Reach Group - Privacy Notice

SERIOUS

FIRST SEEN 2026-09-19 · VERSION 20260919_rev01 · COMPARED WITH 20260811_rev01

What changed, in plain language

Reach plc added a new section describing its 'Britain Talks' political debate event, where signing up means giving them your political and philosophical opinions (legally treated as 'special category' sensitive data), which are then run through a matching algorithm operated by a German third party (ZEIT) and shared — including your email address — with a stranger you're paired with for a one-on-one conversation. If you give a phone number, Mirror journalists may also call you for press purposes. Data is kept for up to 9 months after the event, and you can only withdraw consent before you've been matched.

Changes that may affect you

Collection of your political and philosophical beliefsMATERIAL

DATA COLLECTION

If you join the Britain Talks event, the company collects your political and philosophical opinions — a highly sensitive category of personal data. It's opt-in and requires your explicit consent, which lowers the risk, but it's still new data collection that could reveal your political views.

“The opinion questions we ask relate to political and philosophical beliefs.”

What you can do — Only sign up for Britain Talks if you're comfortable sharing your political views; you must give explicit consent at sign-up, so you can simply decline.

Your email and answers are given to a stranger you're matched withSERIOUS

DATA SHARING

Unlike most data sharing, which goes to companies bound by contract, this shares your actual email address and your political survey answers directly with another private individual (your matched conversation partner) so they can contact you.

“Once a suitable match is identified, your email address and survey responses are shared with your designated conversation partner solely to enable your one-on-one conversation.”

What you can do — Withdraw consent before matching by emailing britaintalks@mirror.co.uk if you don't want your email and answers sent to a matched stranger.

Survey answers sent to a third-party platform provider (ZEIT)MATERIAL

DATA SHARING

Your responses are passed to a German company, ZEIT, to run the matching algorithm. They're bound as a data processor, but your sensitive political data still leaves the Mirror's own systems.

“We pass your survey answers to our platform software provider, Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius GmbH & Co. KG ("ZEIT"), who acts as our data processor to run the matching algorithm.”

Phone number may be used for press contact, not just the eventMATERIAL

OTHER

If you provide a phone number for the event, journalists may call you for news stories or press opportunities about your participation, which goes beyond simply running the debate event.

“Daily Mirror journalists may contact you by phone for editorial follow up or press opportunities regarding your participation.”

What you can do — Leave the phone number field blank if you don't want to be contacted by journalists.

Registration data kept for 9 months after the eventMINOR

DATA RETENTION

Your Britain Talks data, including your political opinions, is kept for up to nine months after the event ends before deletion.

“We retain your Britain Talks registration data and survey responses for up to nine months following the conclusion of the event, after which your personal data is securely deleted.”

Consent can't be withdrawn after you're matchedMINOR

USER OBLIGATIONS

You lose the ability to pull your consent and data back once you've been paired with a conversation partner, since your information has already been shared with them by that point.

“You may withdraw your consent for us to process your political data or participate in the event at any time prior to matching”

What you can do — If you want to back out, email britaintalks@mirror.co.uk before matching happens, not after.

Changelog

+ ADDEDNew 'Britain Talks Debate and Event' section added
A brand-new section explains that if you sign up for the Daily Mirror's 'Britain Talks' event, the company collects your contact details, an optional phone number, your open-ended answers, and your responses to political/philosophical opinion questions.
When you sign up to take part in our Britain Talks event operated by the Daily Mirror, we collect your contact details, optional telephone number, open-ended responses, and your answers to specific opinion questions.
+ ADDEDPolitical opinions collected as 'special category' data
Your answers to political and philosophical opinion questions are collected specifically so you can be matched with someone who disagrees with you. This is sensitive data under privacy law and is processed based on your explicit consent.
The opinion questions we ask relate to political and philosophical beliefs. Processing this special category data allows us to pair you with a conversation partner who holds contrasting views.
+ ADDEDSurvey answers sent to a German third-party platform provider for matching
Your survey answers are passed to ZEIT, a German media company, which runs the algorithm that matches you with a conversation partner.
We pass your survey answers to our platform software provider, Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius GmbH & Co. KG ("ZEIT"), who acts as our data processor to run the matching algorithm.
+ ADDEDEmail and survey answers shared directly with your matched partner
Once you're matched, your email address and survey responses are given to the other participant so you can talk to each other.
Once a suitable match is identified, your email address and survey responses are shared with your designated conversation partner solely to enable your one-on-one conversation.
+ ADDEDOptional phone number may be used by journalists for press follow-up
If you provide a phone number, Mirror journalists may call you about your participation for editorial stories or press opportunities, not just event logistics.
If you choose to provide an optional telephone number, Daily Mirror journalists may contact you by phone for editorial follow up or press opportunities regarding your participation.
+ ADDEDData kept for up to 9 months after the event
Your registration data and survey answers are kept for up to nine months after the event ends before being deleted.
We retain your Britain Talks registration data and survey responses for up to nine months following the conclusion of the event, after which your personal data is securely deleted.
+ ADDEDConsent withdrawal only allowed before matching
You can withdraw your consent to have your political data processed or to take part in the event, but only before you've been matched with a partner — not after.
You may withdraw your consent for us to process your political data or participate in the event at any time prior to matching by emailing britaintalks@mirror.co.uk or dataprotection@reachplc.com.
+ ADDEDNew Britain Talks note added to events/sponsors section
A separate section on event sponsors now also mentions the Britain Talks event, repeats that ZEIT processes political opinion data for matching, and links to a separate external privacy policy for the event platform.
For our Britain Talks political debate event, we use platform software provided by ZEIT as our data processor. Special category data concerning your political opinions is processed solely to match you with a conversation partner based on your explicit consent.
± CHANGEDSection renumbered
The section on sending data outside the country of collection was renumbered from 8.5 to 8.6 to make room for the new Britain Talks section; no wording in that section changed.
**8.5 Whether we send it outside the country of collection**
**8.6 Whether we send it outside the country of collection**

