Back to the free checker · Main website privacy notice
Last updated 19 October 2026. This notice covers the free website checker and requested reports. The main website notice explains how we manage subsequent enquiries and client work.
Stephen Meredith, sole trader trading as Gold Oak Digital, is responsible for this service. Business correspondence address: The Grange, Berrington, Shrewsbury, SY5 6HB. Contact info@goldoakdigital.co.uk or 07735 929411.
We fetch the public homepage you enter, robots.txt, up to two contact/service pages linked from it, up to twelve internal link targets found on those pages, and up to three same-site XML sitemap documents. We compare sampled-page metadata and inspect indexing instructions; we do not access private Search Console data. We examine returned HTML and HTTP responses; this is not a full-site crawl. Website addresses are reduced to their homepage; private page paths, passwords and URL query parameters are not needed. Do not enter private URLs, credentials or sensitive information.
The homepage address is sent to Google PageSpeed Insights for mobile and desktop Lighthouse tests. The business email domain is sent to Google Public DNS for record lookups. For the rendered phone check we send a captured public homepage and a limited bundle of its public styles, scripts, images or fonts to Browserless. It measures two emulated widths and may return a viewport preview. This is a fresh browser snapshot: we do not send your mailbox credentials, browser cookies, form entries or report recipient to Browserless. These services and our website host may keep their own operational logs. A checked business website also receives the request from our server and may log it.
You can read results without giving us an email address. Results describe automated observations and limited measurements; they do not make decisions about your eligibility for a service or have legal or similarly significant effects.
The first-party session cookie go_checker_public associates your checks and saved report access with this browser and protects requests. It is restricted to this checker, marked Secure and HttpOnly, and uses SameSite Strict. The browser cookie lasts for the browsing session; request tokens expire after one hour.
Hashed network addresses are used for hourly request limits. When you request an email report, a hashed recipient identifier is also used to limit reports to that address over 24 hours. These identifiers are for service protection, not advertising or cross-site tracking. They are pseudonymous identifiers, not a promise of anonymity. The essential session cookie is separate from optional analytics. With your permission, Google Analytics measures page views and actions such as scan starts, completed scan workflows, requested reports and saved help enquiries. Refusing analytics does not prevent a scan, report or enquiry. Google Analytics stays off until you accept and can be disabled through Analytics settings. Your preference is stored for 90 days, and analytics cookies may last up to 90 days. These named events do not include your email, phone, message, scanned website address or scan/report/enquiry references. Google receives normal connection information when the analytics service loads. Advertising cookies, Google Signals and personalised advertising are disabled in this implementation. We do not send analytics events for marked owner tests. We keep private operational counts of scans started/completed, requested reports, mail-server acceptance, requester-confirmed receipt and explicit help requests. These counts do not identify unique people and do not record IP addresses, browser fingerprints, page URLs or email addresses in the counter records. Random scan/report references are hashed only to prevent duplicate counting. We use these counts to operate and improve the service. Owner tests can be placed in a separate counter group using the existing session cookie; these operational counts do not require an analytics cookie.
If you press Check Google profile, we send the website hostname and, where available, public business name and locality from the website’s structured data to Outscraper for a small UK Google Maps search. A structured service area may be used as a search hint, not as proof of the business address. If you supply a Google Maps profile share link, we resolve supported Google share links with Google and send the resulting place identifier to Outscraper for a separate direct lookup. That lookup uses the same five-new-searches-per-day budget and still requires website and available identity evidence to agree. We do not send your report email address, cookies or mailbox credentials. Up to three places are considered. We compare website and available business identity evidence, then ask you to select the business or branch before including its rating and review total. These are third-party observations, not verification of Google account ownership or rankings.
Lookup results and request status are held privately for up to 24 hours to reuse results and prevent duplicate submissions. Provider jobs still processing are checked using the saved ID. Uncertain submissions are held rather than automatically resubmitted. Expired cache files are removed on later lookup activity; selected profile observations in scans and requested reports follow their existing retention periods. Existing optional-provider charges and allowances apply to the owner.
The quick scan form passes your website address to this checker and starts the existing scan. It does not collect an email address. You can choose to request an emailed report separately after viewing your results.
