Free wine hidden in small print claimed after three months

A free bottle of wine has finally been claimed after being hidden in the privacy policy of a tax-focused think tank's website for three months.

Tax Policy Associates added the clause in February as an experiment, to see if anyone would actually read the full terms.

The non-profit organisation's head Dan Neidle shared the story in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, saying the first person to spot it would get sent a "bottle of good wine".

Mr Neidle - who has previously reported on high-profile tax cases, including that of former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi - told the BBC it was his idea to add the wine offer.

The business has recently changed the small print on its site after the eagle-eyed discovery.

"We know nobody reads this, because we added in February that we’d send a bottle of good wine to the first person to contact us, and it was only in May that we got a response," a sentence in their privacy policy now reads.

Mr Neidle said it was "my childish protest that all businesses have to have a privacy policy and no one reads it".

"Every tiny coffee shop has to have a privacy policy on their website, it’s crazy. It’s money that’s being wasted."

Any company that holds personal data, including small businesses and charities, has to have a privacy policy, according to the Information Commissioner's Office.

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 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.