VITA Pulse

Privacy policy

Last updated: June 2026

This page explains how VITA Pulse collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data. It applies to anyone who applies for or holds a VITA Pulse membership.

VITA Pulse is operated by VAT & Indirect Tax Advisors ("VITA", "we", "us", "our"), based at Baltic Chambers, Glasgow. VITA is the data controller for your personal data.

1. What we collect

When you apply for a VITA Pulse membership, we ask for:

  • Your name
  • Your work email address
  • The name of the firm you work for
  • Your role at the firm
  • The approximate size of your firm
  • Your firm's postcode

If your application is approved and you become a member, we additionally hold:

  • Your membership tier (Silver or Gold)
  • The status of your account (active, suspended, etc.)
  • The date you joined and the date you last signed in
  • Your communication preferences (the consents you have given or withheld for marketing and personalised content)

If you have opted in to personalised content recommendations, we additionally record:

  • Which entries on Pulse you have viewed
  • How frequently and recently you have visited
  • Which topics you have engaged with most

We do not collect special category data (such as health or political opinions), we do not use third-party advertising trackers, and we do not sell your data to anyone.

2. Why we collect it and what gives us the right to

UK GDPR requires us to have a "legal basis" for processing your personal data. We use three of the six available bases, each for a specific purpose:

Performance of a contract (mandatory)

We use your name, email, firm details, and account status to:

  • Process your application for membership
  • Operate your account once you become a member
  • Send you essential communications about your account (approval notifications, password resets, security notices, terms updates, account closures)

We cannot operate a membership platform without this, so we do not ask for separate consent for it.

Consent (opt-in, optional)

We will only send you the following if you have explicitly opted in:

  • The VITA Pulse monthly update email
  • Personalised content recommendations based on what you have read on Pulse

You give these consents on the application form, and you can change your mind at any time from your member account page or by contacting us. Withdrawing consent does not affect the legality of anything we did with your data before you withdrew it.

Legitimate interests (limited use)

We have a legitimate interest in understanding how Pulse is used in aggregate (number of members, content engagement levels, popular topics) so we can improve the platform and report on its growth. For this purpose only, we may look at usage data on an aggregated, de-identified basis. We do not use legitimate interests as a basis for marketing you directly.

3. How long we keep your data

Pending applications: kept for up to 12 months from submission, after which they are deleted if not converted to a membership.

Active memberships: kept for the duration of your membership, plus 24 months after your account is closed (for tax and audit reasons, and to handle any questions about your historical engagement).

Marketing consents: the consent decisions and their timestamps are kept for as long as the underlying account exists, so we can prove what you agreed to and when. If you withdraw consent, the withdrawal is recorded with the same timestamp principle.

Behavioural data (which entries you viewed, etc.): kept while your account is active and your personalised content consent is in place. If you withdraw that consent, the historical behavioural data is anonymised within 30 days so it can no longer be linked to you.

4. Where your data lives

Your data is held in the VITA Pulse platform (a WordPress website operated for VITA Pulse) and in our email service provider. Both are based in or compliant with UK and EU data protection law. We do not transfer your data outside the UK or the EEA to any country that would lower the level of legal protection.

5. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights, all of which you can exercise free of charge:

  • Access. You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Rectification. You can ask us to correct anything we hold about you that is wrong.
  • Erasure. You can ask us to delete your data. Note this will end your membership.
  • Restriction. You can ask us to pause processing of your data while a query is investigated.
  • Portability. You can ask for your data in a structured, common format so you can take it elsewhere.
  • Objection. You can object to us processing your data on the basis of legitimate interests.
  • Withdraw consent. For anything we process on the basis of consent (newsletter, personalised content), you can withdraw at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email contact@vita-uk.com. We will respond within one calendar month.

If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Pulse uses cookies that are strictly necessary for the platform to function: keeping you signed in, remembering form state, and similar. These do not require consent under UK law.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. We do not share data with advertising networks or social media platforms for marketing purposes.

If you have opted in to personalised content, the tracking of which entries you view is done server-side via your member account, not via tracking cookies.

7. How we protect your data

Your data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest on our servers. Access to member data within VITA is restricted to staff who need it for their role. We review our security arrangements regularly.

If something does go wrong – a data breach affecting your information – we will tell you and the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours, as required by law.

8. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy materially – for example, by introducing a new feature that processes your data differently – we will email all active members to let them know, and we will give you the chance to review the changes and withdraw consent for anything you no longer agree with.

Minor changes (typos, formatting, clarifications) will be made without notification, with the "last updated" date at the top of this page reflecting when the change was made.

9. Contact us

If you have any questions about how VITA Pulse uses your data, or you want to exercise any of your rights, contact us at:

We aim to respond to all data-related queries within five working days, and within one calendar month at the absolute latest.