Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Precedent.ie is run by Peter Hynes, a sole trader trading as Precedent.ie, who is the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us about anything in this policy at support@precedent.ie.

2. What we collect, why, and for how long

Demo requests

When you book a demo we collect your name, email address, firm, the sector you work in and anything you choose to write in the notes. It is sent by email to our support mailbox so we can reply and arrange the demo. We rely on taking steps at your request before a possible contract. Kept for 24 months unless it becomes an account.

Accounts and signing in

Accounts are created by us when a subscription is arranged. An account holds your name, email address and whether it currently has access. There are no passwords: to sign in we email you a single-use link. While you are signed in we record your session together with your IP address and browser details, and we record IP addresses to limit repeated sign-in attempts. We use this to provide the service you subscribed to and to keep it secure, which is necessary for our contract with you and in our legitimate interest in preventing misuse. Sessions last 7 days. An account is deleted 12 months after its access ends.

Invoicing

Subscriptions are currently invoiced directly; we do not take card payments on the site. We keep the name, business details and payment records needed for invoicing. Kept for 6 years, as Irish tax law requires.

Emails you send us

If you write to support@precedent.ie we keep the correspondence for as long as the enquiry needs, and no longer than the related request or account.

If we emailed you first

We contact planning consultants, architects and other professionals who act as agents on planning applications. We take a person's name and business email address from what is already published — planning application records held by local authorities, professional directories, and firms' own websites — together with the public record of applications they have handled. We do this in our legitimate interest in introducing a service relevant to their professional work. You can object at any time by replying "no thanks" or writing to support@precedent.ie, and we will stop. We then keep only your email address on a do-not-contact list, so that you are never contacted again.

Planning records on the site

The platform republishes public planning records from Ireland's local authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála). Those records can include personal data that the authorities themselves publish, such as a name within a development description. If you are named in a record and want to raise it, write to us.

For housing applications of ten or more homes, signed-in customers also see who applied — a company, or a person where someone applied in their own name — as it appears on the council's public planning file, so that they can see which developers are active. We take it from that file and nothing else. If you applied in your own name and want it removed, email support@precedent.ie and we will stop showing it; it stays on the council's own file.

3. Cookies and analytics

• Strictly necessary. If you sign in, a session cookie keeps you signed in. It is needed for a service you asked for, so it does not require consent.
• Analytics, only if you agree. We use Google Analytics to count visits. It sets cookies, so it does not load unless you choose "Accept". You can change your choice at any time from "Cookie settings" at the bottom of any page.
• The map. The dashboard map is provided by Google Maps Platform, which receives your IP address when map tiles load.
• Document previews. On a planning application's page you can preview the council's decision document in Google's document viewer. It loads only when you press "Show the document here"; Google then receives your IP address and may set its own cookies. "Open the original" goes straight to the council instead.

4. Who processes data for us

We do not sell personal data. These providers process it on our behalf:

• Google Cloud — hosts the website (Belgium region).
• Neon — hosts the database, including accounts (Frankfurt region).
• SiteGround — hosts our email, including demo requests and sign-in emails.
• Google — Google Maps Platform for the map, its document viewer for previews you ask for, and Google Analytics where you have consented.

We also use an AI language model provided by Google to read council planning documents and extract the reasons for refusals. We do not send it information about you or your use of the site, and we do not use your data to train AI models. Where a provider transfers personal data outside the European Economic Area, it does so under the safeguards in its own data processing terms.

5. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you, and have it corrected;
• have it erased, or its use restricted, where the law allows;
• object to our use of it — and to direct marketing, absolutely;
• receive data you gave us in a portable format;
• withdraw consent you have given, such as for analytics, at any time.

Write to support@precedent.ie and we will respond within one month. You also have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission, at dataprotection.ie.

6. Changes

We update this policy when what we collect or who processes it changes, and change the date above when we do. See also our Terms of Service.