Homes for Net Zero privacy notice

Published 17.03.25

Introduction

At Energy Systems Catapult Limited (“Catapult”, “we”, “us”, “our”), we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and share personal data as part of our research project. It also outlines your rights regarding your data and how you can contact us if you have any concerns.

Who we are

We are Energy Systems Catapult Limited “Catapult”, a company limited by guarantee and registered in the UK under company number 08705784, whose main place of business is at 7th Floor, Cannon House, 18 Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6BS (“us”, “we”, “our”). We are committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of participants in our research project:

Purpose of the Research Project

This research project aims to enhance the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) evidence base by exploring viable pathways for homeowners to transition to low-carbon heating solutions. The study will focus on real-world monitoring of homes, particularly owner-occupied, which are considered challenging to decarbonise. Participants will be offered devices and measures to support this transition.

Scope of this Privacy Notice:

This privacy notice (the “Privacy Notice”) applies to all personal information processing activities carried out by us as part of this research project.

This policy (together with our terms of use) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us (“data”), will be processed. By Participating in this research project, you accept and consent to the practices described in this policy.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the “Act”), the Catapult is the processor and the Department of Energy and Net Zero is the Controller of Personal Data. 

Information we may collect from you

We may collect and process the following data about you:

• As part of this trial will collect information though trial screener about your home; archetype details, heating basis, smart meter details.
• We will collect data from your smart meter, temperature sensors, Air Quality sensors, or any other sensors, energy submetering and provided equipment that might be provided to you as part of the trial.
• Heat Battery Trial specific: we will also collect Heat Battery data provided by your Heat Battery supplier.
• We will also collect from you Consumer Insight Survey and Interview data through questionnaires. Interviews will be conducted and recorded by teams/phone, might be transcribed using Otter.ai and analysed using mural or analysis software. Questionnaire data collected via QuestionPro and analysed via QuestionPro and excel and Tableau.
• We will also collect information you provide when you register to our Living Lab hub and fill out the profile form.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Site. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve it. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie Policy.

Uses made of the information

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• Information you give to us. We will use this information:
  • To ensure Catapult have a full, robust, and reliable data set for analysis and to draw conclusions from the trial to answer the project research questions and inform future government policy.
  • To carry out our obligations arising from the research project between you and us and to provide you with the information, products and services that are part of the entered research project.
  • To provide you with information about the entered research project.
  • To notify you about changes to the entered research project.

• Information we collect about you. We will use this information:
  • To ensure Catapult have a full, robust, and reliable data set for analysis and to draw conclusions from the trial to answer the trial research questions and inform future government policy.
  • To administer the trial, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes.
  • As part of our efforts to communicate with you about the trial status.
  • As part of our efforts to keep the research project data safe and secure;

• Information we receive from other sources. We will use this information:
  • We may combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We may use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).

Legal Basis for data processing

The lawful basis for processing personal data under this Privacy Notice is consent, meaning individuals have provided clear and explicit permission for us to process their personal data for a specific purpose. Individuals have the right to withdraw their consent at any time, which will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Security

We take appropriate measures to ensure that personal data is kept secure, including security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

The project will store data on the Catapult’s secured Sharepoint folder system and Amazon web services (AWS) servers accessible only to authorised personal working on the project.

We take the security of your personal data seriously and have measures in place to protect it. While no online transmission is completely risk-free, we follow strict procedures to safeguard your information. If we ever suspect a data security issue, we will respond appropriately and, where required by law, notify you and the relevant regulator.

How long we keep your personal data

Project data will be stored on our secured Sharepoint site, hosted on Amazon web services (AWS) cloud servers, and QuestionPro servers until 30 of September 2026.

Upon completion of the research project, your data will be removed from our shared folder system and any external storage locations, including those held by subcontractors.

Before deleting your personal data, we will transfer it to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Once shared, its retention will be subject to DESNZ’s policies. Participants can contact DESNZ directly for further details on how long their data will be retained.

The project management team will be responsible for securely deleting any personal data we hold once the project is complete, unless participants have provided explicit consent for its continued use by signing a new consent form. Data will be removed in accordance with our data protection policies and best practices to ensure it is permanently erased. If any data is required to be retained for a specific reason, this will be clearly communicated to participants, and appropriate consent will be sought in advance.

