Page last updated June 2024
Privacy policy
We take data protection very seriously at OS. Here’s how we handle your information
This page is our Privacy Policy
A Privacy Policy tells you how we use your personal data, so you know what happens with it when you or other people give it to us. Personal data is any data that can identify you, either on its own or used with other data.
This Privacy Policy will help you understand your privacy rights, how and why we need to process your personal data, and how you can get in touch with us if needed.
Processing personal data involves any activity to do with that data, for example collection, storage, editing, and deletion.
This Privacy Policy also applies to children’s personal data that we may collect and use to assist with a service provided by us. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy we view a “child” to be any user who is under the age of 18.
We have presented this information in different sections so you can access the information you need more easily.
Who we are
This Privacy Policy applies to Ordnance Survey Limited, and its group of companies which comprise Ordnance Survey Leisure Limited and Ordnance Survey International Services Limited located in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, Ordnance Survey and its Group of Companies will be referred to as we, us, our.
More information on Ordnance Survey and who we are can be found on our About us page.
Personal data? What is that?
Anything that can identify you is your personal data. This can include your name, age, a photo of you, your email address, where you live, or your online gamertag.
There are some types of data we must be particularly careful with, known as ‘special category data.’ This could include data related to your health, or religious beliefs.
Sometimes we have to share personal data with the police to assist with their investigations.
Privacy and data protection laws
We are committed to complying with privacy and data protection laws in all countries in which we operate, to the extent that such laws are applicable to us.
We operate different websites, Apps (web and mobile) and an online retail shop (together referred to as the OS Sites and/or Services).
If you are accessing our OS Sites and/or Services from a location outside of the UK or the European Economic Area (the EEA), please refer to the section "Additional information for international users (outside of the UK or EEA)" at the end of this Privacy Policy for important additional information.
We must follow certain rules when we have your personal data.
The types of data we process include Personal, Special Category and Pseudonymised data.
We are committed to protecting your personal information and respecting your privacy. We may collect and process personal data about you in different ways, depending on the nature of our relationship with you.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Sites and Services.
The main reason we need to use your personal data is to know who you are. If we do not have your personal data, it could mean you miss out on the things we can do for you.
There are times when we will rely on legitimate interests to process personal data, particularly when it is not practical to obtain consent.
Personal data is information that relates to an individual, which covers a wide range of categories.
There are several ways we may use your Location information.
Each time you visit or use our OS Sites and/or Services, we may automatically collect the following information.
These are some of the ways in which we use Device information.
Here are the ways in which we use Log information.
Sometimes we may need to share your personal data, or other people might share it with us. We are very careful about how we do this, meaning there are even more rules.
We use online marketing to keep you up to date with our products and offers.
Your personal information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the country in which you are a resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country (and, in some cases, may not be as protective).
We store personal data as either secure physical records, or electronically on our internal IT systems, in cloud storage, and in some cases, records on third party servers, which may be located in various countries (please see the "Data transfers to third countries" section above for more details).
We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. We may also retain your personal data for a reasonable period after collecting it, to allow us to respond to any follow up enquiries or complaints, or for as long as you remain a registered user of our products and services.
If you are a resident of the UK or EEA, you have the following data protection rights.
We keep a record of all conversations with our ChatBot and Live chat, to keep improving our customer’s experience.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of children who use the OS Maps service for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
The following information affects international users (outside of the UK or EEA).
Any changes we may make to our Privacy Policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you.
Contacting us
If you have any queries about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
Data Protection Officer:
- Email: dpo@os.uk
- Post: Ordnance Survey, Explorer House, Adanac Drive, Southampton, SO16 0AS.
Ordnance Survey and/or Ordnance Survey International Services Ltd:
- Contact our Customer Services team
- Post: Customer Services, Ordnance Survey, Explorer House, Adanac Drive, Southampton, SO16 0AS.
Ordnance Survey Leisure Limited:
- Contact our Customer Services team
- Post: Ordnance Survey Leisure, Customer Services, Explorer House, Adanac Drive, Southampton, SO16 0AS.
Complaints
If, for any reason, you have a complaint, please contact the Data Protection Officer to discuss your concerns.
Following this, if you are still dissatisfied, you can contact your local data protection authority at the contact details below:
UK Information Commissioner: Contact telephone number: 0303 123 1113. Website: ICO website https://ico.org.uk/
European Data Protection Authorities: in the European Economic Area are available via the European Commission website
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001, Telephone: 1300 363 992, Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner: Contact telephone number: 0800 803 909 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm). Email: enquiries@privacy.org.nz Website: www.privacy.org.nz/
Related information
Cookie policy
Find out which cookies we use to help make your experience on our website as smooth as possible.
About us
All about OS: who we are and who we've been - our history dates way back to the 18th century.
Data protection and subject access requests
Learn how OS comply with the general data protection legislation and how to make a subject access request.