Please read this document before using the chatbot. It explains how we use and protect your personal information when you use the chatbot. Please read alongside the Growth Company Privacy notice and the terms and conditions for this website. 

What the chatbot is — and is not 

The chatbot uses artificial intelligence to provide general business information and signposting. 

It gives general information only. It does not provide professional, legal, financial or other advice, and you should not rely on it as a substitute for such advice. You should obtain appropriate professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of information the chatbot provides. 

While we make reasonable efforts to keep the chatbot’s information accurate and up to date, AI-generated responses can be incomplete, out of date or incorrect. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that responses are accurate, complete, current or fit for any particular purpose. Please verify any information that matters to you before relying on it. 

The chatbot does not make any decision that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. You can stop using the chatbot and contact our enquiry team for human support at any time. 

The chatbot is designed for business users aged 18 or over. It is not intended for use by children. 

 Please do not provide  personal information unless it is necessary for your enquiry.  In particular, do not provide special category personal data (information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data, or data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation), information about criminal convictions or offences, financial information, passwords or other confidential or sensitive information.  The chatbot is not designed to request or process this information. If such information is provided inadvertently, we will handle it in accordance with our data-protection obligations and applicable deletion and access controls. 

Information processed through the chatbot 

When you use the chatbot, we and our service providers  may process: 

• the questions and other information you enter into the conversation; 

• technical and usage information generated through your interaction with the service; and 

• your name, email address, organisation and other contact information where you choose to submit an enquiry or request contact from the Business Growth Hub. 

How the information is used 

Information provided through the chatbot may be used to: 

• generate a response and direct you to relevant Business Growth Hub services or approved information sources; 

• create and manage an enquiry where you choose to provide contact details; 

• monitor the quality, safety and performance of the chatbot, including reviewing unanswered, restricted or potentially incorrect responses; and 

• investigate concerns, improve the chatbot and maintain the security of the service. 

Lawful basis for using your information 

We process personal information submitted through the chatbot where this is necessary for our legitimate interests in providing, operating, securing and improving the Business Growth Hub's information and support services, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. 

Where you submit an enquiry or request contact, we process your contact details to respond to you and manage that enquiry, on the basis of our legitimate interests and, where applicable, to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.  

The chatbot generates information and signposting automatically, but it does not make decisions about your eligibility for funding, services or support, and it is not used to make solely automated decisions about you that produce legal or similarly significant effects. Decisions concerning eligibility or access to Business Growth Hub services are subject to human assessment and oversight. 

Who is responsible for your information 

The Growth Company Limited is the controller of personal information processed through the chatbot unless stated otherwise in a relevant programme privacy notice. 

AI and third-party technology 

The chatbot is provided through technology supplied by Dante AI and uses an OpenAI large language model. Your question is processed by these technologies to generate a response using the Business Growth Hub knowledge base and approved sources. These providers act as our processors and process your information only on our documented instructions. They are not permitted to use the information you enter for their own purposes, and your inputs are not used to train their AI models.  The Business Growth Hub remains responsible for the governance and oversight of the public-facing service. 

Where your information is processed (international transfers) 

Some of our technology providers or their sub-processors may process personal information outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we ensure that an appropriate safeguard or other lawful transfer mechanism under UK data-protection law applies. Further information about those safeguards is available from our Data Protection Officer at DPOfficer@growthco.uk 

How long we keep it 

We retain chatbot conversation records for 24 months[ after the conversation, unless they need to be retained for longer, for example, to investigate a security, safeguarding or service issue. Where information from a conversation becomes part of a Business Growth Hub service enquiry, it will instead be retained in accordance with the retention period applicable to that service, as explained in the relevant privacy notice. 

Model training / service improvement 

Authorised members of our staff and our service providers may review  chatbot conversations for quality assurance, security, troubleshooting and service improvement. Wherever reasonably practicable, we minimise or remove personal information before using conversation information for analytics or service improvement. 

[We do not use your chatbot conversations to train a general-purpose AI model.] 

Your choices and responsibilities 

• You do not need to provide contact details to ask a general question. 

• Only provide personal information that is necessary for your enquiry. 

• Do not enter passwords, payment card details, health information, criminal offence information or other sensitive information. 

• You may stop using the chatbot and contact the Business Growth Hub enquiry team directly at any time. 

If you choose to provide contact details or ask to be contacted, information relevant to your enquiry may be transferred from the chatbot into our enquiry/customer management systems and dealt with under the privacy notice applicable to the relevant Business Growth Hub service. 

Our responsibility to you 

Nothing in this section excludes or limits our liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence and liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. Subject to that, the chatbot is made available for general information only and we do not accept liability for any action taken in reliance on its responses without your obtaining appropriate professional advice. 

Further information and your rights 

Your rights over your personal data (including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability) and how to exercise them are set out in the “Your Legal Rights” section of the Growth Company privacy notice. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk/concerns), although we would welcome the chance to address your concerns first 

For questions about the chatbot or to request human support, contact the Business Growth Hub enquiry team at bgh@growthco.uk or 0161 359 3050.