Privacy Policy
Last updated: 30 July 2026
Verbatim (“Verbatim”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a live, searchable transcript of proceedings in the House of Commons, available at getverbatim.co. Verbatim is a service operated by Verbatim AI Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company no. 17373775). You can reach us at hello@getverbatim.co.
This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and your rights over it. For the purposes of UK data protection law, Verbatim is the controller of the personal data described here.
1. The data we collect
- Account data — your email address, an optional display name, and a securely hashed password. We never store your password in readable form.
- Usage data — the members and topics you follow, alerts you set up, searches you run, questions you ask, and items you save. These make the product work for you and help us improve it.
- Technical data — limited log and security data such as your IP address (used transiently for rate-limiting and to protect the service) and basic request information.
- Payment data — if you subscribe to a paid plan, your payment is handled by Stripe. We receive limited billing details (such as your subscription status and the last four digits of a card); we do not store full card numbers.
- Waitlist & communications — if you join our launch waitlist or contact us, we keep your email address and any message you send.
2. How we use it, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Creating and running your account and providing the service | Performance of a contract |
| Security, rate-limiting, preventing abuse, and improving the product | Our legitimate interests |
| Sending you the alerts, briefings and account emails you opt into | Consent / performance of a contract |
| Launch waitlist and marketing emails | Consent (withdrawable at any time) |
| Taking payment for paid plans | Performance of a contract |
| Website analytics (only if you accept analytics cookies) | Consent (withdrawable at any time) |
| Meeting legal, tax and accounting obligations | Legal obligation |
3. Cookies
We use one strictly-necessary cookie to keep you signed in. We also use Google Analytics cookies to understand how the site is used — but only if you accept them via the banner on your first visit; decline and none are set. We use no advertising cookies. See our Cookie Policy for details.
4. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the service providers (“sub-processors”) that help us run Verbatim, each bound to protect it and use it only on our instructions:
| Provider | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Hetzner Online GmbH | Cloud hosting and data storage | Germany (EEA) |
| Brevo (Sendinblue SAS) | Sending account, alert and marketing emails | France (EEA) |
| Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd | Processing payments for paid plans | Ireland (EEA) / USA |
| Anthropic, PBC | AI that generates cited answers and summaries (processes questions you ask) | USA |
| Voyage AI | Semantic search (embeds your search queries) | USA |
| Speechmatics Ltd | Speech-to-text of publicly broadcast Commons proceedings (not your account data) | United Kingdom |
| Google (Google Analytics) | Aggregate website-usage analytics — only if you accept analytics cookies | USA |
We may also disclose data where required by law, to establish or defend legal claims, or in connection with a business sale or reorganisation.
5. International transfers
Some providers are outside the UK/EEA (notably in the USA). Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on an approved safeguard — an adequacy decision, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses — so your data receives an equivalent level of protection.
6. How long we keep it
- Account data: for as long as your account is open, and for a short period afterwards, then deleted or anonymised.
- Usage/search history: retained to provide and improve the service, then periodically pruned or anonymised.
- Waitlist: until you unsubscribe or the launch campaign ends.
- Billing records: as long as required for tax and accounting law (typically six years).
7. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these, email privacy@getverbatim.co. You can unsubscribe from any marketing or alert email using the link in it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk), though we’d appreciate the chance to help first.
8. Security
We protect your data with encryption in transit (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access controls and reputable infrastructure providers. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures and will notify you and the ICO of a personal data breach where the law requires.
9. Members of Parliament and public proceedings
Verbatim republishes what is said in the House of Commons — public proceedings made available under the Open Parliament Licence. This includes the names and words of Members of Parliament acting in their public role, which we process in the public interest and in our legitimate interest in maintaining an accessible public record. If you are a Member and believe our transcript has misattributed or misquoted you, contact hello@getverbatim.co and we will review it promptly.
10. Children
Verbatim is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
11. Changes and contact
We may update this policy; material changes will be posted here and, where appropriate, notified by email. For any privacy question or request, contact privacy@getverbatim.co.