FORT energy
Privacy notice
How we handle your information
Version 1.0 · 21 August 2026 · Fort Energy Limited
This notice explains what we collect when you apply for a grid connection through this site, why we collect it, who we pass it to, and how long we keep it. It is written to be read rather than to be skipped.
Before publication. Two things must be settled: Fort Energy's ICO registration number needs inserting in section 1, and the retention periods in section 6 need confirming against how the business actually works. This notice should also be reviewed by a solicitor before it is relied upon.
On this page
1. Who we are
Fort Energy Limited, 40 Middlegate, Morpeth, Northumberland, is the data controller for the information described here. That means we decide what is collected and why.
We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number [ICO REGISTRATION NUMBER].
For any question about this notice, or to exercise any of the rights in section 7, email privacy@fortenergy.co.uk or write to us at the address above.
2. What we collect
Only what a grid connection application actually needs. Where something can be worked out rather than asked for, we work it out.
| Information | Detail |
|---|---|
| About you | Your name, the name of the property's legal owner, your relationship to the property, email address, mobile and any landline you give us. For business applications, company name and registration number. |
| About the property | Address and postcode, and an outline of the property boundary that you draw on a map. |
| About your electricity supply | Your MPAN (supply number), meter serial number, electricity supplier, meter type, main fuse rating, number of phases, and details of anything already generating electricity at the property. |
| About your energy use | Annual consumption or monthly spend, tariff, and whether you have an electric vehicle, heat pump or similar. |
| Photographs | Images you upload of your electricity meter, the sealed cut-out beside it, and optionally a bill. These may contain location data if your phone records it. |
| Your signature | Drawn on screen to sign the Letter of Authority, stored as an image alongside the exact wording you signed. |
| Consent records | Which confirmations you ticked, when, and the IP address they came from. |
| Technical | IP address and browser identification, kept with your application for security and to evidence consent. |
We do not collect special category data — nothing about health, ethnicity, beliefs or anything similar. Please don't include such information in free text boxes; there is no reason to and we would have to delete it.
3. Why we collect it, and our lawful basis
Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for each purpose. Ours are:
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Preparing and submitting your grid connection application, and dealing with your network operator about it | Contract — you have asked us to act for you, and this is what performing that request requires |
| Recording your Letter of Authority and consents | Legal obligation and legitimate interests — we must be able to show we were authorised to act |
| Requesting consumption data from your electricity supplier | Consent — only if you tick that box, and you may withdraw it |
| Sending you a link by text message so you can take photographs on your phone | Contract — only when you enter a number and ask us to |
| Providing a quotation, if you ask for one | Consent — you give it by asking. A quotation is never automatic |
| Keeping our systems secure and preventing misuse | Legitimate interests |
| Occasional updates about Fort Energy | Consent — optional, never a condition, and you can unsubscribe at any time |
Automated decision-making
Our system suggests solar and battery systems based on your answers. That is a suggestion for you to consider, not a decision about you, and it has no legal or similarly significant effect. A person reviews every application before it is submitted.
4. Who we share it with
We do not sell your information. We share it only where the work requires it.
| Who | What, and why |
|---|---|
| Your Distribution Network Operator | Your name, property address, MPAN, supply details, proposed system and supporting drawings. They are the organisation that must approve the connection, so this is unavoidable. |
| Your electricity supplier | Only if you asked us to obtain your consumption data, and only for that purpose. |
| Brevo | Your mobile number, if you ask us to text you a link. Brevo is our messaging provider and is based in France. |
| Map and address searches you perform are made directly by your browser to Google Maps and are subject to Google's own privacy policy. We store the property outline you draw, which is your information, not theirs. | |
| Our hosting provider | Your information is stored on a server in the United Kingdom operated by Krystal Hosting. |
| Certification bodies | Where we carry out an installation, MCS and similar bodies as certification requires. |
| An installer partner | Only if you request a quotation and we are not the right firm for your area or type of work. We will tell you who before passing anything on. We never pass your details to another installer simply because you applied for a grid connection. |
To be plain about it. Applying for a grid connection does not put you on anybody's sales list. Your details go to your network operator because they have to approve the work, and to nobody else unless you ask us for a quotation.
Transfers outside the UK
Your information is held in the UK. Brevo processes messaging data within the European Economic Area. Google may process map and address searches outside the UK under their own safeguards. Where a transfer occurs, it relies on adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses.
5. Cookies and tracking
The public parts of this site set no cookies at all. There is no advertising network, no analytics tracker and no third-party profiling.
While you are completing an application we store your answers on our own server so you can come back to a part-finished form. That is held against a random reference in the link, not a cookie.
Our staff area sets a single session cookie so staff can stay signed in. It is strictly necessary and never used for tracking.
6. How long we keep it
Confirm these before publishing. The periods below are sensible defaults, not decisions you have made. Check them against your accountant's and insurer's requirements.
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Applications that were never finished | 90 days from last activity, then deleted automatically |
| Phone handoff links | Two hours, then expired; the record is removed after seven days |
| Submitted applications and the connection decision | Six years from the connection decision |
| Letters of Authority and consent records | Six years from signature |
| Photographs you uploaded | Deleted when the application record is |
| Installation records, where we do the work | As required by MCS, RECC, warranty and insurance obligations |
| Marketing consent | Until you withdraw it |
7. Your rights
You may ask us to:
- Give you a copy of the information we hold about you
- Correct anything inaccurate
- Delete your information, where we have no continuing reason to hold it
- Restrict what we do with it while a dispute is resolved
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Receive it in a portable format, where processing is based on consent or contract
- Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the basis
Email privacy@fortenergy.co.uk. We respond within one month and there is no charge.
One practical point: once an application has been submitted to your network operator, we cannot remove it from their records — they hold it under their own obligations. We can delete ours, and we will tell you what that means for your application.
You may also withdraw your Letter of Authority at any time in writing, which ends our authority to act for you.
8. How we protect it
- Everything is sent over an encrypted connection
- Photographs and signatures are stored outside the public part of the server and cannot be reached from the web
- Staff access requires an individual account and is logged
- Every change to your record is recorded with who made it and when
- Backups are encrypted
- Unfinished applications are purged automatically
If a breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the Information Commissioner within 72 hours and tell you without undue delay where the risk is high.
9. Complaints
Please come to us first — most things are quicker to fix directly. Email privacy@fortenergy.co.uk.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time. ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF · ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and change the version and date at the top. Where a change is significant and affects an application in progress, we will tell you directly.