Privacy Policy
Last updated: 19 August 2026
Who we are
Smart Comparison is a UK-based price comparison website operating at smartcomparison.co.uk. We help UK consumers find the best deals on mobile SIMs and phone contracts. Broadband, insurance and energy comparison is coming soon.
What data we collect
We collect the following data when you use our site:
- Pages you visit and deals you click on, if you accept analytics
- Your IP address when you click an affiliate deal link (see below)
- Your email address if you subscribe to our deals newsletter
- Your approximate location (country/region level only), if you accept analytics
- Device type, browser and operating system, if you accept analytics
- Referring website (how you found us), if you accept analytics
We do not collect your name or payment details. We only collect an email address if you subscribe to the newsletter.
How we use your data
We use the data we collect to:
- Improve our comparison tools and deal listings
- Understand which deals are most popular
- Track affiliate clicks for commission purposes
- Monitor site performance and fix errors
Affiliate links & third parties
When you click a deal on Smart Comparison, you are redirected to the provider's website via an affiliate tracking link. This allows us to earn a commission if you sign up. The provider may set their own cookies when you visit their site. We are not responsible for third party privacy practices.
IP address logging on affiliate clicks
When you click an affiliate deal link on Smart Comparison, we record your IP address alongside the click event. We do this for two purposes:
- Fraud and abuse detection — to identify and investigate unusual click patterns, such as a high volume of clicks from the same address in a short period, which can indicate automated traffic or affiliate fraud.
- Debugging — to help us diagnose technical issues with our affiliate tracking.
Your IP address is not used for any other purpose, is not shared with advertisers or third parties, and is not combined with any other information to identify you personally.
Retention: IP addresses collected on affiliate clicks are kept for fraud detection and debugging. You can ask us to delete this data using the contact details below.
The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest in protecting the integrity of our affiliate programme and preventing fraudulent activity (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)).
Cookies and analytics
If you click Accept on the cookie banner, we load Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Vercel Analytics to understand how the site is used. If you click Decline, or make no choice, those tools are not loaded. Your choice is stored in your browser's local storage. Affiliate click recording (including IP address) still happens when you click a deal, because that is how we track commission — it does not use those analytics tools. See our cookie policy for details.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Request correction or deletion of your data
- Object to processing of your data
- Lodge a complaint with the ICO at ico.org.uk
Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at privacy@smartcomparison.co.uk