lawful bases for processing are the same as those described in this Privacy Policy.

We may also use your personal data to:

• Improve our products and services
• Improve our websites and customer experience
• Communicate with you regarding your account and services
• Where permitted by law, provide information about relevant products and services

We may contact you regarding your tenancy application, referencing process or services you have requested. These are service communications and are not marketing.

Separately, we may send you marketing communications about relevant products or services where permitted by law.

Additional Products and Services

Where you choose to use additional products or services, such as Rent Buddy, Rent Protect, utility setup or similar services, we may use the information already collected as part of your referencing application and, where necessary, collect additional information or share relevant personal data to administer the service.

Lawful Bases for Processing:

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract: to carry out tenant referencing services
• Legal obligation: for KYC/AML and regulatory compliance
• Legitimate interests: to prevent fraud, ensure responsible lettings, improve our services, and recover sums owed / legal claims. We may also rely on legitimate interest to provide you with services relating to your move, such as utility set up, to prevent arrears and billing errors.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We will carry out an assessment when relying on legitimate interests, to balance our interests against your own.

Where we send marketing communications, we do so in accordance with applicable data protection and electronic marketing laws. Depending on the circumstances, we will rely on your consent or another lawful basis permitted by law. Where consent is required, we will obtain it before sending marketing communications.

Marketing Communications

We may contact you about products and services that we believe are relevant to you, including services offered by other companies within our group.

We will only send marketing communications where permitted under applicable law, including the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the UK GDPR.

Where permitted by law, we may contact you about products and services that are similar or related to those you have previously requested from us or that are relevant to your tenancy or move. You can opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us.

Where we rely on consent which you may withdraw at any time. Every marketing communication will include a simple method of opting out, and you can also contact us at any time to update your marketing preferences.

Sharing Your Personal Data

We share your data where necessary with:

• Letting Agents and Landlords
  • Referencing outcomes and supporting information
  • Documents and verification results where relevant
• Service Providers
  • Credit reference agencies
  • Identity verification providers
  • Fraud prevention agencies
  • Guarantor providers
  • Debt recovery agencies
  • Product providers for additional services (including insurers/intermediaries)
• Regulators and Authorities
  • Where required by law or regulatory obligation

Intra-Group Data Sharing

We are part of a group of companies owned by Cumbria Capital Limited (trading as Home). We may share your personal data with other companies within our group for:

• Administrative purposes
• Compliance and risk management
• Providing related services
• Offering relevant products and services

All group companies are required to handle your personal data in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection laws.

Data Security

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you use our services.

• We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted.
• Our web services are hosted by Hostek Limited.
• We comply fully with the UK GDPR legislation & retention of personal data as appropriate to the product or service purchased, where the legislation dictates differing timescales.
• All data is stored securely with limited access, for a period of time in line with our data retention policy, for example, referencing application data is retained for 6 years from either the application date, or the tenancy end date.
• When data is deleted it is done so irretrievably.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit our website. They help us recognise your browser, remember your preferences, and improve your experience.

We use different types of cookies, including:

• Strictly necessary cookies, which are required for the website to function properly
• Analytics cookies, which help us understand how visitors use our website (for example, through tools such as Google Analytics)
• Functionality cookies, which remember your preferences

Where required, we will ask for your consent before placing non essential cookies on your device. You can choose to accept or reject these cookies, or manage your preferences at any time using our cookie settings tool.

You can also control cookies through your browser settings. However, if you disable certain cookies, some parts of our website may not function as intended.

For more information about how we use cookies and how to manage your preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.

Transferring data outside of the UK

We may need to transfer data outside of the UK in certain circumstances, such as acquiring an overseas reference. In doing so, we will comply with applicable UK laws designed to ensure the privacy of your personal data.

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Adequacy regulations
• Standard Contractual Clauses
• UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or other approved transfer mechanisms. We also assess whether additional measures are required to ensure your personal data remains protected to UK GDPR standards.

Your Rights

You have the following rights under UK GDPR:

• Right of access
• Right to rectification
• Right to erasure (where applicable)
• Right to restrict processing
• Right to object
• Right to data portability
• Right to object to automated decision making

To exercise your rights, contact us using the details above.

Automated Decision Making

As part of our tenant referencing process, we use automated systems to assess certain aspects of your application. This may include evaluating information such as income, affordability, credit history, and other relevant data to help determine whether referencing criteria are met.

These automated checks help us provide consistent and efficient assessments. However, decisions are not based solely on automated processing without appropriate safeguards.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your referencing assessment, or believe the information used is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that your application is reviewed by a member of our team.

You can request a manual review by contacting us. We will consider your request and any additional information you provide before making a final decision.

Third party links

As part of some of the services, such as Tenant Referencing, we process credit checks and enhanced ID Checks through a third party licensed data provider.

This information may be verified against some or all of the following: referees supplied on an application form, a credit referencing agency and money laundering search via a 3rd party (TransUnion is our preferred partner who conduct these searches - https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal-information/bureau-privacy-notice), who will keep a record of the search, any other relevant internal or external databases, or any other information in support of an application supplied for the purpose of the application. The results of FCC Paragon's findings will be forwarded to the appointed Letting Agent or Landlord.

We also utilise Open Banking, which is the secure way to give access to your financial information, Equifax is our preferred supplier.

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

Please find a list of our Sub-Processors here:

Terms and Conditions

Please also visit our Terms and Conditions by clicking here.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, however, we would appreciate the opportunity to put this right in the first instance.

If you have any complaints about the processing of your personal data, please contact us at cl@fccparagon.com. We will investigate your complaint impartially and you will receive an acknowledgement without undue delay. Your complaint will then be investigated and you will receive a full response, including whether your complaint has been upheld and any reasoning behind this.

If you are still unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you have the right to complaint to the ICO.

You can complain by following this link: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Or by contacting the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time and it is important that you review this regularly.