Full text changes — 20260811_rev01 to 20260919_rev01

COLOUR MARKS THE SEVERITY OF A FLAGGED CLAUSE · + AND − MARK ADDED AND REMOVED

 We typically publish the overall results of our surveys, and often share those results with the brands involved (if any), but those results are always anonymous and statistical in nature ("50% of respondents thought X") and don't contain your personal data. Actual survey responses are only shared with the service providers who provide us with the technology powering our systems. They act as our "processors", meaning that they are bound by law and contract to keep your data safe, and to do only what we tell them to do with it.
 Once we've gathered your survey responses, we will combine them with the answers from other respondents and turn them into valuable insights which may be shared with third parties. Unless specifically stated at the start of the research activity and with your explicit permission, this information will only be disclosed to third parties in anonymised or aggregated form, stripped of any identifiable data (example forms of anonymised / aggregate data include: "X% of males from Birmingham agree that..." or "a 35 year male from Birmingham said ...")
 Please be aware that if you disclose information on forums it may be possible for other research participants to use this information. We are not responsible for the disclosure of any information you post in this way.
+**8.5 Whether we send it outside the country of collection**
+**8.5 Britain Talks Debate and Event**
+When you sign up to take part in our Britain Talks event operated by the Daily Mirror, we collect your contact details, optional telephone number, open-ended responses, and your answers to specific opinion questions.
+- **Special Category Data:** The opinion questions we ask relate to political and philosophical beliefs. Processing this special category data allows us to pair you with a conversation partner who holds contrasting views. We process this information strictly on the basis of your explicit consent provided at the point of sign up.
+- **Algorithmic Matching:** We pass your survey answers to our platform software provider, Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius GmbH & Co. KG ("ZEIT"), who acts as our data processor to run the matching algorithm.
+- **Data Sharing with Matched Partners:** Once a suitable match is identified, your email address and survey responses are shared with your designated conversation partner solely to enable your one-on-one conversation.
+- **Editorial Follow Up:** If you choose to provide an optional telephone number, Daily Mirror journalists may contact you by phone for editorial follow up or press opportunities regarding your participation.
+- **Retention:** We retain your Britain Talks registration data and survey responses for up to nine months following the conclusion of the event, after which your personal data is securely deleted.
+- **Withdrawing Consent:** You may withdraw your consent for us to process your political data or participate in the event at any time prior to matching by emailing [britaintalks@mirror.co.uk](mailto:britaintalks@mirror.co.uk) or [dataprotection@reachplc.com](mailto:dataprotection@reachplc.com).
+**8.6 Whether we send it outside the country of collection**
 Our online form technology providers may process your personal data outside of the UK and EEA. We have implemented safeguards to secure and limit the processing of the data, including standard agreements and frameworks approved by the relevant authorities.
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 ## 9\. When you subscribe to our print, online or Premium subscription sites, or place a classified ad
 When you register for an event, on any of the websites we may add your information to our mailing lists. If the event has sponsors, we might also share information, including personal data, with those sponsors. This will be in accordance with the privacy laws in the country in which you reside. For example, in the EU/UK, you may have actively given specific consent for marketing from Reach brands, and separately for your data to be shared with a 'named sponsor'.
 You can unsubscribe from our communications at any time, by following the unsubscribe instructions on the correspondence you receive, or by emailing [dataprotection@reachplc.com](mailto:dataprotection@reachplc.com) You can also withdraw consent (opt-out) of your data being shared by emailing [dataprotection@reachplc.com](mailto:dataprotection@reachplc.com) stating 'Opt-out of Sharing' and providing your email and the brand details as above.
 Please note the use of your personal information by sponsors, will be subject to their own privacy policy and practices, for which we are not responsible.
+**Britain Talks Event:** For our Britain Talks political debate event, we use platform software provided by ZEIT as our data processor. Special category data concerning your political opinions is processed solely to match you with a conversation partner based on your explicit consent. You can read the privacy policy [https://www.mycountrytalks.org/privacy-policy](https://www.mycountrytalks.org/privacy-policy)
 **12.10 Transfer as part of the sale of our business**
 If we sell part or all of our business, personal information may be one of the transferred business assets. If this happens, your information may be disclosed to any successors of our business for them to use for the purpose set out in this Privacy Notice.
 **12.11 Award or charitable donation; nomination, voting and judging**