This policy explains what personal information 8MDs collects, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and the rights you have over it. It covers the website at 8mds.independentcheck.co.uk, including member accounts, the AI Workspace and the AI training courses.
Who we are
8MDs is run by Independent Check Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 08302295), registered office Celtic House, Caxton Place, Cardiff CF23 8HA. Independent Check Ltd is the controller of your personal information and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number ZA389829).
For anything about this policy or your information, use our contact page or email info@independentcheck.co.uk.
What we collect and why
Your member account
When you join we collect your name, email address, password (stored scrambled, so nobody can read it) and your profession. In your account you can also add your firm’s name, choose which emails you’d like from us, and save the result of the New Model check. We use this to run your account, show you material for your profession and send you the emails you ask for. Legal basis: providing the service you signed up for (contract).
The AI Workspace
The AI Workspace is an assistant for members. What you type, any documents you upload and the conversation so far are sent to Anthropic, whose Claude models write the replies. The Workspace can also search the web to answer a question. Uploaded files are read, their text is extracted and the file itself is deleted straight away.
We keep your conversations so you can come back to them. The messages are stored encrypted, and the conversation title (the start of your first message) is stored as plain text. We also keep a record of how much you use the Workspace and any feedback you give on replies. You can delete one conversation, or all of them, at any time from the Workspace, and you can download a copy of your data there too.
Our administrators can open a member’s conversations when that’s needed to investigate a problem or misuse, and every time they do it is logged. Please don’t put your clients’ personal details into the Workspace. Legal basis: providing the service (contract), and our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe.
AI training courses and CPD certificates
We record your progress through each course, your answers to the exercises and when you were last active, so you can pick up where you left off. The help chat in each lesson sends your question and the lesson text to Anthropic to write an answer. We don’t keep those chats, only a count of how many you’ve used.
When you finish a module we issue a CPD certificate showing your name, the module, the CPD hours and a certificate number. Anyone who has the certificate number (an employer or a professional body, for example) can check it on our verification page, which shows the same details. Legal basis: providing the service (contract).
Forms
Our contact, webinar, library and enquiry forms collect your name and email address, and sometimes your firm, phone number or a message. Each form entry is emailed to us and saved on the website, along with the type of browser and device you used. Webinar registrations also record your IP address. We use this to reply to you and to run the event you signed up for. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in answering enquiries and running events, or taking steps at your request.
Donations
If you support 8MDs with a donation, we collect your name, email address and the amount, through GiveWP. Card payments are handled by Stripe: your card details go straight to Stripe and we never see or store them. You’ll get a receipt by email. Legal basis: processing your payment (contract), and keeping financial records we’re required by law to keep (legal obligation).
Comments
If you comment on an article we store your name, email address, IP address and browser details with the comment. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in running a discussion and keeping it free of spam.
Security
Like most websites we keep security logs, including IP addresses, sign-in attempts and blocked requests, to protect the site and your account. We use Wordfence, made by Defiant Inc., which checks visits and sign-ins against known threats. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure.
Website statistics
With your permission only, we use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used: which pages are read, roughly where visitors come from and what device they use. It doesn’t tell us who you are. Until you choose “Accept analytics” in the cookie banner, Google Analytics sets no cookies. You can change your mind at any time with the “Cookie settings” link at the foot of every page. Legal basis: your consent.
Cookies and similar technology
| Name | What it’s for | How long |
|---|---|---|
| wordpress_logged_in_… and wordpress_sec_… | Keeps you signed in. Needed for your account. | Until you close your browser, or 14 days if you tick “remember me” |
| wordpress_test_cookie | Checks your browser accepts cookies when you sign in. | Until you close your browser |
| mds_consent | Remembers your cookie choice. | 180 days |
| mds_profession | Remembers the profession you picked, so pages show the right material first. | 1 year |
| wp-give_session_…, give_nl | Used only on the donation pages, to process a donation and let you see your donation history. | 7 days |
| Stripe cookies (__stripe_mid, __stripe_sid) | Set by Stripe on the donation page to prevent card fraud. | Up to 1 year |
| wfwaf-authcookie-…, wf_loginalerted_… | Wordfence security for signed-in users. | Until you sign out, or up to 1 year |
| _ga, _ga_… | Google Analytics. Only set if you accept analytics. | 2 years |
The New Model check also saves your answers in your own browser (local storage), so your result is still there next time. It isn’t sent to us unless you’re signed in and choose to save it to your account.
Videos on the site are embedded from YouTube in its privacy-enhanced mode, which doesn’t set YouTube cookies until you press play. Once you play a video, YouTube’s own privacy policy applies.
Who we share it with
We don’t sell your information or share it for other companies’ marketing. We use these providers to run the site, and they only use your information to provide their service to us:
- Anthropic (United States): writes the replies in the AI Workspace and the training help chat. Anthropic doesn’t use data sent through its commercial service to train its models.
- Stripe: takes card payments for donations.
- Google (United States): Google Analytics, only with your consent, and YouTube video embeds.
- Defiant Inc. (United States): Wordfence security.
- Our web host, which stores the website and its database and sends the site’s emails.
Our news page is compiled automatically from public news feeds. That process sends only public headlines to our classification provider, TypeSafe, and never any information about you.
Where a provider handles your information outside the UK, the transfer is protected by safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
We may also share information where the law requires it, for example with HMRC or the police.
How long we keep it
- Your account: for as long as you have one. Deleting your account removes your account details and settings straight away.
- Course progress and certificates: while you have an account, and afterwards so that a certificate you were issued can still be verified. Ask us and we’ll delete them.
- Workspace conversations: until you delete them. Deleting your account doesn’t remove them automatically, so delete them in the Workspace first, or ask us to.
- Form entries: for as long as we need them to deal with your enquiry or run the event you signed up for. Ask us and we’ll delete them.
- Donation records: for at least 6 years after the end of the financial year of the donation, because the law requires us to keep financial records.
- Security logs: on a rolling basis, cleared automatically, normally within 30 days.
- Website statistics: for the period set in our Google Analytics account, 14 months at most.
Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to limit how we use it, to object to how we use it, and to receive it in a format you can take elsewhere. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
You can do much of this yourself. Your account page lets you change your details and email choices, or delete your account. The Workspace lets you download or delete your conversations. To have anything else deleted, such as your course records, certificates or form entries, or for any other request, contact us and we’ll respond within one month.
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Children
8MDs is for working professionals and isn’t meant for anyone under 18. We don’t knowingly collect information about children.
Changes to this policy
We’ll update this policy when the site or the law changes, and show the date of the latest version below. If a change affects how we use information you’ve already given us, we’ll tell members by email.
Last updated: 30 September 2026.