Privacy notice
Last updated: 25 September 2026
This notice explains what information Finance IQ collects when you take the quiz, why we collect it, who handles it for us, how long we keep it, and your rights.
The short version
- You don’t need an account, and you don’t have to give us your name or email address.
- We keep your quiz answers and scores so we can show your results. We never keep your IP address, only a scrambled (hashed) version of it that we use to stop misuse.
- If you ask us to email your results, we use your email address to send them. We only send you tips and news if you tick the box, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
- We don’t use cookies, so there’s no cookie banner.
- We delete everything on a fixed timetable, and you can ask us to delete it sooner.
1. Who we are
Finance IQ is run by Sugar Social Networks Ltd, trading as Verbench. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice, which means we decide how and why it is used.
- Company number 12497429, registered in England and Wales
- Registered office: 17 Green Lanes, London, England, N16 9BS
- Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): registration reference ZC257586
- Data protection contact: privacy@verbench.com
2. What we collect
When you take the quiz
- Your answers: which question you were shown, the answer you chose, whether it was right, whether time ran out, and when each question was shown and answered.
- Your results: your score, band, role level, score in each area, whether you chose the untimed version, and when you started and finished.
- A hashed IP address: your IP address is combined with a secret value and scrambled (hashed) before it is stored. We never store your actual IP address. We use the hash only to limit how many quizzes can be started and results emails sent from one network, and to check that reports about a question come from different networks. A hash like this still counts as personal information, so we treat it as such.
Stored in your browser
While a quiz is in progress, your browser keeps its attempt ID (a random code) in local storage, so you can carry on where you left off if you reload the page. It is used for nothing else, and it is removed when you finish, or when the attempt is no longer available. It is not a cookie, and you can clear it at any time in your browser settings.
If you ask us to email your results
- Your email address, and your first name if you give it
- Whether you ticked the box to get finance career tips and news from Verbench, which version of that wording you saw, and when you ticked it
- When you asked for the email, and, if you unsubscribe later, when you did
- A link to your quiz attempt and a hashed IP address, as above
If you report a problem with a question
Which question you reported, from which quiz attempt, anything you typed in the report box, a hashed IP address and when you reported it. Please don’t include personal details in a report.
Site statistics
We use Vercel Web Analytics to count visits. It doesn’t use cookies and doesn’t identify you. It records the page visited, the site you came from, your country and region, and your type of device, operating system and browser. Before anything is sent, we remove the private codes from results and share links and anything after a “?” in the address, so it never receives your results link or an unsubscribe code. Vercel recognises repeat visits only through a short-lived code made from your request, which it discards after 24 hours.
We don’t ask for, and don’t want, any other information about you. We don’t collect your employer, job title or CV.
3. Why we use it, and our lawful basis
UK data protection law says we must have a lawful basis for each way we use personal information. Ours are:
Running the quiz: choosing your questions, timing them, scoring your answers and showing your results
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests: providing the free quiz you chose to take
Preventing misuse: limiting quizzes and results emails from one network, and stopping one person switching questions off with reports
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests: keeping the quiz fair and working, and stopping the email form being used to send unwanted emails
Sending the results email you asked for
Lawful basis
Contract: sending it is part of the service you asked for under our terms
Sending finance career tips and news from Verbench, if you ticked the box
Lawful basis
Consent: you can withdraw it at any time with the unsubscribe link in our emails, or by emailing us
Handling question reports and improving the questions
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests: keeping the questions accurate
Counting visits with Vercel Web Analytics
Lawful basis
Legitimate interests: understanding how the site is used
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights. We collect as little as we can, never store your IP address, and delete everything on a fixed timetable (section 6).
Your score, band and role level are worked out automatically from your answers. They are for your own guidance only. They are not shared with employers and are not used to make any decision about you.
4. Who can see your results
- Your results page has a private link. Anyone who has the link can see your full results, so keep it private. It is hidden from search engines.
- Your share link shows only your score, band, role level, the date you took the quiz and whether it was untimed. It never shows your name, email address, area scores or answers. It is hidden from search engines, and only people you send it to, or who see your post, will find it.
- We don’t sell your information, and we don’t share it with employers or with Verbench’s clients.
5. Who handles your information for us
We use these service providers to run Finance IQ. They act only on our instructions, under data processing agreements.
Supabase
What they do
Our database: stores quiz attempts, results email requests and question reports
Where your information is
Stored in London. Supabase is a US company, and its staff or subcontractors may access data from outside the UK. Such access is covered by the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses in its data processing agreement.
Vercel
What they do
Hosts the website and runs Web Analytics. It handles your IP address to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks.
Where your information is
The code that handles your answers runs in London. Pages are delivered from Vercel’s servers nearest to you. Vercel is a US company, so some data may be handled in the US, under standard contractual clauses with the UK addendum in its data processing agreement. [CHECK: confirm Vercel’s UK transfer safeguard]
Resend
What they do
Sends the results email
Where your information is
Emails are sent from Resend's Ireland (EU) region. Resend is a US company and its main processing is in the US. Transfers are covered by the EU standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum, and Resend is certified under the Data Privacy Framework.
6. How long we keep it
A clean-up job runs every day and deletes information once its time is up:
Completed quizzes (answers, results, hashed IP)
How long we keep it
24 months after you finish, then deleted
Quizzes left unfinished
How long we keep it
Marked as abandoned after 24 hours, then deleted 30 days after being marked
Results email request, if you didn't tick the marketing box
How long we keep it
30 days after you asked for the email, then deleted
Results email request, if you ticked the marketing box
How long we keep it
Until you unsubscribe, then 30 more days, then deleted
Question reports
How long we keep it
12 months after the report was made, then deleted
Attempt ID in your browser
How long we keep it
Until you finish the quiz or the attempt is no longer available, or until you clear it
Each kind of information follows its own timetable. When a quiz is deleted, any results email request or question report linked to it is kept until its own time is up, but no longer linked to the quiz. If you ask us to delete your information sooner, we will (section 8).
7. Cookies
Finance IQ doesn’t set any cookies. The only thing it stores on your device is the attempt ID described in section 2, which is strictly necessary to let you resume a quiz you started. Our site statistics are cookieless. That’s why there is no cookie banner. If we ever add cookies that aren’t strictly necessary, we will ask you first.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), you have the right to:
- get a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- have it corrected if it’s wrong
- have it deleted
- ask us to restrict how we use it
- object to how we use it where we rely on legitimate interests
- stop marketing emails at any time
- get the information you gave us in a format you can reuse, where that right applies
- withdraw your consent at any time, which doesn’t affect anything we did before
To use any of these rights, email privacy@verbench.com. We don’t have accounts, so to help us find your information, please include your results link or the email address you used. We will reply within one month. It’s free unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
To stop marketing emails, use the unsubscribe link in any of our emails and press the Unsubscribe button, or email us.
Complaints
If you’re unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
9. Keeping your information safe
All traffic to Finance IQ is encrypted (HTTPS). Only our own server code can reach the database; your browser never connects to it directly. The correct answers never reach your browser before you answer. We store hashed IP addresses rather than real ones.
10. Changes to this notice
If we change how we use your information, we will update this notice and the “Last updated” date at the top. For significant changes, we will also put a notice on the site. See also our terms of use.