Privacy Policy

Last updated: 4 September 2026

The Betting Forum (thebettingforum.co.uk, the “Website”) is operated by theracingforum.co.uk Limited (“we”, “us”, “our”), the company behind our sister site The Racing Forum. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This policy explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it and the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

What we collect

• Account data – your username, email address, password (stored as a one-way hash, never in plain text), display name, and any optional profile details, avatar or signature you choose to add.
• Content you post – forum topics, replies, private messages, attachments and competition entries, together with the time they were posted.
• Technical data – your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, collected automatically by our servers and by the WP-UserOnline feature that shows who is online.
• Correspondence – anything you send us by email or through the forum.

Why we use it and our lawful basis

• To create and run your account and let you take part in the forum – performance of a contract (our Terms of Use).
• To keep the forum safe: detecting spam and abuse, enforcing the Forum Rules, and blocking accounts that break them – legitimate interests.
• To send you service emails such as registration confirmation, password resets, subscription notifications you have opted into and important notices about the Website – performance of a contract and legitimate interests.
• To understand how the Website is used, in aggregated form, so we can improve it – legitimate interests.
• To comply with the law and respond to lawful requests from regulators or law enforcement – legal obligation.

We will not send you marketing emails unless you have opted in, and you can withdraw that consent at any time.

Shared accounts with The Racing Forum

The Betting Forum and The Racing Forum share a single member database so that one account works on both sites. Your account data is therefore held once and used for both websites under this policy and The Racing Forum’s own policy.

Who we share it with

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share it only with service providers who help us run the Website (hosting, email delivery, spam filtering and, if we introduce them, analytics or advertising partners), each bound by contract to protect it; with law enforcement or regulators where the law requires; and in the event that the business is transferred to a new owner. Remember that anything you post on the forum is public and can be read, quoted and indexed by search engines.

International transfers

Some of our providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on the UK’s adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement to make sure your data is protected to UK standards.

How long we keep it

Account data is kept for as long as your account is open. Forum posts remain on the Website after an account is closed, as part of the discussion they belong to, but are detached from personal identifiers on request. Server logs are kept for up to 12 months. We may retain limited records for longer where we need them to resolve disputes, enforce our terms or comply with the law.

Cookies

We use strictly necessary cookies to keep you logged in, remember your preferences and protect forms from abuse. If we introduce analytics or advertising cookies we will ask for your consent first. You can block or delete cookies in your browser, though some parts of the Website may then not work.

Your rights

You have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to how we process it, to receive a copy in a portable format, and to withdraw consent where we rely on it. You can update most of your details yourself in your forum profile. To exercise any other right, email privacy@thebettingforum.co.uk; we will respond within one month and there is no charge. If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

Age

The Betting Forum is for adults only. You must be 18 or over to register. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18 and will delete any such account we become aware of.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Significant changes will be announced in the Site News & Feedback forum.

Contact

theracingforum.co.uk Limited – privacy@thebettingforum.co.uk