Privacy

Privacy Notice

How we collect, use and protect your personal information.

Last updated: 30 July 2026

This notice explains what personal information we collect when you use this website and take the Authority Scorecard, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what your rights are. We've written it in plain English and kept the legalese to a minimum.

Who we are

The Authority Machine is a business trading in the UK, and is the "data controller" responsible for your personal information. Our books are published under the TCA Publishing imprint. Full controller details are available on request.

You can contact us about your data, or anything in this notice, by email at support@theauthoritymachine.co.uk.

The information we collect

When you take the Authority Scorecard, or contact us, we collect:

• Your name (first and last)
• Your email address
• Your mobile number, if you choose to give it
• What you do, the role you select
• Your answers to the scorecard questions, and the score they produce

When you use the website, we and our analytics providers may also collect standard technical information, your IP address, browser and device type, and how you move around the site, through cookies and similar technologies (see "Cookies and analytics" below).

We don't knowingly collect any special category data (such as health, ethnicity or political views), and we ask that you don't send us any.

How we use your information, and our lawful basis

Under UK data protection law we must have a "lawful basis" for using your information. Here's what we do and why:

• Score your scorecard and email you your report, because you asked us to. Basis: your consent, and our legitimate interest in delivering the assessment you requested.
• Send you a short follow-up email series, and occasional useful emails afterwards, to help you act on your result and, where relevant, tell you about what we do. Basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• Reply to your enquiries, to help you. Basis: our legitimate interest in responding to you.
• Measure and improve the website and our marketing, to understand what's useful. Basis: your consent for analytics and advertising cookies, and our legitimate interest in running the business well.

The scorecard, specifically

The Authority Scorecard is delivered through ScoreApp. Your answers are used to calculate your score, generate your written report, and tag your result so the follow-up information you receive is relevant to you. If you start the scorecard and don't finish, we may send you a reminder to complete it, because you gave us your details before the questions.

Marketing emails, and how to stop them

If you agree, we send a short series of emails after your scorecard, and occasional emails after that. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time, immediately, and without giving a reason. You can also email us to be removed.

Cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies. Some are needed to make the site work; others help us measure how the site is used and how our advertising performs. We only use these non-essential (analytics and advertising) cookies where you've agreed, and you can change your mind in your browser settings at any time. Where we use analytics or advertising tools, they may set their own cookies and receive limited information about your visit.

Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers that help us run the business, and only so they can do that job on our instructions:

• ScoreApp (Scorecard Marketing Ltd), hosts the scorecard and stores your responses (UK)
• Brevo (Sendinblue SAS), sends our emails and stores your contact details (EU)
• Vercel Inc., hosts our website (US)
• Analytics and advertising providers, such as Google and Meta, where you've agreed to those cookies, to measure how the site is used and how our advertising performs (US)

Some of these providers are based outside the UK. Where your information is transferred abroad, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as a UK "adequacy" decision, or the International Data Transfer Agreement / Standard Contractual Clauses, to keep it protected to UK standards. We may also disclose information if the law requires us to.

How long we keep it

We keep your contact details and scorecard results for as long as you remain subscribed to our emails. If you unsubscribe, we remove you from our marketing lists promptly and keep only the minimal record needed to respect your choice, for example, so we don't accidentally email you again.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct anything that's wrong
• Ask us to delete your information
• Ask us to restrict or object to how we use it
• Ask us to transfer your information to another provider
• Withdraw your consent at any time, this won't affect anything we did before you withdrew it

To exercise any of these, email us at support@theauthoritymachine.co.uk. We'll respond within 5 working days.

How to complain

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. When we do, we'll change the "last updated" date at the top of this page.