Where we store your personal data

The data we collect from you will primarily be processed within the United Kingdom, ensuring compliance with UK data protection laws. However, some data may be transferred to and stored within the European Economic Area (EEA). It may also be processed by our staff or suppliers operating in the EEA. In such cases, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with UK and EEA data protection regulations.

Secured and protected network folder system will be setup to hold the data. Data collected is expected to be stored in Microsoft and AWS applications.

Disclosure of your information

We may share your personal information with any member of our group, including our subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

During the research project

We may share your information with selected third parties including:

• business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of the entered trial; and
• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use.

Information we will share with third parties in order to obtain and analyse data, supporting our research objectives, will include:

• Name
• Full Address
• Details of the participant home (e.g. number of bedrooms, amount insulation, …)
• Details of participant heating systems (e.g. type of heating device, where their heating devices are located, other forms of heating they have, …)
• Heating devices: Heat pumps, Heat battery usage and storage data
• Smart meter energy usage
• Participant meter point identifier (Meter Point Administration Number)
• Room temperature measurements
• Your responses to consumer insight surveys and interviews

At Project completion

We will share your information with the Department of Energy and Net Zero, to inform government Policies and plans. During the project, certain data will also be shared with the Department of Energy and Net Zero to support the progress of the research trial. Your information will then be deleted from Catapults hosted clouds, and secured Sharepoint site.

We will only share. data where we are confident that the data is effectively anonymous, meaning the risk of reidentification of individuals or households is minimal. Data we may share includes:

• Information relating to your broad geographical location
• Details of the participant home (e.g. number of bedrooms, amount insulation, …)
• Details of participant heating systems (e.g. type of heating device, where their heating devices are located, other forms of heating they have, …)
• Heating devices: Heat pumps, Heat battery usage and storage data
• Smart meter energy usage
• Participant meter point identifier (Meter Point Administration Number)
• Room temperature measurements
• Your responses to consumer insight surveys and interviews

We will not share your:

• Name
• Full Address and or full postcode
• Contact details (e.g. phone number, email address)

We may disclose your personal information to third parties:

• In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.
• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use.

Your rights:

To be informed if your personal information is being used.

You have the right to be informed if your personal data is being used. This policy (together with our terms of use) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us will be processed by us.

To access to your personal information.

You have a right to get access to the personal information we hold about you. If you wish to do this, then please email us at dataprotectionoffice@es.catapult.org.uk or write to us at:

F.A.O Data Protection Officer
Energy Systems Catapult Limited
Cannon House, 7th Floor
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6BS

To correct personal information, we hold about you.

You have a right to rectification of inaccurate personal information and to update incomplete personal information. If you believe that any of the information that we hold about you is inaccurate, please contact us.

To have your personal information deleted.

You have a right to request that we delete your personal information. You may request that we delete your personal information if you believe that:

• we no longer need to process your information for the purposes for which it was provided
• we have requested your permission to process your personal information and you wish to withdraw your consent; or
• we are not using your information in a lawful manner

Restrict the processing of your personal information.

You may request us to restrict processing your personal information if you believe that:

• any of the information that we hold about you is inaccurate
• we no longer need to process your information for the purposes for which it was provided, but you require the information to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
• we are not using your information in a lawful manner

Request your personal information in a portable format.

Where we have requested your permission to process your personal information or you have provided us with information for the purposes of entering into a contract with us, you have a right to receive the personal information you provided to us in a portable format.

Object to the use of your personal information.

You have the right to object to the processing (use) of your personal data in some circumstances, unless we can demonstrate compelling and legitimate grounds for the processing, which may override your own interests or where we need to process your information to investigate and protect us or others from legal claims.

To prevent automated processing or ask us to explain decisions made by automatic processing.

When decisions are made about you without people being involved, this is called ‘automated individual decision-making and profiling’ or ‘automated processing’, for short. In many circumstances, you have a right to prevent automated processing.

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to the trial privacy policy in the future will be posted on this website, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

Privacy Notice Effective Date

This Privacy Notice is effective from the 1 April 2025.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to dataprotectionoffice@es.catapult.org.uk.