Any company that holds personal data, including small businesses and charities, has to have a privacy policy, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office, external.
It is a key requirement under the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).
Mr Neidle said the person who spotted the passage on his website “kind of cheated” because they were trying to write their own policy and looking at examples. Then they emailed the organisation saying they guessed the bottle of wine was gone, but they were in luck.
Mr Neidle said he originally did something similar when his organisation first launched over two years ago. Back then it took four months until someone spotted it.
“We did it again to see if people were paying more attention and they’re not,” he added.
As for the “good wine” in question that the site referred to; the lucky recipient was sent a bottle of Château de Sales 2013/14, Pomerol, external as a reward.
Mr Neidle said his approach was inspired by one used by the band Van Halen, who would ask for a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed as part of their tour rider.
It was not because they were picky eaters though, they included it as a test to make sure promoters were paying attention to their requests, which often included complicated technical instructions.
“It was a brilliant strategy to see if people were paying attention,” Mr Neidle said.