The simple review-request form also works without JavaScript. It stores your supplied website and contact details as a requested enquiry; it does not run a scan or invent scan findings.
If you request a report, we store your email address, website and email domain, scan results, report reference, request time, mail status and any optional choices. The email report is sent using our Google Workspace mailbox. Acceptance by Google is recorded separately from your confirmation that the message reached your inbox.
The report does not require either optional checkbox. Asking us to contact you about the findings is separate from choosing occasional emails about Gold Oak Digital services. Neither choice is preselected. This checker sends requested reports and owner enquiry notifications; it does not automatically send marketing emails. Opening an email help button creates an editable draft in your email app; you decide whether to send it. If you submit the quote form, or select contact about findings on a report request, we also save a private enquiry with your supplied contact details, service interest, message, self-reported source, scan reference and the available priority findings. A notification is sent to our own Gold Oak Digital inbox using Google Workspace when configured; the saved enquiry remains available if that notification fails. No visitor confirmation or marketing email is sent by the quote form. We may reply personally to the enquiry you requested and follow up about that same request. Our private dashboard can flag it after three days and prepare an editable email draft; a person checks the conversation before sending. We record whether follow-up was sent or stopped. Report-only requests are excluded from this follow-up queue. Tell us if you do not want further contact.
We use the data needed to fulfil your requested report and help enquiry. Where you are the prospective contracting customer, this is to take steps at your request before a contract. For contacts acting for organisations, and for protecting the checker against misuse, our basis is our legitimate interest in responding to business enquiries and operating a reliable service. Any separate optional service-email marketing relies on your consent, which you can withdraw.
If you choose “Save this scan for comparison”, we save one set of scores, measurement coverage, sampled page addresses and a test date in this browser. Saving a later scan replaces that saved comparison. The comparison is not sent to us or included in an emailed report. Use “Remove saved comparison” in the scanner results to delete it, or clear this website’s browser data. It remains until you remove it or the browser clears it. Only matching measured checks are compared; an unavailable check is not counted as a failure.
We use Namecheap website hosting, Google PageSpeed Insights, Google Public DNS, Browserless, Outscraper and Google Workspace for the functions described above. These providers may process information internationally under their service terms. See Namecheap privacy information and Google privacy information for more about their processing.
Results, requested reports, preferences and connection settings are stored outside the public website folders. Only authorised administration pages can list report requests. Public report download and status access require the browser session that requested the report. We do not publish your report requests or sell your report email address.
We keep incoming enquiries, including manually recorded email or phone requests, in a protected dashboard outside the public website. We record our response stage, quoted amount, revenue received, delivery costs and private notes to manage requested work and measure the usefulness of the checker. These are manually maintained business records, not automated financial decisions. Enquiry records are removed after 180 days without an update on later activity, or deleted earlier when no longer needed. Keep credentials and sensitive personal information out of enquiry messages. Any agreed client work and accounting records have separate retention. Operational counters record whether a scan generated an enquiry; counter records contain no contact details and retain their existing 90-day limit.
Homepage, additional-page/link and domain result caches are reused for up to 15 minutes; Lighthouse and rendered-phone results for up to one hour. A phone preview, when available, follows the same cache, scan-snapshot and requested-report retention as its scan. Scan snapshots are available for up to 24 hours. Saved report requests and optional choices are retained for up to 30 days after their last update. Capacity limits may remove older records sooner. Expired scans cannot be used to request new reports.
Cleanup happens when the checker or its administration tools are used, so inactive expired files may remain until the next cleanup. Hourly limit records are replaced on later use; recipient limit entries expire after 24 hours and are pruned on later requests. Operational counter totals and hashed duplicate-prevention references are retained for up to 90 calendar days, with cleanup on later activity. This does not extend the shorter retention of scan snapshots and requested report records. Hosting logs, backups and copies of email in mailboxes have separate retention. If you send a subsequent enquiry, the main website privacy notice applies to that correspondence.
Contact info@goldoakdigital.co.uk to ask about your report, withdraw an optional preference, or request access, correction or deletion. Include your report reference if available. Depending on the circumstances, you may also request restriction or portability and object to processing based on legitimate interests. Some rights are subject to legal exceptions.
You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection regulator. Withdrawing a preference does not affect earlier lawful processing.